Ninety-One is a

solitaire Solitaire is any tabletop game which one can play by oneself, usually with cards, but also with dominoes. The term "solitaire" is also used for single-player games of concentration and skill using a set layout tiles, pegs or stones. These game ...

card game A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific. Countless card games exist, including families of related games (such as poker). A small number of card ...

which is played using a deck of

playing card A playing card is a piece of specially prepared card stock, heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic that is marked with distinguishing motifs. Often the front (face) and back of each card has a fi ...

s. The object of this game is to move cards so the top cards of the piles total to 91, hence the name.Glenn, Jim and Denton, Carey. ''The Treasury of Family Games'' (page 108). Reader's Digest, 2003 ()

Rules

Thirteen piles of four cards each are dealt. Only one card can be moved at a time and the top cards of the piles are ones that are counted. Cards are even transferred without any regard to suit or value. Spot cards (cards from ace to ten) are taken at their face value, while jacks are valued at 11, queens at 12, and kings at 13. The game is won when the top cards of the thirteen piles have a total value of 91. The easiest combination to obtain is a sequence of thirteen cards from ace to king (

91=1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9+10+11+12+13

). But there are many other combinations that add up to 91, such as four kings, four aces, three fives, and two tens for instance (

91=13*4+1*4+3*5+10*2=52+4+15+20

). It is up to the player how to figure out those combinations.

Rules

References

See also