Ninety-nine was created in 1967 by David Parlett; his goal was to have a good 3-player trick-taking game with simple rules yet great room for strategy.
One unusual feature of ninety-nine is that players bid by discarding three cards.
The four-player version of the game uses the entire 52-card deck (in which case the 2 is the lowest rank).
In the two-player version, the cards are dealt to the two players and also to a third pseudo-player called the "dummy".
After that, the trump suit is determined by the number of players who won the last round: Diamonds if 0, Spades if 1, Hearts if 2, and Clubs if 3.
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.
Parlett's original rules, now referred to as the "classic" version, included a joker in the deal.
A player receiving the joker in their hand, treated it exactly as if it were the turn-up card, both for bidding and trick-taking purposes.
This game is solely for three players and originated in Oxford Road, Bootle, which is how the name was derived.
It is played in the same way as Ninety-nine as far as discarding 3 cards to determine the number of tricks required.
A maximum of 10 points is awarded to any player who wins the declared number of tricks.
A key to playing ninety-nine well is discarding cards wisely to make a bid.
In the two- and three-handed games, three cards must be discarded from twelve, resulting in 220 different options.
Players must estimate what will happen to each of the cards they retain, and need to consider important factors such as what suit is trump and who will lead first.
Often players want to gain the lead early and play their most uncertain cards first.