How to Organize a Euchre Tournament

Euchre is a great way to socialize

If you enjoy playing euchre and have a few friends who share your interest, then you already have the key ingredients in place to organize a successful euchre tournament. The fact that euchre is played with teams makes it an even more social pastime than most card games, and its relatively rapid pace (especially as compared to bridge) makes it a good candidate for tournament play. With the right preparation, you can organize a euchre tournament without spending much time or money--and earn the gratitude of your tournament attendees.

Things You'll Need

• Two large poster boards
• Magic marker
• Craft materials for a trophy (paper towel roll inserts, cardboard, cotton balls, glue, glitter, paint, etc.)

Instructions

1. Put together your event planning team. Organizing any event--even a small one--is much easier if the responsibilities can be shared by a small group. Ask just one or two friends to help you set up the tournament. Getting more people involved in the planning stage will only create more confusion.

2. Select a date and a venue. If you can be flexible about the date, then you will have a much easier time finding a venue. Many public facilities will allow you to reserve a space for free, or for a nominal fee, with enough advance warning. Check with your local school about using the cafeteria, gym or auditorium. Some public libraries also have meeting rooms that can be reserved.

3. Advertise the event. This is where you will really need to use your team. For a small tournament, word of mouth is a very effective advertising strategy. Putting up fliers in a common area at school or the office can't hurt, but email and social networking websites may be more effective. Delegate these jobs among your team members.

4. Prepare a trophy. Even a small handmade trophy lends a feeling of closure to a tournament--have fun with this step and approach it with a sense of humor.

5. Organize a bracket. Use a lottery system to determine the initial match-ups and then randomly match the winners against each other for the successive rounds. Prepare an empty bracket board ahead of time and fill it in as the tournament progresses.

6. Use a second bracket to organize a concurrent tournament among the losers of the first round. This will give everyone an additional chance to play and will give a talented team happens to lose early another chance. Set up the championship game between the winners of the two brackets.

References

• Science Bowl Tournament Handbook