However, it is more often played with a special pack of 31 or 37 cards in which the Schwarzer Peter card depicts a black cat or a chimney sweep. The final holder of the odd jack when all other cards had been paired was the loser. Originally it was played with a standard pack (often a 32-card pack) from which a black jack was removed. The equivalent game to Old Maid in Germany and several other European countries is called 'Black Peter'. Several types of Old Maid cards can be obtained individually or in collections of childrens' games from, from whom I receive a small commission on orders. Some German sets of Quartett cards come with a Black Peter card so that they can also be used for this game. Old Maid is sometimes played with a special pack of cards: all the cards come in matching pairs except for a single Old Maid card, whose holder at the end is the loser. The mechanism of the game is exactly the same, but when everyone else has run out of cards the holder of the odd card (the last Queen or Jack or the Old Maid card) is the winner. It is also possible to play a reversed version of Old Maid. In some countries, where the game has a male name, such as Black Peter, it is a Jack that is removed rather than a Queen, and the loser is the holder of the odd Jack at the end. Eventually all the cards will have been discarded except one queen (the old maid) and the holder of this queen loses. The turn passes to the next player to your left, who spreads his or her cards for the following player to draw one. If you get rid of all your cards you are safe and you take no further part. The player who just took a card then offers her hand to the next player to her left, and so on. If it makes a pair in her hand she discards the pair.

That player selects a card from your hand without seeing it, and adds it to her hand. At your turn you must offer your cards spread face down to the player to your left. The players all look at their cards and discard any pairs they have (a pair is two cards of equal rank, such as two sevens or two kings). The dealer deals out all the cards to the players (generally some will have one more card than others - this does not matter). It is also possible to play with a special pack - see variations below. From a standard 52 card pack remove one queen leaving 51 cards.

This children's game is known by various names in many parts of the world, for example it is Schwarzer Peter (Black Peter) in Germany, Vieux Garçon or Le Pouilleux in France, Ekae in Thailand and Papaz kaçtı in Turkey.

Old maid card game