Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Ninety-nine |
Ninety-nineAdjective1. Being nine more than ninety. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "ninety-nine" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1615. (references) |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Ninety-nine is a card game for 2, 3, or 4 players. It is a trick-taking game that can use ordinary Anglo-American playing cards. Ninety-nine was created by David Parlett; his goal was to have a good 3-player trick-taking game with simple rules yet great room for strategy. In ninety-nine, players bid for the number of tricks that they will take; players who gain exactly that number of tricks (no more or less) gain a significant bonus. One unusual feature of ninety-nine is that players bid by discarding three cards.
Rules
Thus, if a player discards a club and two diamonds, they have bid 3+0+0=3 tricks.
Suit Value Mnenomic ♣ Clubs 3 Clubs have 3 bumps (top, left, right) ♥ Hearts 2 Hearts have 2 bumps on the top ♠ Spades 1 Spades have 1 point at the top ♦ Diamonds 0 Diamond outline looks like a zero Normally, these discarded "bid" cards are placed face-down on the table, so that the other players will not know how many tricks that player is trying to take. However, a player who is very confident with his hand can also make two kinds of premium bids, which are made out loud to the other players: a declaration, where the bid cards will be shown face-up, or a revelation, where every one of the player's cards will be placed face up. Only one player can make a premium bid in a round; a revelation outbids a declaration, otherwise the Dealer's left has the highest priority.
In a 2-player game, both live players can declare, but neither player can reveal. Also, in the 2-player game, three cards are arbitrarily chosen from the dummy's hand and set aside as the dummy's bid (neither live player knows what the dummy has "bid").
Trick-Taking
After the bidding has been completed, trick-taking begins. If playing the 2-player version, the "dummy's" cards other than the 3 bidding cards are first placed face-up and sorted by suit.
In 3 and 4 player versions, the player to the dealer's left plays the first hand, and play continues clockwise. In the 2-player version, the non-dealer begins play.
Players must follow suit of the suit led if they can, else they can play any card; they need not beat a card even if they can. If a trump card is played, the highest-ranking trump card wins, else the highest-ranking card of the suit lead wins. The winner of a trick leads the next trick.
In the 2-player version, if a live player leads a trick, then the other live player plays next, and the leading player then can choose any (legal) card from the dummy's hand. If the dummy wins a trick, the live player who last led chooses the dummy's card, the other live player plays next, and the player who last led plays his own hand. Thus, the "dummy" is always first or last to play in the 2-player version.
Scoring a Round
After all the cards have been played, the round is scored. Players earn one point for every trick they won, regardless of any other bonuses (or the lack of them). A player who acquired exactly the number of tricks they bid gains a bonus depending on the number of others who also made their bid.
If only one player succeeded, that player earns 30 points; if two succeeded, each earns 20 points; if three succeeded, each earns 10 points; and if all four succeeded in a 4-player game there is no bonus. A declaration adds 30 points (to the declarer if successful, to the others if not); a revelation is worth 60 points (to the declarer if successful, to the others if not).
Note that in the 3-player game, the maximum score in one round is ninety-nine (hence the name): 9 points for winning all nine tricks, 30 points for bidding 9 tricks and getting them (while no one else got their bid), and 60 points for a revelation.
In the 2-player version, the dummy is considered to have succeeded if the dummy wins fewer tricks than it bid, failed if it wins more tricks than it bid, and declared if it met exactly the number of bid tricks. If both live players declare and neither makes it, the dummy gets 60 points.
Games and Matches
Ninety-nine can be played by simply playing until some player reaches a predetermined total over many rounds (e.g., 200 or 500); the player with the largest score wins. If playing as a 2-player game, the dummy's score is not tracked.
Parlett's recommending system for scoring games and matches is more intricate. He recommends that a game end when a player has reaches 100 points or more; any player who reaches or exceeds 100 points in that round also gains a 100-point game bonus, but they only get the game bonus if they succeed in that round (otherwise, they do not get the game bonus, though they get any other bonuses they are entitled to). A new game then starts. When one or more players wins 3 game bonuses, the totals across all games are totalled, and the player with the highest score wins.
Strategy
A key to playing ninety-nine well is discarding cards wisely to make a bid. In the 2 and 3 handed games, 3 cards must be discarded from 12, resulting in 220 different options. Players must estimate what will happen to each of the cards they retain, and will need to consider important factors such as what suit is trump and who will lead first. Players will often want to get rid of "middle" cards (cards that are neither likely winners nor likely losers), and may want to "void" themselves of a suit (since, once they have no card in a suit, they are free to play any other card if that suit is led).
One of the most common bids is 3, and one of the next most common bids is zero. As a result, diamonds and spades are more likely to be discarded as bid cards than other suits (and thus there will be fewer in play and these suits are less valuable). Conversely, few clubs tend to be discarded, making high clubs likely winners.
If a hand is truly unbiddable (where the cards needed to bid with are also the cards needed for play), one strategy is to discard surprising cards (such as all high cards of a given suit). In this case, the player doesn't intend to make the bid; the player is hoping to make it difficult for anyone else to make their bids.
Often players will want to gain the lead early and play their most uncertain cards first; that way, if they win tricks, they can try to throw away some other strong cards. Conversely, if the uncertain cards lose, they can try to pick up tricks with stronger cards.
References
- Parlett, David. Card Games. 1999.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Ninety-nine."
Synonym: Ninety-nineSynonym: ic (adj). (additional references) |
Crosswords: Ninety-nine |
| English words defined with "ninety-nine": Comboloio. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "ninety-nine": sauce. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | After all, ninety-nine years isn't forever (Baby Buggy Bunny; writing credit: Michael Maltese) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books |
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Theater & Movies | |||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Author | Quotation |
Henry David Thoreau | There are nine hundred and ninety-nine patrons of virtue to one virtuous man. |
John Stuart Mill | One person with a belief is equal to a force of ninety-nine who have only interests. |
Thomas A. Edison | Genius is one per cent inspiration and ninety-nine per cent perspiration. |
William Feather | Back of ninety-nine out of one-hundred assertions that a thing cannot be done is nothing, but the unwillingness to do it. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Author | Date | Quotation |
John Locke | 1690 | I think it will be but a very modest computation to say, that of the products of the earth useful to the life of man nine tenths are the effects of labour: nay, if we will rightly estimate things as they come to our use, and cast up the several expences about them, what in them is purely owing to nature, and what to labour, we shall find, that in most of them ninety-nine hundredths are wholly to be put on the account of labour. (Second Treatise of Government) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Economic History | Tanzania | Ninety-nine district councils have been to further increase local authority. (references) |
Australia | In volume terms, ninety-nine percent of its imports arrive by sea and ninety-six percent of its exports leave by waterborne transport. (references) | |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | SAUCE, n. The one infallible sign of civilization and enlightenment. A people with no sauces has one thousand vices; a people with one sauce has only nine hundred and ninety-nine. For every sauce invented and accepted a vice is renounced and forgiven. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Ninety-nine" is generally used as a cardinal number -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Ninety-nine" is used about 76 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Cardinal Number | 100% | 76 | 38,217 |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "ninety-nine": ninety-nine-point-nine, ninety-nine-pound. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "ninety-nine"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Chinese | 九十九. (various references) | |
Korean | 닌얻y-닌어. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | inety-ninenay.(various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | Luke Chapter 15, Verse 4 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | TiV anqrwpoV ex umwn ecwn ekaton probata kai apolesaV en ex autwn ou kataleipei ta ennenhkontaennea en th erhmw kai poreuetai epi to apolwloV ewV eurh auto |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Quis ex vobis homo qui habet centum oves et si perdiderit unam ex illis nonne dimittit nonaginta novem in deserto et vadit ad illam quae perierat donec inveniat illam |
| Old English | 990 | West Saxon | Hwylc man is of eow þe hæfð hund sceapa. and gif he forlyst an ofþam. hu ne forlæt he þonne nigon and hundnigontig on þam westene: and gæð to þam þe forwearð oþ he hit fint. |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | And seide, What man of you that hath an hundrith scheep, and if he hath lost oon of hem, whethir he leeueth not nynti and nyne in desert, and goith to it that perischide, til he fynde it? |
| Renaissance English | 1526 | Tyndale | What man of you havynge an hundred shepe yf he loose one of thee doth not leve nynty and nyne in the wyldernes and goo after yt which is loost vntyll he fynde him? |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | What man of you having a hundred sheep, if he loseth one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he findeth it? |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if one of them gets loose and goes away, will not let the ninety-nine be in the waste land by themselves, and go after the wandering one, till he sees where it is? |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Luke Chapter 15, Verse 4 |
| Cebuano | "Kinsa bang tawhana kaninyo nga may usa ka gatus ka mga karnero, nga kon kawad-an siyag usa kabuok niini, dili mobiya sa kasiyaman ug siyam diha sa kaawaawan ug moadto sa pagpangita niadtong usa nga nawala, hangtud nga hikaplagan niya kini? |
| Croatian | "Tko to od vas, ako ima sto ovaca pa izgubi jednu od njih, ne ostavi onih devedeset i devet u pustinji te poðe za izgubljenom dok je ne naðe? |
| Danish | "Hvilket Menneske af eder, som har hundrede Får og har mistet eet af dem, forlader ikke de ni og halvfemsindstyve i Ørkenen og går ud efter det, han har mistet, indtil han finder det? |
| Dutch | Wat mens onder u, hebbende honderd schapen; en een van die verliezende, verlaat niet de negen en negentig in de woestijn, en gaat naar het verlorene, totdat hij hetzelve vinde? |
| Finnish | "Jos jollakin teistä on sata lammasta ja hän kadottaa yhden niistä, eikö hän jätä niitä yhdeksääkymmentä yhdeksää erämaahan ja mene etsimään kadonnutta, kunnes hän sen löytää? |
| French | Quel homme d`entre vous, s`il a cent brebis, et qu`il en perde une, ne laisse les quatre-vingt-dix-neuf autres dans le désert pour aller après celle qui est perdue, jusqu` ce qu`il la retrouve? |
| German | Welcher Mensch ist unter euch, der hundert Schafe hat und, so er der eines verliert, der nicht lasse die neunundneunzig in der Wüste und hingehe nach dem verlorenen, bis daß er's finde? |
| Hungarian | Melyik ember az közületek, a kinek ha száz juha van, és egyet azok közül elveszt, nem hagyja ott a kilenczvenkilenczet a pusztában, és nem megy az elveszett után, mígnem megtalálja azt? |
| Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari | "Andaikata seorang dari kalian mempunyai seratus ekor domba, lalu ia kehilangan seekor--apakah yang akan dibuatnya? Pasti ia akan meninggalkan domba yang sembilan puluh sembilan ekor itu di padang rumput, dan pergi mencari yang hilang itu sampai dapat. |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | "Siapakah dari antara kamu, yang menaruh domba seratus ekor, lalu kehilangan seekor daripadanya itu, yang tiada meninggalkan sembilan puluh sembilan ekor itu di padang belantara, lalu pergi mencari yang hilang itu, sehingga dapat? |
| Italian | «Chi di voi se ha cento pecore e ne perde una, non lascia le novantanove nel deserto e va dietro a quella perduta, finché non la ritrova? |
| Manx Gaelic | Quoi yn dooinney ny mast' euish ta keead keyrrey echey, as coayl unnane jeu nagh vel eh faagail yn chiare-feed as yn nuy jeig ayns yn aasagh, as goll dy hirrey yn cheyrrey chailjey, derrey t'eh dy gheddyn ee? |
| Maori | Ko tehea tangata o koutou he rau ana hipi, a ka ngaro tetahi o ratou, e kore ianei e waiho e ia nga mea e iwa tekau ma iwa i te koraha, a ka haere ki taua mea i ngaro, kia kitea ra ano? |
| Norwegian | Hvilket menneske iblandt eder som har hundre får og mister ett av dem, forlater ikke de ni og nitti i ørkenen og går efter det han har mistet, til han finner det? |
| Rumanian | ,,Care om dintre voi, dacq are o sutq de oi, wi pierde pe una din ele, nu lasq pe celelalte nouqzeci wi nouq pe islaz, wi se duce dupq cea pierdutq, pknq cknd o gqsewte? |
| Russian | ЛФП ЙЪ ЧБУ, ЙНЕС УФП ПЧЕ" Й ПФЕТСЧ П"ОХ ЙЪ ОЙИ, ОЕ ПУФБЧЙФ "ЕЧСОПУФБ "ЕЧСФЙ Ч ХУФЩОЕ Й ОЕ ПК"ЕФ ЪБ ТП БЧЫЕА, ПЛБ ОЕ ОБК"ЕФ ЕЕ? |
| Spanish | --¿Qué hombre de vosotros, si tiene cien ovejas, y pierde una de ellas, no deja las noventa y nueve en el desierto y va tras la que se ha perdido, hasta hallarla? |
| Swahili | "Hivi, mtu akiwa na kondoo mia, akigundua kwamba mmoja wao amepotea, atafanya nini? Atawaacha wale tisini na tisa mbugani, na kwenda kumtafuta yule aliyepotea mpaka ampate. |
| Swedish | "Om ibland eder finnes en man som har hundra får, och han förlorar ett av dem, lämnar han icke då de nittionio i öknen och går och söker efter det förlorade, till dess han finner det? |
| Uma | Na'uli': "Rapa' -na ria doo-ta to ria-ki bima-na ha'atu ma'a. Ane moronto hama'a, napa to nababehi? Bate napalahii bima-na to sio mpulu' sio hi papada, pai' -i hilou mpali' bima-na to moronto duu' -na narua'. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Misspellings | |
"Ninety-nine" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: ninetynine. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "e-e-i-i-n-n-n-n-t-y" | |
-4 letters: intine, ninety. | |
-5 letters: ninny, teeny, tinny, yente. | |
| Words containing the letters "e-e-i-i-n-n-n-n-t-y" | |
+4 letters: inconveniently. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Quotations: Familiar 8. Quotations: Historic | 9. Quotations: Non-fiction 10. Usage Frequency 11. Expressions 12. Translations: Modern | 13. Bible Trace 14. Derivations 15. Anagrams 16. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
