Guides
How each tournament format works, how seeds and byes are placed, and how to make a bracket in a spreadsheet.
Single elimination bracket
Lose once and you're out, so 16 teams play 15 games. Seeding, byes, a third-place game and a consolation bracket, with a games table up to 64 teams.
Read the guideDouble elimination bracket
Lose twice and you're out: 16 teams play 30 games, or 31 with the if-necessary final. How the losers bracket fills up and when the grand final is played twice.
Read the guideRound robin schedule
Everyone plays everyone: 8 teams play 28 games over 7 rounds. How the circle method rotates the pairs, byes for an odd number of teams, and tiebreakers.
Read the guide3-game guarantee bracket
Double elimination plus a guarantee game for any team out after two: 15 or 16 games for 8 teams. Printable sheets for 4 to 16 teams.
Read the guideConsolation bracket
Round 1 losers get a bracket of their own: with 8 teams, 3 more games on top of the third-place game. Games, places and hours for every size, and the third-place game compared.
Read the guideBracket seeding and byes
Round 1 top to bottom for 4 to 64 teams, and which seeds sit out at every size (with 12 teams, seeds 1 to 4). Seeded bracket or blind draw, and reseeding.
Read the guideBracket in Excel or Google Sheets
Download a bracket as an .xlsx and type the names, open it in Google Sheets, draw one with cell borders, or put one in Word or Google Docs.
Read the guideBunco payout chart
What each prize pays from a $5 or $10 buy-in with 8 to 24 players, a calculator for your own split, and how ties are settled.
Read the guide