How to run a knockout bracket

Nothing focuses a club night like elimination. A knockout bracket needs three things done right — seeding, byes, and something for early losers to do — and it runs itself from there.

Seeding and byes

Seed honestly, not perfectly. Ladder position, ratings, or the organizer's gut — anything beats random, which produces a final in round one.

Byes go to top seeds. With 12 teams in a 16 slot bracket, seeds 1–4 sit round one. Standard bracket placement (1 v 16, 8 v 9…) keeps the best apart until late.

Timing math: 16 teams = 4 rounds; at ~20 min per best-of-1 to 15, that's a 90-minute event on 4 courts. Best-of-3 finals only, unless you have all day.

Keep the losers playing

The fastest way to never run a second tournament is sending half your players home at 7:15. Feed first-round losers into a consolation bracket on the spare courts — two brackets, everyone plays at least twice, two winners get bragging rights.

Or let Get4th run it

Club-plan groups create a tournament like any game: players tap in from a text, the bracket seeds and advances inside Get4th (byes handled correctly), and each team is texted who they play and where — through to a champion. $15/month covers 30 court reservations. That's 50¢ a game — about 6¢ per player, per hour.

Related: season ladders · round robins

Questions

How long does a 16-team knockout take?

Four rounds. At ~20 minutes per game on 4 courts: about 90 minutes, plus a consolation bracket in the same window.

What if I have 10 teams?

Use a 16 bracket with 6 byes for seeds 1–6 — never make anyone play a 'play-in' round the top seeds skip without cause.

Best-of-3 or single games?

Single games until the semis. Best-of-3 everywhere triples your time budget and empties the venue.

Try it on your real group

30 days and 5 full courts free. No card, and your players never install anything.

$15/month covers 30 court reservations. That's 50¢ a game — about 6¢ per player, per hour.

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