OBJECT OF NINE FIVE TWO: The object of Nine Five Two is to reach a certain score first.
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 3 players
MATERIALS: A standard 52 card deck, a way to keep score, and a flat surface.
TYPE OF GAME: Trick-Taking Card Game
AUDIENCE: Adult
OVERVIEW OF NINE FIVE TWO
Nine Five Two is a trick-taking card game playable by 3 players. The goal of the game is to score a winning number of points before your opponents.
The game is usually played to 10 or 20 points. This should be determined by the players before the game begins.
SETUP
The game has two dealing phases. The first phase consists of the first deal, and the second phase encompasses all deals after the first.
For the first phase, the dealer is chosen at random. They will shuffle, have the player to their right cut the deck, and then deal each player 16 cards. The four cards remaining form the kitty face down in the center of the play area. The dealer calls trumps then takes the kitty into their hand then discards any four cards face down to the side.
The second phase starts with the player left of the last dealer and continues clockwise for future deals. The dealer shuffles, then allows the player to their right to cut the deck. The dealer will then deal each player a hand of 16 cards.
Exchange
After each player receives their hands then the card exchanging begins. Each player who was up in the last round (described below) may give a player who was down one card per trick they were up. The down player must in response give the up player the highest card of the same suit they have in hand. If there was more than one up player the player who was up the most exchanges first, then the other up player may exchange.
After the exchange is over, the dealer calls trumps and picks up the kitty as described above. They then discard any four cards they wish from their hand. If the dealer was down, they must show any cards of a higher rank than the one given to the players who exchanged with them. For example, if the given card was a 3 of clubs and the dealer gave a 6 of clubs but then gets a 10 and ace of clubs from the kitty, they must show that player privately these two cards.
Card Ranking
The ranking is traditional with Ace (high), King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, and 2 (low).
GAMEPLAY
The player to the dealer’s left starts. They may lead any card to the first trick. The following players must follow suit if capable, but if they cannot, may play any card they wish to the trick. The trick is won by the highest trump if applicable. If no trumps are present, then the trick is won by the highest card of the suit led. The winner collects the trick and leads the next.
Each player has a number of tricks they must win each round. The dealer must win 9, the player to their left must win 5 and the player to the dealer’s right must win 2. If a player is winning more than they need to they are up that many tricks. If a player has not won as many as they need, they are down however many tricks they need to reach their target.
SCORING
After a round is completed, scoring is done. A player scores nothing for getting exactly the number of tricks needed. They score one point for each trick more than the required and lose a point for each trick under their requirements they were.
END OF GAME
The game is played until a player reaches the targeted score. The first player to do this is the winner.
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