How to Set Up Double Elimination Brackets

Double-elimination tournaments add an extra layer of excitement and competition that single elimination can't provide. Not only are the winners rewarded, like in any competition, but losers are given a chance to redeem themselves. A double-elimination tournament is structured similarly to single elimination, and both can be drawn up fairly simply when all competitors are registered.

Things You'll Need

  • List of all registered competitors
Show More

Instructions

    • 1

      Draw up a match list tree. Draw a tree diagram with one branch for each competitor on the left side. The branches should pair teams and move inward, with the tree getting smaller as it moves toward the root, or championship. Each line advances the winning team to the next round of the tournament.

      Now draw another tree diagram below the first, but with only half the number of branches. This second diagram will be where the losers will compete for their second chance to win the tournament.

    • 2

      Seed the opening matches. Pit entrant 1 and entrant 2 in the first match, entrants 3 and 4 below in the next match, and so on. If a seeding order has been established, arrange these opponents in the opening round of the tournament. Usually, the participants most likely to win are seeded against those that are least likely, so as the tournament progresses, each competitor will have more difficult matches. In the opening phase, the match tree will look like a single-elimination tournament. This is called the winners bracket. The diagram below, where the losers play to stave off elimination, is called the losers bracket.

    • 3

      The loser's bracket consists of all the competitors that have lost in the winners bracket. Losers compete against one another for a chance to make it to the grand finale against the champion of the winners bracket. The victorious team in each match of the losers bracket goes on to face a first-time loser from the next round of the winners bracket. The tournament progresses until only the champion of both the winners and losers brackets remain. The championship may be two games, as the undefeated winners bracket champion can lose once and continue playing.