Tournament rules

So that nobody argues about +4, stacking and drawing on the night, it is all settled here in advance. Registering means accepting these rules.

The basics

We play with the standard 108-card UNO deck. Everybody starts with seven cards. Play matches the top card by colour or by number/symbol.

The rules people usually argue about

Situation	What applies here
Stacking	Allowed: a +2 may be answered with a +2, a +4 with a +4.
+2 on a +4 (or the other way round)	Not allowed.
Challenging a +4	We don’t. A +4 may be played at any time.
Drawing	If you cannot play, you draw exactly one card. If it is playable you may play it straight away. If not, your turn ends.
Jump-in	Not allowed. Play goes round in turn.
Saying “UNO”	Required when you play your second-to-last card. Forget, and get caught before the next player has drawn or played: draw two.
Last card	An action card may be your last card.

How the day runs

1. Group stage: two rounds at tables of four. Winning a round scores points (see below). The top two at each table go through.
2. Knockout rounds: straight elimination. From the quarter-finals, the first to win two games goes through.
3. Final: one table, everybody watching.

The exact timetable is on the front page.

Scoring

A round ends as soon as somebody is out of cards. Points go by position at the table:

Position at the table	Points
1st	3
2nd	2
3rd	1
4th	0

Level on points is decided by the number of cards left in hand — fewer is better. Still level: a single sudden-death hand of three cards each.

Time

If a round takes longer than 15 minutes, the tournament management calls time. The round then goes to whoever holds the fewest cards.

Arriving late, not arriving

• If you miss check-in, you are placed into the group stage as soon as you arrive; rounds you missed score zero.
• If you are not at the table when a knockout round starts, you lose that round after five minutes.
• If you cannot come, please tell us in good time — your place then goes to the next person on the waiting list.

Disputes and rule breaches

• The person supervising your table decides first.
• If they are unsure, the tournament management decides. That decision then applies at every table for the rest of the day and is final.
• Deliberate cheating loses the current round. A repeat means exclusion from the rest of the tournament.
• Unpleasant behaviour towards other players — especially towards children — means exclusion. No discussion.

Everything else

• Phones stay face down on the table during a round.
• The maximum number of players and the number of places left are shown on the front page.
• The tournament management may adjust the format if the number of players requires it — one group round more or less, for example.