Old Maid

Full rules

1. Overview
2. Setup
3. Playing a turn
4. Running out of cards
5. Winning (and losing)
6. Tips for beginners
7. Variants

Overview

Old Maid is a simple, cheerful game for small children and grown-ups. One Queen is taken out of the deck, so one Queen – the Old Maid – can never be paired. Everyone gets rid of pairs and draws cards blind from their neighbour. Whoever is left holding the Old Maid at the end loses.

• Players: 2–8 – best with 3–6.
• You need: one standard 52-card deck, no jokers.

Setup

1. Take out one Queen – any one – and put it away unseen. You play with the other 51 cards.
2. Deal: one player shuffles and deals all the cards face down, one at a time, clockwise. It doesn't matter if some players get one card more than others.
3. Everyone picks up their cards and looks at them without showing them.
4. Discard pairs: a pair is two cards of the same rank – two 7s, two Kings and so on (the suits don't matter). Put all your pairs face up in the middle. If you have three of a kind, discard two of them and keep the third.

Playing a turn

The player to the dealer's left starts; play goes clockwise.

1. Fan out your cards face down and offer them to the player on your left.
2. That player picks one card without seeing its face and adds it to their hand.
3. If the new card makes a pair, they discard the pair at once.
4. Then it's their turn to offer their cards to the player on their left – and so on around the table.

Example: Anna holds 3♥ 9♣ Q♠. Her right-hand neighbour offers his cards, and she picks the 9♦ – a pair of 9s! She puts 9♣ 9♦ in the middle. Now she offers 3♥ Q♠ to the player on her left.

Running out of cards

If you get rid of all your cards, you are safe and take no further part. The turn passes on to the next player who still has cards. If your left-hand neighbour is out, offer your cards to the next player on your left who still has cards.

Winning (and losing)

In the end all cards are paired and discarded except for one lonely Queen – the Old Maid. Whoever holds it loses; everyone else has won.

Tips for beginners

• Keep a straight face when your neighbour's fingers come near the Old Maid!
• Shuffle your cards before you offer them, so nobody knows where the Queen is.
• Some players let the Old Maid stick out a little to tempt their neighbour – it may work, or it may be a trick.

Variants

Optional – agree before you start.

• Black Peter: the German version, Schwarzer Peter. Take out the J♣ instead of a Queen. A pair must be the same rank and the same colour (7♥ with 7♦, K♠ with K♣). The J♠ is left over at the end: it is Black Peter, and its holder loses. Traditionally the loser gets a black dot on the nose – with a washable pen.
• Short deck: for a quicker game, play with only 32 cards (A K Q J 10 9 8 7 of each suit, minus the card you take out).
• Three Jacks out: in the Black Peter version, take out every Jack except the J♠. Then any two cards of the same rank make a pair, whatever their colour.
• Papaz Kaçtı: the Turkish version. Take out three Kings instead of a Queen – the last King is the loser. Play goes the other way round: you offer your cards to the player on your right.