You’re sitting at a kitchen table, the air is thick with the smell of fried food or maybe just the humidity of a Sunday afternoon, and someone pulls out a deck of cards. They don't want to play Poker. They aren't interested in the complexity of Bridge. They want to play Pitty Pat. It's a game that feels like it’s been around forever, tucked away in the memories of grandparents and neighborhood porches. Honestly, it’s one of the simplest games you’ll ever encounter, but that’s exactly why the arguments start. Everyone has their own "house rules" that they swear are the official ones.
Pitty Pat is a matching game. That is the core of it. If you’ve ever played Rummy, you’re already halfway there, but Pitty Pat strips away the fluff. It’s fast. It’s loud. And if you aren't paying attention, you’ll lose before you’ve even settled into your chair.
Most people think they know how to play pitty pat, but they usually trip up on the nuances of the "up-card" or exactly how many cards make a winning hand. Let's get the record straight so you can stop arguing and start winning.
The Bare Bones: What You Need to Start
You need a standard 52-card deck. No jokers. Throw them in the trash—or at least back in the box. You can play with two people, but it gets significantly better with three or four. If you try to play with five or more, the deck runs out too fast, and the game feels like a chaotic mess rather than a strategic match.
Every player gets seventeen cards. Wait—no. That’s a common mistake people make when they confuse this with other Rummy variants. In a standard, classic game of Pitty Pat, you’re looking at a three-card hand or a five-card hand depending on which regional version you’re following. The most widely accepted "standard" version used in casual play across the United States involves dealing five cards to each player.
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The remaining cards go face down in the center. This is your draw pile, often called the stock. The dealer flips the top card over to start the discard pile. This card is the "up-card."
The Flow of the Game
The person to the dealer's left goes first. The goal? Be the first person to pair up all your cards. If you have five cards in your hand, you need to form pairs. Once all your cards are part of a pair, you’re out. You’ve won.
On your turn, you have to take a card. You can either take the top card from the discard pile (the one everyone can see) or draw a fresh one from the deck. Here is where the strategy kicks in. If the up-card matches something in your hand, you take it. You now have a pair. In Pitty Pat, you don't lay these pairs down on the table immediately like you would in Gin Rummy. You keep them in your hand until the moment you "go out," though some house rules allow for laying them down to show progress. Personally, keeping them hidden keeps the tension higher.
If you draw a card and it doesn't help you, you have to discard. You can’t just keep hoarding cards. Your hand must always return to the original count (usually five) at the end of your turn, unless you’ve matched everything and won.
The Magic of the Match
A match in Pitty Pat is strictly numerical. Suits don't matter. A 7 of Hearts and a 7 of Spades is a pair. A King of Diamonds and a King of Clubs is a pair. You aren't looking for runs. You aren't looking for 3-4-5 of Hearts. If you try to play a straight, you’re playing the wrong game. This is purely about rank.
It sounds easy. It is easy. But the speed of the game is what catches people off guard. Because the deck is small and the hands are short, the game can end in three turns. It’s a sprint, not a marathon.
Why People Argue Over the Rules
If you go to a different city, the rules for how to play pitty pat will change. It’s a folk game. It wasn't invented by a corporation; it grew in communities.
One major point of contention is the "Leading Card." In some versions, you don't start with a discard pile. Instead, the person to the left of the dealer leads by playing a card from their hand. The next player must match that card if they can. If they can't, they draw. This version feels a bit more like "Slapjack" or "War" and is often what people mean when they talk about the "Old School" way.
Then there’s the "Draw Until You Match" rule. Some families play where if it’s your turn and you can’t make a pair from the discard or the top card of the deck, you keep drawing from the deck until you find a match. This is dangerous. You can end up with twenty cards in your hand while your opponent has two. It’s a high-stakes way to play that turns a simple game into a psychological battle.
The Three-Card Variant
In some circles, especially in the South, Pitty Pat is played with only three cards. This version is lightning-fast. You get three cards, you match two, and you’re looking for that final third card to end the game. It’s often used as a gambling game because rounds are so short that you can play fifty games in an hour.
Strategy: It’s Not Just Luck
Since you’re mostly just waiting for a card to show up, you might think there’s no strategy. You’d be wrong.
- Watch the discards. This is basic, but people forget. If you see two Jacks have already been discarded and you’re holding a Jack, your chances of pairing that card are plummeting. Dump it.
- The "Middle" Cards. 7s, 8s, and 9s are statistically more "active" in many shuffling patterns, though that’s more of a gambler’s superstition than hard math. Still, holding onto high face cards can be a trap if people are scared to discard them.
- The Psychological Dump. If you know the person after you is looking for a Queen, and you have a Queen that isn't helping you, you have to decide: do you hold it and stall your own game, or do you drop it and hope they aren't ready?
Common Misconceptions and Errors
Don't call it "Patty Cake." That’s a nursery rhyme. Don't call it "Pitt-a-Pat." It’s Pitty Pat.
Another mistake is the "Last Card" rule. In many versions, you cannot win by drawing a card that completes your last pair from the deck; you must win by picking up a discard from the player before you. This is a common house rule designed to make the game last longer than thirty seconds. Check with your group before the first card is dealt. There is nothing worse than thinking you’ve won and having the whole table tell you that "we don't play like that here."
Also, the deck. If you play enough rounds, the deck will "stack" itself into pairs because of how people discard. If you don't do a thorough riffle shuffle—at least three or four times—the game becomes predictable. A lazy shuffle is the enemy of a good Pitty Pat game.
Steps to Master Your Next Game
To actually get good and stop being the person who asks "wait, whose turn is it?", follow this rhythm:
- Organize your hand immediately. Group your potential pairs. If you have a 4, a 6, an 8, a King, and a 2, realize you are in trouble. You have no "hooks."
- Prioritize the Discard Pile. Only draw from the face-down deck if the discard is absolutely useless. The discard is a known variable. The deck is a mystery.
- Manage your discards wisely. Always toss the card that is "dead"—meaning you’ve seen the other versions of it pass by already.
- Stay alert. Because the game is fast, people often skip players or draw out of turn. Keep your eyes on the pile.
The beauty of learning how to play pitty pat is that it’s a social lubricant. It’s the game you play when you want to talk, laugh, and maybe talk a little trash. It doesn't require the intense silence of Spades or the math of Poker. It just requires a quick eye and a bit of luck.
Next time you're stuck indoors or waiting for the grill to heat up, grab a deck. Strip out the jokers. Deal five cards. And remember: if you're holding a pair of Aces and a pair of 3s, you're just one card away from glory. Just make sure you agree on the rules before the first card hits the table, or you'll spend more time arguing than playing.
Once you've mastered the basic five-card flow, try the "continuous draw" variant to spice things up. It changes the energy from a casual pastime to a frantic scramble that usually ends in a lot of laughter. Keep the deck shuffled, keep your hand hidden, and watch the discard pile like a hawk.