Can I combine formats?

Yes, and most larger events do: round-robin pools of four or five so that everyone gets several games, then the top one or two from each pool into a single elimination bracket. Run each pool as its own round robin and seed the bracket from the tables.

Which format is fairest?

Round robin, because one result cannot remove a team. Double elimination is next: a team has to lose twice. Single elimination is the least forgiving, which is also what makes it short.

The length of one game plus the time to clear the court and call the next two teams. Time a few games at your own event. As a starting point, the time estimates on this site assume 30 minutes.

Single elimination, double elimination or round robin

The format decides how many games you have to fit into the day and how many each team gets for its entry fee. Choose it from those two numbers.

Checked November 13, 2026

The short version

	Single elimination	Double elimination	Round robin
Games for N teams	N − 1	2N − 2, plus 1 for a reset	N × (N − 1) ÷ 2
Guaranteed per team	1	2	N − 1
Out after	One loss	Two losses	Nobody is out
Best for	Many teams, little time	A fair result without endless games	Small groups, leagues, everyone plays

Games needed

Round robin grows with the square of the field. Eight teams is 28 games; sixteen is 120. Past ten teams or so it only works as a league over several weeks, or as pools of four or five that feed a bracket.

Teams	Single	Double	Round robin
4	3	6	6
6	5	10	15
8	7	14	28
12	11	22	66
16	15	30	120
24	23	46	276
32	31	62	496

Time slots on the courts you have

A slot is one game length plus the changeover. The table shows single / double elimination slots, playing as many games at once as there are courts and never starting a game before the two that feed it have finished.

Teams	1 court	2 courts	3 courts	4 courts
4	3 / 6	2 / 4	2 / 4	2 / 4
6	5 / 10	3 / 6	3 / 6	3 / 6
8	7 / 14	4 / 8	4 / 7	3 / 6
12	11 / 22	6 / 12	5 / 10	4 / 8
16	15 / 30	8 / 16	6 / 12	5 / 10
24	23 / 46	12 / 24	9 / 18	7 / 14
32	31 / 62	16 / 32	12 / 23	9 / 18

Choose single elimination when

Time or courts are short, or the field is large. It is the only format where 32 teams finish in an afternoon. The cost is that half the teams play once and go home, and one bad game ends a good team's day. A third-place game adds one game and gives the semifinal losers something to play for.

Choose double elimination when

You want the best team to win and every team to play at least twice. It needs about twice the games of single elimination, and the last team through the losers bracket plays many games close together. It is the usual choice for cornhole, pool, darts, wrestling, fighting games and baseball or softball weekends.

Choose round robin when

The group is small and everyone came to play, not to be knocked out: six friends, a class, a league night. Every team plays every other, and the table decides the winner. Agree the tie-breakers before the first game. Ours are 3 points for a win and 1 for a draw, then score difference, then points scored.