SINGLE ELIMINATION TOURNAMENT
A single elimination tournament is where players are eliminated each round after only playing one round at a time. It consists of a number of players that can be divided by 4, equally into even numbers. Think of a tournament with 64 or 32 or even 16 players that has multiple rounds. The number of players participating has to be divided by 4 for an equal number of even players in each round.
A good example of this bracket is the NCAA basketball tournament that happens every March. The tournament consist of 64 players and the tournament has six rounds. This is the easy version of the tournament.
A single elimination tournament is designed for a large number of players. Anything over 24 participants. Brackets can be chosen by the players drawing numbers to determine their place in the brackets or if this a regional tournament where the players are determined by winners of local tournaments and a point system that would place the participants in certain spots within the brackets.
DOUBLE ELIMINATION TOURNAMENT
A Double Elimination Tournament is where players are eliminated each round after playing at least twice in one or each round. Players have to be beaten twice in order to be eliminated. In the event that the opponents are tied after the first or each round, then another game will be played and serve as a tiebreaker to determine a winner of that round. This will be a completely new game. So there is a possibility that you may have played three different games in the first round. It consists of a number of players that can be divided by 4, equally into even numbers. Think of a tournament with 64 or 32 or even 16 players that has multiple rounds. The number of players participating has to be divided by 4 for an equal number of even players in each round.
A good example of this bracket is UEFA Champions League Fútbol where in the knockout rounds you have a 2 –Leg Round and usually have to be beaten twice in order to be eliminated. Double elimination can just be the first round or every round except the championship round. This should be determined before the tournament begins.
A double elimination tournament is designed for a small number of players. Anything under 20 participants. Brackets can be chosen by the players drawing numbers to determine their place in the brackets or if this a regional tournament where the players are determined by winners of local tournaments and a point system that would place the participants in certain spots within the brackets.
DIVISIONAL TOURNAMENT
This is a Divisional Style Bracket Tournament is when you have a number of players that are not divided by 4 equally. You could have a tournament with only 12, 18, 22, or 30 players, for example, therefore allowing for players to have a first-round bye in order to get to get the desired amount players that can be divided by 4 equally for the second round. Even if you just had something like 10 players, for example, that means two people would get the first round bye.
A good example of this is the NFL playoffs where there are two division winners that have a first-round bye in each conference, a total of 4 first round Byes which would make the second round of the playoffs have 8 teams that could make the round divided by 4 equally or give you an even number when divided by 4. But we have a simple solution in determining who would get the first round bye. In the first round of the tournament you would play a game that would give you the maximum amount of points for your performance. The top four players, one in each section of the bracket would get the first round bye and automatically qualify for the next round
The perfect example of a game that can do this is the Home Run Derby in a baseball game. The top four players with the most home runs would end up with a first-round bye. Or perhaps you choose a racing game where are the best times around the track what help determine the two or four best players that would get the first round bye. No matter how many players you have, you have to allow for so many people to get a first round bye so that the second round has a number of players that can be divided by 4 equally or into an even number.
This kind of tournament can be single or double elimination each round or just some of the rounds except the championship round. Brackets can be chosen by the players drawing numbers to determine their place in the brackets or if this a regional tournament where the players are determined by winners of local tournaments and a point system that would place the participants in certain spots within the brackets.
Brackets
There are many ways to determine a place in a bracket. For local competitions during the Ultimate Game League Season, it will be a random draw. We do not place people in Brackets based on the best players playing the worst players in the opening round. The same goes for city or county championships. When we get to State, National, or World Championships the placement in the brackets will be determined by your overall point count in the individual season. The highest point totals will get the top seeds in each bracket and the lowest amount of points will get the bottom seeds in each bracket. For those players who have the same amount of points their seeds are right next to each other. When placing people in Brackets we will start placing a player in the first bracket and then placing the next player in bracket # 2, the next player will then be put in bracket #3 and then finally the next player will be put in bracket # 4. Placing people in Brackets will go in this order to help even out the brackets between top seeded players and bottom seeded players.
