Play Old Maid Online

Overview

Old Maid is a classic card game where players try to pair up all of their cards without possessing the unpairable queen. Old Maid is very popular among kids and can be played with 2 to 12 players.

The Deck and the Deal

Old Maid is played with a standard deck of 52 cards. The dealer begins by removing one of the queens from the deck. After doing so, the dealer passes out all of the cards, one by one, clockwise. Traditionally, Old Maid is played with a special deck where players match pictures instead of numbered cards.

How to Play

After all of the cards are passed out, players begin making as many pairs as they can with the cards in their hand. When no one can make any more pairs, the dealer presents their hand, face down, to the player on their left. The player left of the dealer then blindly chooses one of the dealer's cards. The player sees if they can make any new pairs with this card. If they cannot, then the player presents their hand, face down, to the player on their left.

Once a player pairs up all of the cards in their hand, they are out of the game.

Play continues this way until all of the cards are paired up.

Scoring

Traditionally, the last player left with the queen is the Old Maid and loses the round. To make things a bit more interesting, at CardzMania, players score penalty points depending on the order in which they got rid of all of their cards. The first player to do so scores no penalty points, the second player scores 1 penalty point, the last player scores 3 penalty points and all other players score 2 penalty points.

Winning

The game ends when one player has accrued 6 penalty points. The winner is whoever has the fewest points.

Variations

CardzMania supports several customizable rules and options so you can play Old Maid exactly how you like or how you grew up playing with your friends and family. In addition to the classic way of playing, we often have new creative options for you to try to spice up the game if you are interested in trying different spins for fun.

Points

Players determine a set amount of points when the game ends.

Rounds

Players determine a set amount of rounds (also known as hands or deals) that the game will go to (instead of the points selection above).

Timer

Players only have a set amount of time to make their turn after which a turn is automatically played for them and the game proceeds: Fast is 7 seconds, Standard is 15 seconds, Slow is 30 seconds, and Very Slow is 60 seconds. Players can also choose to disable the timer, but that is only for private tables.

Old Maid

Players can determine which card is the old maid. Traditionally, and by default, it will be one of the queens. At CardzMania, to make things more interesting, you can also select 'random' for this variation, in which case players will not know which card is the Old Maid.

Double Deck

Players can determine if they want to play with two decks or 104 cards.

Classic Basics

Classic games vary to a great degree in terms of rules and objectives. A thread that binds them all is their simplicity and age. Classic games are typically easy enough for young children to play them and have typically been around for many years.

Card Game Basics

A deck of cards consists of 52 cards, with 4 distinctive subgroups. Each of these subgroups is recognised by a symbol and are referred to as suits. They consist of Clubs, Spades, Hearts and Diamonds. Each suit contains 13 cards which, generally, are considered in this order, Ace (A), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jacks (J), Queen (Q) and King (K). Some games include the two Jokers found in a standard deck but most games don't.

Feedback

Would like to discuss new features or variations for Old Maid? Need a custom rule? Have a question? Got a suggestion? Don't see a game you want to play? Please contact us by email, facebook or twitter - we really value your feedback and love hearing from all of you!

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