A 6 team double elimination bracket takes 10 games, or 11 if the final goes to a second game. A team is out after its second loss, so every team plays at least twice.
The winners' bracket is 5 games over 3 rounds, run like a single elimination bracket. 6 teams don't fill a bracket of 8, so 2 teams get a bye: seeds 1 and 2 skip the first round and start in round 2. The first round is 2 games: 3 v 6 and 4 v 5.
Lose in the winners' bracket and you drop to the losers' bracket, onto the line that names your game: “Loser of game 1.” Its 4 games run over 3 rounds. From its second round, each round's winners meet the teams just dropped from the winners' bracket, set in reverse order every other round so two teams that just played don't meet again at once.
The winners' bracket champion, still unbeaten, meets the losers' bracket champion in the grand final, game 10. If the winners' champion wins, the tournament is over. If not, both teams have lost once, so they play again: game 11, the “if necessary” game.
Running the tournament
One sheet from the first game to the champion.
Seed the teamsBest first: seed 1 on the top line. Type them beside the sheet to print them, or shuffle the list for a random draw.
Print and post itOne copy on the wall for everyone, or one each for a bracket pool. The PDF is always blank.
Play the games in orderThe numbers are an order that works: each game's teams are known before it starts. Two courts can run a winners' and a losers' game at once.
Write in each winnerOn the line the game leads to, and each loser on the line in the losers' bracket that names their game.
Good to know
How many games are in a 6 team double elimination bracket?
10, or 11 with the if-necessary game. Every team but the champion loses twice, and the champion loses once at most.
Who gets a bye?
The top 2 seeds. 6 teams fill a 8 line bracket only with 2 byes, and each goes to the best seed left, so no bye meets another and every first-round game is real.
How do you seed a bracket?
Best team first, by last season, a ranking or pool play: seed 1 on the top line, then down the list. Seed 1 and seed 2 are placed so they can meet only in the final. No ranking? Shuffle the list for a random draw.
What does “if necessary” mean?
The winners' bracket champion reaches the grand final unbeaten. If they lose it, it's their first loss, so they get a second game against the same team: game 11. If they win the grand final, game 11 isn't played.
Can I fill it in on screen?
Type the teams beside the sheet and they print on it, shrunk to fit their lines; the tournament's name goes on the sheet too. They stay on this device for next time. “Print blank” prints it without them, and the PDF is always blank.
