Reference
How many games is a tournament?
Single elimination plays one game fewer than it has teams. Double elimination plays twice that, minus two, plus a reset final if it's needed. A round robin plays every pairing once. The tables below come from the TourneyPage engine for every size it supports, 2 to 32 teams, with the byes and rounds each size needs.
Single elimination
Teams minus one. Add a game for third place.
| Teams | Games | With third place | Rounds | Byes | Games per team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1–1 |
| 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1–2 |
| 4 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1–2 |
| 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1–3 |
| 6 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1–3 |
| 7 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 1–3 |
| 8 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 1–3 |
| 9 | 8 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 1–4 |
| 10 | 9 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 1–4 |
| 11 | 10 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 1–4 |
| 12 | 11 | 12 | 4 | 4 | 1–4 |
| 13 | 12 | 13 | 4 | 3 | 1–4 |
| 14 | 13 | 14 | 4 | 2 | 1–4 |
| 15 | 14 | 15 | 4 | 1 | 1–4 |
| 16 | 15 | 16 | 4 | 0 | 1–4 |
| 17 | 16 | 17 | 5 | 15 | 1–5 |
| 18 | 17 | 18 | 5 | 14 | 1–5 |
| 19 | 18 | 19 | 5 | 13 | 1–5 |
| 20 | 19 | 20 | 5 | 12 | 1–5 |
| 21 | 20 | 21 | 5 | 11 | 1–5 |
| 22 | 21 | 22 | 5 | 10 | 1–5 |
| 23 | 22 | 23 | 5 | 9 | 1–5 |
| 24 | 23 | 24 | 5 | 8 | 1–5 |
| 25 | 24 | 25 | 5 | 7 | 1–5 |
| 26 | 25 | 26 | 5 | 6 | 1–5 |
| 27 | 26 | 27 | 5 | 5 | 1–5 |
| 28 | 27 | 28 | 5 | 4 | 1–5 |
| 29 | 28 | 29 | 5 | 3 | 1–5 |
| 30 | 29 | 30 | 5 | 2 | 1–5 |
| 31 | 30 | 31 | 5 | 1 | 1–5 |
| 32 | 31 | 32 | 5 | 0 | 1–5 |
Double elimination
Twice the teams, minus two. Plus one if the final is reset.
| Teams | Games | With reset final | Rounds | Byes | Longest road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 + 0 | 0 | 3 games |
| 3 | 4 | 5 | 2 + 1 | 1 | 5 games |
| 4 | 6 | 7 | 2 + 2 | 0 | 5 games |
| 5 | 8 | 9 | 3 + 3 | 3 | 6 games |
| 6 | 10 | 11 | 3 + 3 | 2 | 7 games |
| 7 | 12 | 13 | 3 + 4 | 1 | 7 games |
| 8 | 14 | 15 | 3 + 4 | 0 | 7 games |
| 9 | 16 | 17 | 4 + 5 | 7 | 8 games |
| 10 | 18 | 19 | 4 + 5 | 6 | 8 games |
| 11 | 20 | 21 | 4 + 5 | 5 | 9 games |
| 12 | 22 | 23 | 4 + 5 | 4 | 9 games |
| 13 | 24 | 25 | 4 + 6 | 3 | 9 games |
| 14 | 26 | 27 | 4 + 6 | 2 | 9 games |
| 15 | 28 | 29 | 4 + 6 | 1 | 9 games |
| 16 | 30 | 31 | 4 + 6 | 0 | 9 games |
| 17 | 32 | 33 | 5 + 7 | 15 | 10 games |
| 18 | 34 | 35 | 5 + 7 | 14 | 10 games |
| 19 | 36 | 37 | 5 + 7 | 13 | 10 games |
| 20 | 38 | 39 | 5 + 7 | 12 | 10 games |
| 21 | 40 | 41 | 5 + 7 | 11 | 11 games |
| 22 | 42 | 43 | 5 + 7 | 10 | 11 games |
| 23 | 44 | 45 | 5 + 7 | 9 | 11 games |
| 24 | 46 | 47 | 5 + 7 | 8 | 11 games |
| 25 | 48 | 49 | 5 + 8 | 7 | 11 games |
| 26 | 50 | 51 | 5 + 8 | 6 | 11 games |
| 27 | 52 | 53 | 5 + 8 | 5 | 11 games |
| 28 | 54 | 55 | 5 + 8 | 4 | 11 games |
| 29 | 56 | 57 | 5 + 8 | 3 | 11 games |
| 30 | 58 | 59 | 5 + 8 | 2 | 11 games |
| 31 | 60 | 61 | 5 + 8 | 1 | 11 games |
| 32 | 62 | 63 | 5 + 8 | 0 | 11 games |
Round robin
Every team plays every other team once.
| Teams | Games | Games per team | Rounds | Sit-outs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | None |
| 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | One team per round |
| 4 | 6 | 3 | 3 | None |
| 5 | 10 | 4 | 5 | One team per round |
| 6 | 15 | 5 | 5 | None |
| 7 | 21 | 6 | 7 | One team per round |
| 8 | 28 | 7 | 7 | None |
| 9 | 36 | 8 | 9 | One team per round |
| 10 | 45 | 9 | 9 | None |
How long it takes
Games, minutes, fields: roughly how long the day runs.
About 9 hours 10 minutes. 22 games in 11 rounds of play across 2 fields.
Arithmetic, not a schedule: it ignores breaks and assumes every field stays busy. In TourneyPage you type the actual times and courts, and they show on the page.
The example starts at a 12-team double elimination. A bracket can't finish faster than its longest chain of games, no matter how many fields you have: the final has to wait for the semifinals, which wait for the quarterfinals. Pool play is the opposite: with enough fields, every round can run at once.
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