Last Friday we had our first annual Uno Tournament during Teen Advisory group. There were snacks, prizes, and a lot of competition. I had a really great time and I think our eight participants did as well. As I said before, it was our first tournament that didn't involve the Nintendo Wii, here are some things I wish I knew before:

1) The Uno Rule.

This is probably the most important rule of the game. As you might already know if the player with one card left doesn't say UNO, they will have to draw more cards. This is a very hard rule for one person to judge. Every game ended in an argument about if they winner actually said UNO. So make sure you have very specific rules about this part of the game.

2) And speaking of rules...

I learned that no one really listens to you when you are going through the rules before the tournament starts. So it is a good idea to have a typed up rule list for the players to go back and check throughout the game. Everyone plays Uno differently, so its a good idea to make sure that everyone is on the same page before you start.

3) The table for the "non-winners"

I learned this lesson during a Mario Kart tournament a few months ago. Make sure you have something to do for the people that are knocked out of the tournament. I gathered other games like Trouble and "Jumbling Towers" (the generic version of Jenga) and put them with the snacks so that everyone had something to do until the end of the tournament.

I really liked this tournament because it was a big equalizer. When we play with the Wii, there are a few kids who always win so its not very fun for everyone. With Uno it’s really anyone's game.