One Player Ninety-Nine

Contributed by Corey Dixon

This game is played just like Ninety-Nine. You play with a standard deck of 52 playing cards and two Jokers.

To start the game, draw two cards. The first will represent you and the other will be the deck (called the 'Dummy'). If you draw the higher card, you begin first. Draw three cards. If the Dummy 'wins,' draw a card after you took your cards and put it face up to start the pile. After you play a card for yourself, draw another card to replace the one you played.

You and the dummy take turns. At your turn you can play any one of your three cards and replace it with a card drawn from the undealt stock; for dummy's turn, normally you simply play the top card of the stock. Some cards have special effects as in normal 99.

If you force the Dummy into a 99 situation, draw three cards and lay them face up. If none of the cards allow the game to continue, give it a point, and start a new game. When you get the Dummy close to, but not exactly on, 99, and the card does not allow it to continue, draw two more cards. If neither of those let it continue, give it a point.If you are at 99 and you cannot continue, give yourself a point, and start a new game.

If the Dummy gets X points first (X can be any number you want), you win the game. But if you get X points first, you lose.