By Kary Patron/News Editor

Competitiveness, tension, and celebration came together in the Malcolm Center last Thursday at the Second Annual UNO Tournament hosted by Student Activities.

Students like Lauren Bates, Kimani Fido, and Chelsea Roman Ruiz were very confident in their UNO skills before the tournament.

“I just wanted to beat everybody here so I wanted to come play,” said Fido. “If I lose I’m gonna be pretty disappointed because I’m pretty good.”

“I play Uno a lot,” Roman Ruiz said. “If you ask anybody [they will tell you] I’m so good at Uno.”

“I’m gonna win 100%,” said Bates.

Bates also played at the UNO tournament last year and decided to play again.

“It was fun,” Bates said. “I got to play with my friends and I just wanted to come back and do it again cause I was free tonight.”

Students in attendance were there not only for the UNO tournament Champion title but also for the $50 reward that came with it. 

Students like Roman Ruiz and Fido already knew what they wanted to do with the money if they won.

“I’m gonna buy some food,” Fido said. Roman Ruiz agreed with that sentiment and said she would use her money to buy tacos.

The tournament worked like this: Each table consisted of six players. Those players would play two games of Uno. Each card left after the game is worth a certain amount of points (e.g. Draw 2 is worth 15 points each). After each game, the person left with no cards got zero points and the rest would have to keep track of their points on the designated paper at each table. The two people with the least points would move on to the next round.

In the end, there were two players left who played best of three games. After winning two consecutive games, freshman Lenny Gaba won the tournament.

Gaba did not know what he was going to do with the money. “I’m coming with my friends just for fun,” Gaba said.