Red Nines is a simple card game of the Stops family for four or more players.

Games of the Stops family trace their history back to the 17th century French game of Hoc de Mazarin, named after Cardinal Mazarin, prime minister to Louis XIV and an avid card player.

The entire pack was dealt to between three and five players and the aim was to empty one's hand by playing cards out in sequence up to the King, suits being irrelevant.

[3] Comet may well have been played in royal circles in Britain as early as the 17th century, shortly after its renaming.

It also resembles Pope Joan, which also builds in sequences in suit and has the 9♦ as a special, albeit not wild, card.

"[5] In 1841 it is recorded as being played by British Army officers and their wives stationed in Stony Hill, Jamaica with the 60th Foot.

[6] In 1858, it appears alongside Loo, Vingt-Un and Pounce Commerce in Holme Lee's Ashburn Rectory in 1858.

[8] The game was still well known enough in Britain in 1908 to be mentioned without explanation in a novel Lady Julia's Emerald as being played by well to do young folk.

[citation needed] Pink Nines appears to be a 20th-century variant played as early as 1930 and still listed in games compendia.

At the end of each round of play, the value of the cards remaining in a player's hand counts against them.

Eldest hand commences play by discarding cards in ascending numerical sequence.

When this happens the player who was last able to discard plays again, beginning a fresh sequence at any point.

[11][12] Parlett confirms that the game is a member of the Stops family, its rules closely resembling those of Manille, also called Ancient Comet.

Players ante an agreed stake to a pool, no cards are removed from the pack, four are dealt face down to the table and the rest are equally divided between the players with any remainder being added to the table stops.

Play is as in classic Red Nines except that suits are disregarded and Aces, not Kings, are high.

[12] In Taylor's account, two or three players are dealt 13 cards and the rest left on the table.

[11] Success in Red Nines is mainly determined by luck rather than skill, although there are some opportunities for strategic decisions to be made.

Deciding when to play a red 9 can make a big difference–they can be very valuable to fill in a gap, but getting caught with one should be avoided.