In the card game Old Maid, players take turns pulling a card from their opponents hand to form pairs, and the cards are removed from the hand once the pair has been formed. The aim of each player is not to be found with the Old Maid, the only unmatched card.
What happens if someone runs out of cards in Old Maid? If the opponent on the right side runs out of cards in their hand, then the player is automatically skipped, and the second player to the right should be the one to pick a card from. However, if all the player run out of cards in their hand, it means that the final player is holding the odd card (Old Maid), hence they lose the game.
Each time a player runs out of cards, they win, meaning the game will have multiple winners. However, there will be one player left with the Old Maid, and that player will be the loser.
The elemental point to keep in mind when playing Old Maid is never be the one left with the Old Maid card in the end. Answered below are frequently asked questions about running out of cards in Old Maid and what you should do next.
How does the game Old Maid end?
Old Maid game ends when all the players have run out of cards in their hands, and one player has the unmatchable Old Maid card. The player with the remaining Old Maid card is the loser.
Players can only discard after forming a pair of two identical cards by picking one card from their opponent’s hand. Once a player runs out of cards in their hand, they automatically cease being part of that round; they either win (when official rules are applied) or lose (when reverse rules are applied.
The elimination of players continues until one player is left with the Old Maid, which doesn’t have a pair and cannot be discarded.
What happens when a player runs out of cards in Old Maid?
Two things happen when a player runs out of cards in Old Maid:
- The player can’t pick a card from anyone and must draw from the opponent on the right. Hence, when their turn arrives, they get skipped, and the gameplay passes to the next player who gets to pick the card.
- The player automatically ceases from that game, and they win. Irrespective of whether they were the first to compete their hand or not, they join the winning list. If reverse rules are applied, whenever a player runs out of cards, the player loses the round because the solo winner will be the player with the Old Maid card left in their hand.
Who wins in Old Maid?
Anytime a player runs out of cards in their hand, they become a winner. The number of players will determine the number of winners because there can be multiple winners in Old Maid.
When the game has multiple numbers of players (3 to 8 players), the first player to finish their hand becomes the first winner, but not the only winner.
Though there are multiple winners, there can only be one loser, and the person who still has the Old Maid card when everyone else finished their hand.
There is a house rule variation known as the change-up rule that reverses the normal rules of Old Maid. In this case, instead of the player with the Old Maid card losing, they are actually the only winner.
When this house rule is applied, there is only one winner and multiple losers.
Running Out of Cards in Old Maid: Conclusion
When playing Old Maid using the official rules, run-in gout of cards in your hand is a good thing. But when reverse rules apply, the last player remaining with the Old Maid will be the winner.
There can be multiple winners in Old Maid, but only one loser and vice versa apply when the rules are reversed. The determining factor will be the Old Maid card, the player with the card can lose or win the game depending on the rules.
If the card makes one lose, try to avoid it as much as possible, but if it makes someone win, try to get hold of the mismatch card.
The Old Maid card makes or breaks the game, and should remain secretive whether it makes one lose or win. On the losing side, nobody will take the card from the player’s hand, and in contrast the opponent will target it to get the possession of the card for the win.