- Cards branch
- Cards · node III
- Played for dew · no cash value
Ninefold
Two hands, the Moth and the Thorn, race to a total closest to nine. You call which one gets there, or that they come out level.
Pick a stake, then press Deal.
The games are resting.
A pause is on for this device.
The Library, the field notes and the Clearing stay open. See your settings.
About Ninefold
Ninefold is the quickest game in the Grove: a call, a deal and a result in about four seconds. It is built on one of the oldest card races there is, where only the last digit of a total matters and no hand can go bust. The drawing rules are fixed, so the game plays itself once you have made your call.
That makes it a game of no decisions, and it is worth knowing that before you start. The Thorn hand is a little more likely to be ahead than the Moth, which is why a correct Thorn call returns slightly less. The Level call is rare, about one deal in ten and a half, and it is the call that costs the most over time.
The table shows how many cards are left in the shoe. It is shuffled again when fewer than sixty remain, and nothing that came before changes what comes next: a run of Thorn deals says nothing about the next one.
How to play
- Pick a stake and make your call: the Moth hand, the Thorn hand, or Level.
- Press Deal. Each hand gets two cards from an eight-deck shoe.
- Cards count at face value, aces as 1, and tens and court cards as 0. Only the last digit of a total counts, so 7 and 8 make 5.
- A hand on 8 or 9 stands at once. Otherwise the drawing rules in the box below decide whether each hand takes a third card; you make no choices once the cards are out.
- The hand closer to nine is ahead. A correct Moth call returns twice the stake, a correct Thorn call 1.95 times, and a correct Level call ten times. If the hands come out level, Moth and Thorn calls get their stake back.
Drawing rules
| Thorn total | Draws when the Moth's third card is |
|---|---|
| 0, 1, 2 | any card |
| 3 | anything but an 8 |
| 4 | 2 to 7 |
| 5 | 4 to 7 |
| 6 | 6 or 7 |
| 7 | never |
Pay table
Every return is a multiple of your stake. Dew has no cash value and nothing here can be exchanged for anything.
| Your call | It comes true | Level hands | Otherwise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moth hand | 2× | 1× (stake back) | 0× |
| Thorn hand | 1.95× | 1× (stake back) | 0× |
| Level hands | 10× | — | 0× |
Fair play
Every result comes from your browser's random number generator, through the rules above and nothing else. There is no hidden balancing, no streak memory and no change of odds after a quiet patch or a good run. The same pay table is read by the game and printed on this page.
Questions
Why does a Thorn call return less than a Moth call?
The drawing rules favour the Thorn hand slightly, so a correct Thorn call is a little more likely. The lower return evens that out.
When does a hand take a third card?
The Moth hand draws on 0 to 5 and stands on 6 or 7. The Thorn hand follows a table that depends on its own total and on the Moth's third card; it is printed in the rules box.
Does the shoe remember earlier deals?
Only in the sense that cards already dealt are gone. There is no pattern to follow and no call that becomes due.
At a glance
- Cards
- 8 decks, shuffled again under 60
- Calls
- Moth, Thorn or Level
- Choices
- none after the call
- Level hands
- Moth and Thorn calls returned
- Stakes
- 10 to 200 dew per deal
- A round
- about 4 seconds
Where to stop
Fast rounds add up quickly. Ninefold is the game where a round cap or a fifteen-minute checkpoint helps most, because a hundred rounds can pass before you notice.
Set a checkpoint
