Ian Thompson has made history as the first-ever Uno Elite champion, taking home a $10,000 grand prize — and bringing the title back to Milwaukee.
WATCH: Milwaukee man wins $10,000 as first-ever Uno Elite champion
But before diving into the victory, there's something to understand about Uno Elite: it's not your average card game.
"You basically are your own GM for your own team," Thompson said. "You have an ability to bring players off of your bench and then play them, and that's where you have your action card. It's a little bit more elite and advanced."
Thompson's love for the game runs deep — he even has Uno-themed shoes, part of the Giannis collection. That passion, combined with sharp strategy, may have been what pushed him to the top.
"My strategy was to actually swap hands with people, within the last 20 seconds," Thompson said. "The person that had the least amount of cards, they were timed round. So, that person unfortunately ended up with a handful of cards, but that was my strategy to pull off the victory."
He demonstrated that same strategy in a game with me, playing a wild card, changing the color to red, and activating a player card to swap hands — leaving me holding a full hand while he sailed to victory.
"To take this title back home to Milwaukee was a big thing," Thompson said.
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