Traditional card games
Old Maid
Get rid of all your cards in pairs, without being left with the odd Jack.
- players
- 2–8
- minutes
- 15
You’ll need: 52-card deck minus one jack. Marquoir gives you all the rules and keeps score.
Never played? Aim of the game and full rulesStep by step, with examples, for a first game.Setup
- One Jack is removed from the 52-card deck: 51 remain, including one Jack with no partner, the Pouilleux.
- The whole deck is dealt, even if the hands are uneven.
How to play
- Everyone starts by laying down in front of them all the pairs they hold.
- On your turn, draw a card at random from the hand of your left-hand neighbour, without seeing it. A player with no cards left is out of the round and is no longer drawn from.
- If it makes a pair, lay it down. Otherwise keep it.
- Play continues until all the pairs have been laid down.
Scoring
- There are no points as such: you count rounds lost.
- Enter 1 for the player left holding the Pouilleux, 0 for everyone else. The lowest total wins.
End of the game
- The round ends when only one card is left in play: the odd Jack.
- Whoever holds it has lost the round.
House rules and pitfalls
- The game is also called Mistigri, Vieux Garçon or Pierre Noire, depending on the region.
- You can remove a Queen instead of a Jack: the principle is the same.
never played?Aim of the game and full rules9 chapters · about 3 min read
Goal of the game
Get rid of all your cards by making pairs, and above all do not end up with the Pouilleux: the Jack left on its own, which can never be paired. Whoever holds it last loses the round. It is a game of luck and a little bluff, ideal with children.
What you need
A 52-card deck from which one Jack is removed (the Jack of clubs, by tradition). 51 cards remain: among them, one Jack no longer has a partner of the same colour and becomes the Pouilleux. Three to eight players; it also works with two, but you soon know who has it.
What a pair is
Two cards of the same rank and the same colour: two red 7s (hearts and diamonds), two black Kings (spades and clubs). A 7 of hearts and a 7 of spades do not make a pair. This is what leaves the Jack of spades alone once the Jack of clubs has been removed.
Setting up
- Remove the Jack of clubs and put it aside without showing it.
- Shuffle the 51 cards and deal them all, one at a time. Some players will have one more card than others.
- Each player looks at their hand, fanned out, without showing it.
- Everyone first lays down, face up in front of them, all the pairs they already hold.
A turn
- The player to the dealer's left starts.
- They reach towards their left-hand neighbour, who holds out their cards in a fan, face down.
- They draw one at random, without seeing it before taking it.
- If it makes a pair with a card in their hand, they lay the pair down in front of them. Otherwise, they keep it.
- Next, the player who has just had a card taken draws in turn from their own left-hand neighbour, and so on.
for example
Tom holds a 5 of diamonds, a King of spades and the Pouilleux. Léa draws the King of spades from him: she had the King of clubs, so she lays down the pair. Then it is Tom's turn to draw from Sam.
Going out
A player with no cards left goes out of the round: they are safe, and nobody draws from them any more. The next player then draws from the next player who still has cards.
End of the round
When all the pairs have been laid down, only one card is left in play: the Pouilleux. Whoever holds it has lost the round. You count rounds lost: in Marquoir, enter 1 for the loser, 0 for the others. The lowest total wins the game.
The bluff
This is where the fun is: whoever has the Pouilleux tries to get it taken. They can make it stick out of their fan, place it at the edge, change the order of their cards, look away… The player drawing watches their eyes and hands. Shuffling your cards before holding them out is allowed and recommended.
Variants
- Remove a Queen instead of a Jack: a Queen is then left on its own.
- Play with a 32-card deck for a shorter game, still removing a Jack.
- Simpler for young children: a pair is two cards of the same rank, whatever their colour. Remove three Jacks and keep the fourth, the only possible Pouilleux.
Frequently asked questions
What is the goal?
Not to be left with the "pouilleux" — the odd Jack — at the end. Everyone gets rid of their pairs; the loser is the one who keeps the lone card.
How is the game set up?
Remove one Jack from the deck: the other three Jacks can form pairs, but one will always be left alone. Deal everything, then each player discards their starting pairs.
How does a turn work?
Each player in turn draws a card at random from their neighbour's hand. If it completes a pair, they discard it. Play continues until all the pairs are out.
Can you play without a loser?
No: by design, there is always exactly one card left without a pair. The game always ends with a "pouilleux" in someone's hand.
Is it a game of luck or skill?
Mostly luck and bluff: keeping a straight face while holding out your cards stops your opponent guessing where the lone Jack is hiding.
The box
- Age
- Ages 4+
- Origin
- Traditional game, with no specific designer or publisher
- Mechanics
- Hand ManagementHot PotatoSet Collection