Old Maid
Encyclopedia
Old maid is a Victorian
card game
for two to eight players probably deriving from an ancient gambling game in which the loser pays for the drinks. It is known in Germany as Schwarzer Peter, in Sweden as Svarte Petter and in Finland as Musta Pekka (all meaning "black Peter") and in France as le pouilleux ("the lousy/louse-ridden one") or vieux garçon ("old boy"). The game spawns an element of bluff
ing, commonly used in poker
.
of clubs or to add a single joker
. The ace of spades
, queen of spades or joker, respectively, becomes the "old maid"; it cannot be matched, and whoever holds it at the end of the game is the loser. It is possible to discard a single card from the deck face-down; if this is done, players cannot know which card is the old maid.
The dealer deals all of the cards to the players. Some players may have more cards than others; this is acceptable. Players look at their cards and discard any pairs they have (e.g., 2 kings
, 2 sevens, etc.) face up. Players do not discard three of a kind. In common variants, the suit colors of a discarded pair must match: Spades with clubs and diamonds with hearts . When playing with one card removed, this means one unique card is always the old maid instead of it possibly being any of the three remaining cards of that rank.
Beginning with the dealer, each player takes turns offering his hand face-down to the person on his left. That person selects a card and adds it to his or her hand. This player then sees if the selected card makes a pair with their original cards. If so, the pair is discarded face up as well. The player who just took a card then offers his or her hand to the person to their left and so on. A player is allowed to shuffle his hand before offering it to the player on his left. In some variants, all players discard after the dealer has drawn.
The object of the game is to continue to take cards, discarding pairs, until all players except one have no cards. That one player will be left with the lone unmatchable card; they are "stuck with the old maid(your chosen card)" and lose.
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
card game
Card game
A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific. Countless card games exist, including families of related games...
for two to eight players probably deriving from an ancient gambling game in which the loser pays for the drinks. It is known in Germany as Schwarzer Peter, in Sweden as Svarte Petter and in Finland as Musta Pekka (all meaning "black Peter") and in France as le pouilleux ("the lousy/louse-ridden one") or vieux garçon ("old boy"). The game spawns an element of bluff
Bluff (poker)
In the card game of poker, a bluff is a bet or raise made with a hand which is not thought to be the best hand. To bluff is to make such a bet. The objective of a bluff is to induce a fold by at least one opponent who holds a better hand. The size and frequency of a bluff determines its...
ing, commonly used in poker
Poker
Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...
.
How to play
There are retail card decks specifically for playing old maid, but it is just as easy to play with a regular deck of 52 cards. When using a regular deck, a card is either added or removed, resulting in one unmatchable card. The most popular choices are to remove the ace of clubs or queenQueen (playing card)
The Queen is a playing card with a picture of a queen on it. The usual rank of a queen is as if it were 12 ....
of clubs or to add a single joker
Joker (playing card)
Joker is a special type of playing card found in most modern decks, or else a type of tile in some Mahjong game sets.-Name:It is believed that the term "Joker" comes from a mispronunciation of Jucker, the German/Alsatian name for the game Euchre. The card was originally introduced in about 1860 for...
. The ace of spades
Ace of Spades
At least in English-speaking countries, the ace of spades is traditionally seen as the highest card in the deck of playing cards, although the actual value of the card varies from game to game...
, queen of spades or joker, respectively, becomes the "old maid"; it cannot be matched, and whoever holds it at the end of the game is the loser. It is possible to discard a single card from the deck face-down; if this is done, players cannot know which card is the old maid.
King (playing card)
The king is a playing card with a picture of a king on it. The usual rank of a king is as if it were a 13; that is, above the queen. In some games, the king is the highest-ranked card; in others, the ace is higher...
, 2 sevens, etc.) face up. Players do not discard three of a kind. In common variants, the suit colors of a discarded pair must match: Spades with clubs and diamonds with hearts . When playing with one card removed, this means one unique card is always the old maid instead of it possibly being any of the three remaining cards of that rank.
Beginning with the dealer, each player takes turns offering his hand face-down to the person on his left. That person selects a card and adds it to his or her hand. This player then sees if the selected card makes a pair with their original cards. If so, the pair is discarded face up as well. The player who just took a card then offers his or her hand to the person to their left and so on. A player is allowed to shuffle his hand before offering it to the player on his left. In some variants, all players discard after the dealer has drawn.
The object of the game is to continue to take cards, discarding pairs, until all players except one have no cards. That one player will be left with the lone unmatchable card; they are "stuck with the old maid(your chosen card)" and lose.
Variants
- A commonly marketed version of the game is called "Donkey" in which the odd card is the Donkey and the rest of the set is made up of farmyard animals.
- A variant is called jackass, played with jacks instead of queens as the odd amount of cards. It is known in DutchDutch languageDutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
as zwartepieten ("playing Black Pete") or pijkezotjagen ("Chasing the jack of spades"), in PolishPolish languagePolish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
as Piotruś ("Peter"), in IcelandicIcelandic languageIcelandic is a North Germanic language, the main language of Iceland. Its closest relative is Faroese.Icelandic is an Indo-European language belonging to the North Germanic or Nordic branch of the Germanic languages. Historically, it was the westernmost of the Indo-European languages prior to the...
as Svarti Pétur ("black Peter") and in SwedishSwedish languageSwedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
as Svarte Petter ("Black Peter"). - One variant, played in the PhilippinesPhilippinesThe Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, is called ungguy-ungguyan. The game is played exactly as old maid except any card can be removed at the start of the game. That card is revealed at the end of the game and the person left with its "partner" (the odd card) loses and is called unggoy (TagalogTagalog languageTagalog is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by a third of the population of the Philippines and as a second language by most of the rest. It is the first language of the Philippine region IV and of Metro Manila...
for monkeyMonkeyA monkey is a primate, either an Old World monkey or a New World monkey. There are about 260 known living species of monkey. Many are arboreal, although there are species that live primarily on the ground, such as baboons. Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent. Unlike apes, monkeys...
).
- Another variant, baba-nuki (ババ抜き), is played in JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. It is played exactly as old maid, but instead of removing a queen or any other card, a joker is added, and player who is left with it loses. It is depicted in some animeAnimeis the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
where the characters play cards; e.g. Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu, Crayon Shin Chan, Brave Police J-DeckerBrave Police J-DeckerBrave Police J-Decker was the fifth series of the anime television meta Brave series that aired in Japan during 1994 and 1995....
and When They Cry.
- Another variant from the UK is known as scabby queen. The concept of this game is identical, with one exception. When the loser (the player with the single remaining queen) is found, the deck of cards, including the remaining queen but not the jokers, is shuffled and the loser cuts the deck. The card on the bottom of the pile they picked up then decides their "punishment". If a red card (heart or diamond) is chosen, then the player is rapped on the back of the hand with the deck. If a black card (spades or clubs) is chosen, then he has the entire deck scrapped across his knuckles. The number of times this is performed is decided by the value of the card. Cards 2-10 carry face value, jacks and kings have a value of 10, aces are 11 and queens are 21. Be aware that this can rip the skin of your hands, and can be extremely painful, hence the name Scabby Queen. It is also better to use old or cheap cards, as the cards can also be damaged (cheap and older cards also tend to be softer and more bendable, so the "punishment" is less severe). However, today the game is often played without this punishment, especially where the pain inflicted is not considered appropriate by the players (such as when parents are playing with their children), though the game is still called scabby queen. As with all playground games, the rules are often lost in translation and regional variations are common (school-specific rule-sets are not unusual).
- Another variant played in Egypt in the Middle East is called "Abu Foul" or "blind king"; this follows roughly the same rules, except all Kings are removed except one. Pairs are discarded at the outset and everybody takes turns until only the King is left. If a player can take a card, he must. Pairs are discarded once they are formed. Multiple decks can be used depending on the number of players. Jokers are not present. Punishment is played two ways, depending on the group; wishes or strikes, chosen before the game strikes. At the end, the cards are shuffled and spread and the loser pulls a card for every player. Pictures are worth 10, king 20. Strikes are to the hand outstretched, or wishes are short and simple, local to the area and usually involve some sort of mild humiliation.
- Another variant played in Turkey is called "Papaz Kaçtı" with nearly same rules.
- In Brazil, two variants of the "Old Maid" game are played: One called "Fedor", literally "Stink", played with a regular deck out of which one card has been removed; the other one, played with a specialty deck is called "Jogo do Mico", or "Capuchin Monkey Game". The cards depict animals, each one having a male and a female card representation; only the capuchin monkey (mico) does not have an opposite-sex representation.
External links
- Rules of Card Games: Old Maid on Pagat.comPagat.comPagat.com is a website containing rules to hundreds of card games from all over the world. Maintained by John McLeod, it contains information for traditional, commercial, and newly invented card games from all over the world....
.