99 Card Game Rules: How to Play Ninety-Nine (99 or Bust)

The 99 card game rules are simple enough to explain while you shuffle: players take turns adding a card to a running total, call the new total out loud, and try not to be the one forced to push it past 99. Special cards reverse the order, hold the count or knock it down, which keeps the game tense right to the end. The game is also called Ninety-Nine or 99 or Bust. It is great for family nights and for practicing quick mental math. This page gives the most common version, then the house rules many groups use, because special card values do vary from table to table.

Quick rules

• Each player gets three cards and three tokens.
• Take turns playing one card face up, adding its value to the running total and saying the new total aloud.
• After playing, draw a card so you always hold three.
• Special cards: 4 reverses play, 9 passes, 10 subtracts 10, king sets the total to 99.
• If you cannot play without going over 99, you lose a token and a new round starts at zero.
• Lose all three tokens and you are out. The last player with tokens wins.

What you need

• One standard 52-card deck, no jokers.
• Three tokens per player, such as coins, counters or poker chips.
• A clear spot in the middle of the table for the discard pile.

Setup

Give each player three tokens. Pick a dealer, who shuffles and deals three cards face down to each player. Put the rest of the deck face down as the draw pile. The running total starts at zero.

Card values

Sources differ on the special cards: some play the 9 as a normal 9, some make the jack worth 0 or the queen minus 10, and some say the king simply holds the total at 99 once it is reached. The values above are the most common set. Agree yours before the first deal.

How to play

Playing a turn

1. The player to the dealer's left starts. They play any card from their hand face up on the discard pile and announce the new total. For example, a 7 played at zero makes "seven".
2. The next player adds a card and announces the new total, and so on around the table.
3. After playing a card, draw the top card of the draw pile. If you forget to draw before the next player plays, you play on with fewer cards, which is a handicap.
4. If the draw pile runs out, shuffle the discard pile (except the top card) to make a new one.

Special cards in play

1. A 4 adds nothing and sends play back the other way, so the player who just went is next again.
2. A 9 adds nothing. Play passes to the next player at the same total.
3. A 10 drops the total by 10, which can rescue you when the count is high.
4. A king jumps the total straight to 99, from any number. The next player now needs a 4, 9, 10 or king to survive.

Busting

1. When it is your turn and every card in your hand would take the total over 99, you are bust. Show your hand to prove it.
2. You lose one token. Everyone throws in their cards, the deck is reshuffled, and the dealer deals a new round of three cards each, starting the total from zero.
3. Play continues until one player has tokens left.

Scoring

Many groups give a player who has lost all three tokens one last "on the board" life: they stay in until they bust once more. This keeps everyone involved a little longer.

How to win

Outlast everyone. The winner is the last player with at least one token. For a longer evening, keep a running tally of wins with the scorekeeper and play to three games.

Variations

• Exactly 99 bonus: in some groups, a player who brings the total to exactly 99 with a normal card (not a king) makes everyone else lose a token. Others give that player a bonus token back.
• Jokers: add two jokers that set the total to 99 or act as any value.
• Plus or minus 10: the 10 can be played as plus 10 or minus 10, the player's choice.
• 3 as a hold: some players treat the 3 as 0 as well, giving more safe cards.
• A trick-taking game of the same name: there is also an unrelated trick-taking card game called Ninety-Nine, played with bids. This page covers the adding game most families mean.

Tips and strategy

• Save your safe cards (4, 9, 10 and king) for when the total is high. Play big number cards early while the total is low.
• A king is most powerful when you play it just before a player who looks short of safe cards.
• Count the special cards that have been played. Each comes four to a deck, so late in a round you can work out who might be stuck.
• Use a 4 to send a dangerous total back to the player who just made it.
• Never play your last safe card if you can avoid it; a hand of only high numbers near 90 is a guaranteed bust.

House rules to agree first

• Which special card values you are using, especially the 9, 10 and king.
• Whether you lose a token for reaching exactly 99 or only for going over.
• Whether a player who forgets to draw must continue with fewer cards.

If you like this kind of quick, simple game, try 31, Crazy Eights or this pass-or-keep card game, or browse more card games.