1: Take one queen out of a regular 52-card deck. Any queen will do.That leaves 51 cards and three queens, so one queen can never be paired.
2: Shuffle, then deal out all 51 cards one at a time.Some players get one card more than others. That does not matter.
3: Everyone looks at their hand and lays down every pair, face up.A pair is two cards of the same rank: two 7s or two kings. Suits do not matter.
4: Three of a rank? Lay down two and keep one. Four? Lay down both pairs.Only pairs go down. The leftover card waits for its partner.
5: The dealer goes first: spread your cards face down toward the player on your left.One rule book starts with the player on the dealer's left. Either way works.
6: That player takes one card without seeing its face.If it pairs with a card in their hand, the pair goes down. If not, they keep it.
7: The player who just took a card offers their own hand to the left, and so on.Play keeps moving around the table to the left, one card at a time.
8: Out of cards? You are safe. Sit back and watch the rest.The turn passes to the next player on the left who still holds cards.
9: In the end one queen is left with no partner. Whoever holds it loses.There is no winner, only one loser: everyone else is safe.
Old Maid is a card game for two or more players and one regular deck; over six, shuffle in a second deck. Nobody wins. Players pair off their cards and drop out safe until one holds the odd queen.
Read the full guide
Old Maid game using regular playing cards
No picture pack is needed. Any 52-card deck works once a queen is set aside. Pairs go by rank alone, so a red 9 and a black 9 match. The fun is in the draw: nobody knows where the odd queen sits, and its holder wants you to take it.
Directions for two players and for kids
Cards each, by number of players shows how the cards fall for two to eight people. Two players explains why every draw but one makes a pair. Kid versions and table rulings has a joker game, a mystery card and a shorter deck.
Mix up your hand before you offer it, so nobody can track where the queen went.
Keep a straight face when a hand hovers over the queen. Young players give it away by grinning.
Questions and answers
How do you play Old Maid, the card game?
Take one queen out of the deck and deal the rest. Everyone lays down their pairs. In turn, each player offers their hand face down to the player on their left, who takes one card. Whoever is left with the odd queen loses.
How do you play the Old Maid card game with 2 players?
Deal 26 cards and 25, and lay down the pairs. Then take turns drawing one unseen card from each other. Every card you draw makes a pair unless it is the queen, so the game is dodging that one card.
Can you play Old Maid with regular playing cards?
Yes. A standard 52-card deck with one queen removed is the classic Old Maid playing card game. You can also leave all four queens in and add one joker as the odd card.
How many cards do you deal in Old Maid?
All of them: 51 once the queen is out. Four players get 13, 13, 13 and 12. Hands do not have to be even.
How do you play the kid version of Old Maid?
The rules are the same at every age. For young players we suggest a shorter deck, the aces to 6s and one queen, or a joker as the odd card so it is easy to spot.
1: Take one queen out of a regular 52-card deck. Any queen will do.That leaves 51 cards and three queens, so one queen can never be paired.
2: Shuffle, then deal out all 51 cards one at a time.Some players get one card more than others. That does not matter.
3: Everyone looks at their hand and lays down every pair, face up.A pair is two cards of the same rank: two 7s or two kings. Suits do not matter.
4: Three of a rank? Lay down two and keep one. Four? Lay down both pairs.Only pairs go down. The leftover card waits for its partner.
5: The dealer goes first: spread your cards face down toward the player on your left.One rule book starts with the player on the dealer's left. Either way works.
6: That player takes one card without seeing its face.If it pairs with a card in their hand, the pair goes down. If not, they keep it.
7: The player who just took a card offers their own hand to the left, and so on.Play keeps moving around the table to the left, one card at a time.
8: Out of cards? You are safe. Sit back and watch the rest.The turn passes to the next player on the left who still holds cards.
9: In the end one queen is left with no partner. Whoever holds it loses.There is no winner, only one loser: everyone else is safe.
Show all 30 rows (21 more)
Cards each, by number of players 7
1: Two players: one gets 26 cards and the other 25.Dealt one at a time, the hand dealt first ends up with the extra card.
2: Three players: 17 cards each.Three is the one table size where 51 cards deal out evenly.
3: Four players: three get 13 cards and one gets 12.The last hand dealt is the short one.
4: Five players: one gets 11 cards and four get 10.The first hand dealt holds the extra card.
5: Six players: three get 9 cards and three get 8.Six is the most for one deck.
6: Seven or eight players: shuffle two decks together and still remove just one queen.That is 103 cards. Seven players: five get 15 and two get 14. Eight: seven get 13 and one gets 12.
7: Pass the deal one seat to the left each game (ours).That way the extra card moves around the table too.
Two players 6
1: Remove one queen and deal out the deck: 26 cards and 25.Hands this big are hard to hold, but they shrink fast once the pairs go down.
2: Both players lay down every pair.After pairing, nobody holds more than 13 cards: one of each rank at most.
3: What is left: each of your cards has its partner in the other hand, apart from the queen.Our note. It follows from the pairing: you hold the same ranks, one card each.
4: Take turns drawing one unseen card from the other player's hand.At the start, the hand with one card more is the one holding the queen.
5: Every card you draw makes a pair, unless it is the queen.So the whole two-player game is one question: who draws the queen last?
6: Shuffle your hand under the table before each offer (ours).Then the other player cannot follow where the queen went.
Kid versions and table rulings 8
1: Joker game: leave all four queens in and add one joker as the odd card.That makes 53 cards. The joker is easy for young players to spot.
2: Mystery card: take out one card without looking and hide it until the end.Nobody knows which card has no partner until the pairs run out.
3: Reversed game: whoever holds the odd card at the end wins.Everything else stays the same.
4: A shorter deck (ours): the aces to 6s and one queen, 25 cards in all.A quicker game with smaller hands, for ages 4 and up.
5: A picture pack works too: every card has a twin except one.The rules are the ones on the standard sheet.
6: Choose from the backs. No peeking, and no hints from the holder (ours).Holding the cards in a fan, backs out, keeps it fair.
7: Missed a pair in your hand? Lay it down when you notice (ours).A pair is never a mistake to lay down late.
8: One player left with cards? The game is over: that card is the odd one.Turn it up to check, then deal again.
How this list was compiled: Written for this site on 2026-10-09, in our own words. Old Maid is a traditional card game with no governing body. The standard game (one queen taken out of a regular 52-card deck; all 51 cards dealt, with uneven hands allowed; pairs of the same rank laid down; two of three alike laid down and one kept; each player in turn offering a face-down hand to the player on the left, who takes one card; players who run out of cards being safe; the holder of the last queen losing) was checked on 2026-10-09 against English Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, Old maid (card game): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_maid_(card_game), and against the card game rules site Pagat: https://www.pagat.com/passing/oldmaid.html. Pagat has the dealer offer first; Wikipedia's modern rules start with the player on the dealer's left. Two decks for more than six players, a joker as the odd card and a card taken out unseen are as Wikipedia gives them; the reversed game and the special packs of matching pairs are as Pagat gives them. The hands for each number of players were worked out from 51 cards, and from 103 for two decks. Rows marked ours, the shorter deck among them, and the notes on the two-player game are this site's own suggestions and are not official. The page is written for ages 4 and up. It needs no boxed deck and nothing is played for a stake. Licence: own work