1Object of the game
Don't get stuck with the Old Maid. With one queen out of the deck, the three remaining queens can't all pair up, so one queen is left over at the end. You want to get rid of your cards by making pairs, and you want the odd queen to end up in someone else's hand. There's no winner in the usual sense, just one loser.
2Setup
- Take one queen out of a standard 52-card deck and set it aside without using it. That leaves 51 cards. If you have an Old Maid deck, use it as it comes.
- Shuffle and deal all 51 cards one at a time, face down, starting to the dealer's left. Some players will get one more card than others.
- Everyone looks at their hand and discards every pair face down in the middle. A pair is two cards of the same rank, like two 7s or two kings.
- If you hold three of a kind, discard two of them and keep the third. If you hold four, discard both pairs.
3The play
- The dealer goes first. Fan your cards face down and hold them out to the player on your left.
- That player draws one card from your hand without seeing its face.
- If the drawn card matches a card in their hand, they discard the pair face down. If not, they keep it.
- That player then fans their own cards face down and offers them to the next player on their left. Play keeps moving left around the table.
- When you run out of cards, you're safe and drop out. The player on your left then draws from the next player who still has cards.
4End of a hand
The hand ends when all 50 paired cards have been discarded and one queen is left. The player holding it is the Old Maid. Most families play a few quick hands, and the Old Maid deals the next one.
5Scoring
Old Maid has no points. Each hand ends with one loser, the player holding the unpaired queen.
| For | Points |
|---|---|
| Cards in the deck | 51 (one queen removed) |
| Pairs to discard | 25 |
| Queens that pair | 2 of the remaining 3 |
| Player holding the last queen | Loses the hand |
| Discarding a false pair | That player loses |
Bicycle's rules say a player who discards two cards that aren't a pair loses and becomes the Old Maid, because the mistake leaves three unmatched cards at the end instead of one. If you want to play over several hands, count how many times each player is the Old Maid and the fewest wins.
6Winning
There's one loser per hand: the player left with the last queen. Everyone else is safe. Pagat.com mentions a reversed version where the holder of the odd card wins instead. Some families use it for a change of pace.
7A worked hand
Three players: you, Ava and Ben. The Q♣ is set aside, and 51 cards are dealt: 17 each. After everyone discards their starting pairs, your hand is Q♥, 7♣, 4♦ and J♠. Ava is on your right, so she offers you her fanned hand. You draw the 7♥. It matches your 7♣, so you lay down the pair. You now hold Q♥, 4♦ and J♠. You fan them face down and offer them to Ben on your left. Ben draws the Q♥, which doesn't pair with anything he holds, so he keeps it. You're down to two cards. On your next turn you draw the 4♠ from Ava and discard the 4♠ and 4♦. Then Ben draws your last card, the J♠, and you're safe. Late in the hand the Q♠ and Q♦ meet in Ava's hand and go down as a pair. Now Ben holds the Q♥ and the 5♣, and Ava holds only the 5♥. Ava draws the 5♣, pairs it, and is out. Ben is left with the Q♥: he's the Old Maid.
8House rules
The rules above are the version most US players use. These are the variations you are most likely to run into; settle them before the first deal.
- Joker as the Old Maid
- Wikipedia describes adding a joker to a full 52-card deck instead of removing a queen. The joker has no match, so its holder at the end loses.
- Remove a jack (Black Peter)
- Pagat.com notes that where the game has a male name, such as Black Peter, a jack is removed instead of a queen. The unmatched jack is the losing card.
- Random card removed
- Wikipedia lists removing one card at random, face down, without anyone looking. Nobody knows which rank is the odd one until late in the game.
- Pairs must match color
- In a variant Wikipedia describes, a pair must be the same color: spades with clubs, hearts with diamonds. It makes pairs harder to find and the game longer.
- Old Maid card decks
- Pagat.com describes special decks with illustrated matching pairs and a single Old Maid card. They play exactly the same way, and the pictures are easier for young kids than ranks.
9Mistakes people make
- Remove only one queen. Leave the other three in, since two of them will pair and one will be left over.
- Pairs are by rank. Any two queens make a pair, and any two 7s make a pair, whatever their suits.
- With three of a kind, discard only two and keep the third in your hand.
- You offer your hand to the player on your left, which means you draw from the player on your right.
10Playing better
- Mix up your cards before you offer them. If you always put the queen in the same spot, people will learn to avoid it.
- Keep a straight face. Players watch your eyes and hands as they reach for a card, especially near the end.
- Try moving the queen to where people tend to pick, like the middle or the edges, and see who takes it. It's a guess, but it's a fun one.
- Count queens as they're discarded. Once two have paired, the remaining one is the Old Maid, and you know which card to avoid.
- For young children, let them hold cards in a card holder or lay them face down on the table in a row to choose from.
Old Maid: questions people ask
- What card is the Old Maid?
- In a standard deck, the Old Maid is the queen that's left without a partner. You remove one queen before the deal, so of the three queens left, two pair up and one doesn't. Whoever holds that last queen at the end is the Old Maid.
- Can you play Old Maid with a regular deck of cards?
- Yes. Take one queen out of a standard 52-card deck and play with the other 51 cards. That's the version in Bicycle's and pagat.com's rules. Special Old Maid decks with pictures work the same way, with one unmatched Old Maid card.
- How many cards do you deal in Old Maid?
- Deal all 51 cards out, one at a time, as far as they go. Hands don't have to be even. With 3 players each person gets 17 cards, and with 4 players three people get 13 and one gets 12.
- Which way do you pass cards in Old Maid?
- Play moves to the left. You fan your cards face down and offer them to the player on your left, who takes one. That means you always draw from the player on your right.
- What happens if you have three of a kind in Old Maid?
- Discard two of them as a pair and keep the third card. It may pair later when you draw the fourth card of that rank. If you're dealt all four, discard them as two pairs.
- Is there a winner in Old Maid?
- Not really. Old Maid has one loser per hand, the player left with the unmatched queen. Anyone who runs out of cards is safe. Some families play the reversed version pagat.com mentions, where the holder of the odd card wins.
- Do pairs have to be the same color in Old Maid?
- No. In the standard rules, a pair is any two cards of the same rank, whatever their suits or colors. Some families play a variant where pairs must match color too: spades with clubs, hearts with diamonds.
- Can 2 people play Old Maid?
- Yes, the rules work with two, but it's not much of a game. Each player can tell whether they hold the odd queen, so there's little suspense. It's better with three or more, where nobody knows who has it.
Sources
Checked by Morgan Hale against the sources below. Last reviewed September 28, 2026.
- Old Maid, Bicycle Cards. Read September 29, 2026.
- Old Maid, pagat.com. Read September 29, 2026.
- Old maid (card game), Wikipedia. Read September 29, 2026.
Also on the table: Go Fish, War, Spoons, Crazy Eights.