How to Play Old Maid

Description

Match and discard pairs until someone is left holding the one card that has no partner. That player is the Old Maid.

Also known as: La Llorona

Objective

Pair off every card in your hand — and avoid being the one left holding the odd card out.

Setup

Remove one Queen from the deck, leaving the other three. The lone remaining Queen is the Old Maid.

Deal the whole deck out to every player — it's fine if some players get one more card than others.

Before play starts, everyone discards any pairs already in their hand face up.

Rules

On your turn, fan your cards face down and offer them to the player on your left, who picks one at random.

If the card they draw pairs with one in their hand, they discard the pair. If not, they keep it.

Play continues around the table. A player with no cards left drops out.

Winning

Everyone who pairs off their whole hand is safe.

Whoever is left holding the unmatched Queen when everyone else is out is the Old Maid — and loses.

Ready to play?

Get the app and start playing.

Get the app