How To Play The Old Maid Card Game

Old Maid Card Game is fun to play with two or more friends. All you need is a regular deck of 52 cards. The game’s goal is to find pairs of matching cards and ensure you only end up with the last remaining Queen card with a pair. Let’s learn more about the old maid card game, have a look:

Setting Up

Pick someone to be the initial dealer before starting the old maid card game. To decide, each player is has a card from a shuffled deck, and the person with the high card becomes the 1st dealer. If there is a tie, you can break it by dealing cards again. Remember, in this process, Aces are considered high cards, and 2s are considered low cards.

The dealer removes one Queen card from the deck to make it the “Old Maid”. Then, the dealer mixes up the deck and the player on their right cuts it. After that, the dealer distributes the cards to each player one at a time, moving clockwise.

How to Play?

Once everyone has received their cards, players look for any matching pairs in their hands and place them face-down on the table. Then, the dealer holds their hand with the cards facing down (so nobody can see) and extends it to the player on their left.

The player on the dealer’s left side randomly chooses one card from the dealer’s hand and adds it to their own. They try to make one more match with this new card. So, if they succeed, they keep the pair and add it to their collection of teams.

If they can’t make a pair, they keep the card in their hand. Then, the player to the left of the dealer offers their hand, facing down, to the next player, and the old maid card game continues in the same way.

Players can avoid being the Old Maid in two methods: by matching all of their cards into pairs or by having the player who is on their left side take their final card during the game.

Since one Queen card was released, one Queen is always left without a pair. The player who ends up with that Queen at the game’s end becomes loses Old Maid.

Gameplay Example

Let’s imagine you have already received your cards. You have three Queens, an Ace, 9, two 10s, 2, 3, 8, and two Jacks. You match up the Queens, 10s, and Jacks with their pairs, just like the other players do with their own cards.

The person on your right is the dealer, and they show you their hand with the cards facing down. You randomly choose a card from their hand and take a 9. You pair it up with the other nine you have, then offer your hand with the cards facing down to the player on your left.

• In one round of the old maid card game, someone randomly takes one of your Queen cards. The round ends, and a new round starts.
• In the next round, you choose a 4 card and show your hand to the player on your left. They pick your Ace card. Another round passes.
• In the upcoming round, you receive a 7 card but lose an 8 card.
• Another round passes, and the player in front of you successfully matches all their cards and goes out of the game.
• In the next round, you get your initial Queen card back but lose a 7 card.
• Another round goes by, and the player to your left successfully matches all their cards and goes out of the game.
• You receive a King card but lose a 3 card.
• Finally, in the last round, you take the last card from the last player. They successfully match all their cards and leave the game, making you the Old Maid.

Some Questions

How many people can play Old Maid Card Game?

Old Maid can be played with 2 to 8 players. The more players, the more exciting the old maid card game can be, as there are more opportunities to trade cards and avoid being stuck with the Old Maid.

What happens when you run out of cards in Old Maid Card Game?

In Old Maid, if you run out of cards, you are safe and do not lose the game. The last player with a card in their hand is the loser and becomes the Old Maid.