Prepare the deck
Take one Queen out of a standard 52-card deck, leaving 51 cards. This table removes the Queen of Clubs, but any Queen can be removed. Deal every card clockwise. An uneven deal is fine.
Passing · Matching · 2+ players
Old Maid.
Also known as Black Peter · Schwarzer Peter · Vieux Garçon · Le Pouilleux · Ekae · Papaz Kaçtı
Take a card you cannot see. Make a pair if you can. Get out before the odd Queen finds a permanent home in your hand.
Waiting
Choose a hidden card when it is your turn.
Hidden cards
YYou0 cards
Round complete
01 How to play
Find pairs.
Avoid the odd card.
Old Maid is a simple passing game for two or more people. The table above uses four players: you and three bots. The objective is to avoid holding the single unmatched Queen when all other cards are gone.
Discard opening pairs
Before drawing, everyone discards all pairs in their hand. A pair is two cards of the same rank; the suits can differ. Four cards of one rank make two pairs. Three Queens make one pair and leave the odd Queen. Here, select and discard your own pairs; the bots discard theirs automatically.
Draw without looking
The dealer offers their cards face down to the player on their left. That player chooses one card without seeing its face. Here, tap one of the offered card backs when the game says “Your draw”. Bots choose a random position.
Pair, then pass on
The player who drew adds the card to their hand and discards a pair if it makes one. That player then offers their remaining cards to the next player on their left. At this table, the bots discard automatically; you select both matching cards and press “Discard selected pair”.
Leave when empty
Once a player has no cards, they are safe and take no further part. Skip safe players when choosing who offers and who draws. The turns continue clockwise among the players still holding cards.
The Old Maid loses
Eventually every card has been paired except one Queen. The person left holding it loses the round. This table records losses if you deal another round.
02 History & variants
One odd card.
Many names.
Across countries
The matching-and-passing game is known in different places by different names. In Germany, Schwarzer Peter or Black Peter is a close relative; France has Vieux Garçon and Le Pouilleux, Thailand has Ekae, and Turkey has Papaz Kaçtı. These names can also signal different decks or house rules.
The precise origin of this family is uncertain. What connects its versions is the suspense of passing a face-down card and trying not to finish with the only card that cannot be paired.
Other ways to play
Black Peter often uses a special deck with one unmatched illustrated card. Some groups instead remove a Jack from a normal deck so the final odd Jack loses. A reverse version makes the holder of the odd card the winner.
The Turkish Papaz Kaçtı is a distinct local version: three Kings are removed, play goes anticlockwise, and the odd King can count as a loss across several deals. This playable table uses the 51-card Queen version described in the rules above.