A double-elimination tournament is a type of elimination tournament competition in which a participant ceases to be eligible to win the tournament's championship upon

having lost two games or matches. It stands in contrast to a single-elimination tournament, in which only one defeat results in elimination. A double-elimination tournament is broken into two sets of brackets, the Winners Bracket and Losers Bracket (W and L Brackets for short; also sometimes Upper Bracket and Lower Bracket, respectively). After the first round, the winners proceed into the W Bracket and the losers proceed into the L Bracket. The W Bracket is conducted in the same manner as a singleelimination tournament, except of course that the losers of each round "drop down" into the L Bracket. As with single-elimination tournaments, most often the number of competitors is equal to a power of 2 (8, 16, 32, etc) so that there are an even number of competitors at every round. The maximum number of games in a double elimination tournament is one less than twice the number of teams participating (e.g., 8 teams - 15 games). The minimum number is two less than twice the number of teams (e.g., 8 teams - 14 games).

[edit] Conducting the tournament

Each round of the L Bracket is conducted in two stages, the first stage consisting of the winners of the previous stage (or losers of the very first round of competition) playing their matches, the second stage consisting of the winners of the first stage against the losers of that same round of the W Bracket playing their matches. This is to allow the losers of each stage of the W Bracket to "filter down" into the L Bracket. For example, in an eight-competitor double-elimination tournament, the losers of the first round enter the first stage of the L Bracket the L Bracket quarterfinals and compete against each other. The losers are eliminated, while the winners proceed to the second stage of the L Bracket the L Bracket semifinals to face the losers of the W Bracket semifinals. The winners of the L Bracket semifinals proceed to the L Bracket finals, with the winner of that game being the Losers' Bracket champion. The championship finals of a double elimination tournament is usually set up to be a possible two games. The rationale is that since the tournament is indeed double elimination, it is unfair to have the Winners' Bracket champion eliminated with its first loss. Therefore, while the Winners' Bracket champion needs to beat the Losers' Bracket champion only once to win the tournament, the Losers' Bracket champion must beat the Winners' Bracket champion twice. In some tournaments, however, the final game is always winner-take-all, or always a best-ofthree set of games, with the usual advantage of the last Winner's Bracket team ignored.

[edit] Pros and cons

The double-elimination format has some advantages over the single-elimination format, most notably the fact that third and fourth places can be determined without the use of a consolation or "classification" match involving two contestants who have already been eliminated from winning the championship. Additionally, in a double-elimination format better teams are likely to progress further in the tournament. Suppose in a single-elimination tournament the best team plays the second best team in the first roundthe second best team will be eliminated right away, having only played one game. Then, a more mediocre team with a more favorable seeding could potentially win several games, play the best team in the finals, and come away with second place. (Usually, good seeding would help avoid this, but it is an issue nonetheless.) A doubleelimination tournament would allow the second best team to keep winning (in the loser's bracket) and eventually work their way back up to their rightful position of second place. A disadvantage compared to the single-elimination format is that a considerably greater number of matches have to be conducted: since each player has to lose twice and since the tournament ends when only one player remains, in tournament for N competitors there will be 2n 1 (or 2n 2 in case the winner was undefeated during the tournament) games; a plausible alternative is a single-elimination format where each match is a best-of-5 or best-of-7 series. This format still allows a competitor to lose (perhaps multiple times) while still remaining eligible to win the tournament. Of course, having multiple games in each series also requires considerably more games to be conducted. The fact that the final game in the tournament may be unnecessary is also a disadvantage, particularly if broadcasting and ticket sales companies have an interest in the tournament. The best-known athletic event that employs a double-elimination format is the NCAA baseball tournament, including the College World Series, where a team is not eliminated until it loses twice in each of the four rounds (regional, super regional, College World Series, and CWS championship, with the super regional and CWS championship series featuring two teams in a best 2-of-3 format). It is also extensively used in computer gaming tournaments (most famously by the Cyberathlete Professional League) and table football tournaments. Double-elimination brackets are also popular in amateur wrestling of all levels, surfing and kiteboarding freestyle competitions, as well as Curling bonspiels (where triple-elimination is also used) and certain Olympic sports, such as judo. Since 2009, the World Baseball Classic has used a doubleelimination format for the first and second rounds of the tournament. The Little League World Series also switched from round-robin to double-elimination formats for each of its pools starting in 2010 in an effort to eliminate meaningless games. It is also used, in modified form, in the All-Ireland Senior Gaelic Football Championship and All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship.

[edit] Variations
Some variations on double elimination are used. For example, in Judo, players that end up in the L bracket can finish third at best. The winner of the W bracket will win the tournament, with the losing finalist finishing second. The other losers of the W bracket will end up in the L bracket, which will only be played to the first stage of the final, resulting in two 3rd placed players. Thus,

compared to the standard double elimination, there is no second stage of the final of the L bracket played, and there is no game between the winners of the W and L bracket. Another aspect of the system used in Judo is that losers of the first round (of the W bracket) only advance to the L bracket if the player they lost to wins his or her second round match. If a player loses to a second round loser, they are eliminated from the tournament. Another variant, called the (third-place) challenge, is used, particularly in scholastic wrestling. The winner of the L bracket may challenge the loser of the finals in the W bracket, if and only if the two contestants had not faced each other previously; if the challenger (the winner of the L bracket) wins, he is awarded second place, and the loser of the W final is dropped to third place. This system is used particularly where the top two places advance to a higher level of competition (example: advancement from a regional tournament to a state tournament). Another is the balanced variant which is a bracket arrangement that is not strictly divided into two brackets based on number of losses.[1] Players with different numbers of losses can play each other in any round. A goal of the variant is that no player sits idle for more than one round consecutively. The added complexity of the brackets is handled by using "if necessary" matches. The flexible approach allows practical bracket designs to be made for any number of competitors including odd numbers (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, etc.). The College World Series has frequently tried to modify the double-elimination format to set up, if possible, a single championship game. Until 1988, the College World Series did this by adding an extra round to the Losers' Bracket. What would be the Losers' Bracket semifinals (i.e., the round where the Winners' Bracket semifinal losers dropped down) became the Losers' Bracket quarterfinals, with the Losers' Bracket semifinals having the two participants in the Winners' Bracket final (i.e., the WINNERS of the Winners' Bracket semifinals) drop down. This thus left open the possibility that the Winners' Bracket champion would pick up a loss, albeit in the Losers' Bracket semifinal. If, however, the Winners' Bracket champion prevailed in the Losers' Bracket semifinal, the same two-game final setup existed in effect, albeit not in practice ... for under the CWS pre-1988 version, the unbeaten Winners' Bracket champion would be playing a once-beaten Losers' Bracket opponent in the Losers' Bracket final, with the winner to advance to play the unbeaten Winners' Bracket champion in the finals (if necessary). The CWS subsequently broke up its eight-team field into two four-team double elimination tournaments, with the winners meeting in either a sudden-death or, currently, a best-of-three final. A way to reduce the number of rounds is to do cross-bracket elimination in the last rounds. For instance, in a double-elimination tournament of eight teams, you could have both the winner and the loser of the Upper Bracket final join the third round of the Lower Bracket, the winner facing the lowest-seeded Loser's Bracket team. If the Winner's Bracket team wins, there will be two teams left and they will go straight to the finals (with the Winner's Bracket team having a one game advantage as usual). However, if the Winner's Bracket team loses then three teams will still be in the tournament, all with one loss. Usually in the subsequent fifth round either the last Winner's Bracket team that just lost has a bye round or the top seed remaining will have a bye, while the other two teams square off. This leaves two teams for a one game final in the sixth and

last round. Whether the Winner's Bracket team wins or loses in round four, this cross-bracket procedure shortens an eight team double elimination tournament from 6-7 rounds to 5-6 rounds.

A single-elimination tournament, also called a knockout, cup or sudden death tournament, is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match or bracket is immediately eliminated from winning the championship or first prize in the event. This does not always mean that the defeated competitor will not participate further in the tournament: in some such tournaments, consolation or "classification" contests are subsequently held among those already defeated to determine the awarding of lesser places, for example, a third place playoff. Where more than two competitors can play in each match, such as in a shootout poker tournament, players are removed when they can no longer play until one player remains from the group. This player moves on to the next round. A simple way to describe a single-elimination tournament is that the winner of each match moves on and the loser goes home. Some competitions are held with a pure single-elimination tournament system. Others have many phases, with the last being a single-elimination final stage called playoffs.

[edit] Brackets
Assuming two competitors per match, if there are n competitors, there will be rounds required, or if there are r rounds, there will be n = 2r competitors. In the opening round, 2r n competitors will get a bye. Often, the number of participants in a single-elimination tournament is fixed as a power of two, so that nobody gets a bye. For example, the tennis Grand Slam singles championships are tournaments of 128 players. This ensures all competitors will face opponents who have previously played the same number of matches. The full schedule of pairings across all rounds (the bracket) may be allocated before the start of the tournament, or each round may be allocated at the end of the preceding round. Each successive round halves the number of competitors remaining, assuming there are no byes.

[edit] Byes
In cases where the number of competitive entities at the start of the tournament is not a power of two, some competitors may receive a bye in the first round, which entitles these competitors to advance to the second round automatically without playing. Often, these byes will be awarded to the highest-rated competitors in the event as a reward for some previous accomplishment; indeed, in some American team sportsmost notably American football the number of teams qualifying for the postseason tournament will be intentionally set at a number which is not a

power of two, in order to provide such an advantage to a high-achieving team in the justcompleted regular season. Additionally, the player/team getting byes may get them exclusively by luck or random chance (i.e. if there are 7 competitors, one random one will automatically advance to the next round) Multiple rounds of byes are also possible: in the FA Cup, the teams in the top two league divisions enter in the third round "proper" (of eight); the two next-highest divisions' teams will have entered in the first round; lower-division teams in one of 6 preliminary rounds. Another example is the UEFA Europa League.

[edit] Nomenclature
The round in which only sixteen remain is sometimes called the "Round of Sixteen" or "Last Sixteen", when eight remain at the start it is generally called the quarter-final round; this is followed by the semi-final round in which only four are left, the two winners of which then meet in the final or championship round. If some teams get a bye, the round at which they enter may be named the "first" round, with the earlier matches called a "preliminary" round, or "play-in games". Names of rounds in various systems and competitions: Grand Slam tennis singles Final Semifinals Quarterfinals 4th round NCAA Men's NCAA Women's Basketball Basketball Championship Championship Championship game Final Four Elite Eight (Regional finals) Sweet Sixteen (Regional Semifinals) Championship game Final Four Elite Eight (Regional finals) Sweet Sixteen (Regional Semifinals) 2nd round 1st round N/A

Competitor Fraction count of final Round of 2 Round of 4 Round of 8 Round of 16 Final Semifinals Quarterfinals Eighthfinals

FA Cup FA Cup Final Semifinals 6th Round 5th round

NADC playoffs Final Semi-finals Quarterfinals Octofinals Doubleoctofinals Tripleoctofinals Quadoctofinals[t

3]

4th 3rd round round 32nd3rd Round of 64 2nd round 2nd round finals round 2nd Round of 128 64th-finals 1st round round[t First Four[t 2] Round of 32 16th-finals 3rd round
1]

1. ^ The FA Cup 2nd round involves 40 teams, of which 20 qualify for the 3rd round, to which the top 44 teams will have received byes. 2. ^ Starting in 2011, 68 teams will play in the Championship, with four "play-in games" before the 64-team first round. 3. ^ The number of eligible teams is typically less than 128, but more than 64, so not all teams play this round

[edit] Classification
When matches are held to determine places or prizes lower than first and second (the loser of the final-round match gaining the latter position), these typically include a match between the losers of the semifinal matches called third place playoff, the winner therein placing third and the loser fourth. Sometimes, contests are also held among the losers of the quarterfinal matches to determine fifth through eighth places - this is most commonly encountered in the Olympic Games, with the exception of boxing, where both fighters are deemed to be third place. In one scenario, two "consolation semifinal" matches may be conducted, with the winners of these then facing off to determine fifth and sixth places and the losers playing for seventh and eighth; those are used often in qualifying tournaments where only the top five teams advance to the next round; or some method of ranking the four quarterfinal losers might be employed, in which case only one round of additional matches would be held among them, the two highest-ranked therein then playing for fifth and sixth places and the two lowest for seventh and eighth.

[edit] Seeding
Main article: Seed (sports) Opponents may be allocated randomly (such as in the FA Cup); however, since the "luck of the draw" may result in the highest-rated competitors being scheduled to face each other early in the competition, seeding is often used to prevent this. Brackets are set up so that the top two seeds could not possibly meet until the final round (should both advance that far), none of the top four can meet prior to the semifinals, and so on. If no seeding is used, the tournament is called a random knockout tournament. One version of seeding is where brackets are set up so that the quarterfinal pairings (barring any upsets) would be the 1 seed vs. the 8 seed, 2 vs. 7, 3 vs. 6 and 4 vs. 5; however, this is not the procedure that is followed in most tennis tournaments, where the 1 and 2 seeds are placed in separate brackets, but then the 3 and 4 seeds are assigned to their brackets randomly, and so too are seeds 5 through 8, and so on. This may result in some brackets consisting of stronger players than other brackets, and since only the top 32 players are seeded at all in Tennis Grand Slam tournaments, it is conceivable that the 33rd-best player in a 128-player field could end up playing the top seed in the first round. While this may seem unfair to a casual observer, it should be pointed out that rankings of tennis players are generated by computers, and players tend to change ranking positions very gradually, so that a more equitable method of determining the pairings might result in many of the same head-to-head matchups being repeated over and over again in successive tournaments.

Sometimes the remaining competitors in a single-elimination tournament will be "re-seeded" so that the highest surviving seed is made to play the lowest surviving seed in the next round, the second-highest plays the second-lowest, etc. This may be done after each round, or only at selected intervals. In American team sports, for example, both the NFL and NHL employ this tactic, but the NBA does not (and neither does the NCAA college basketball tournament). MLB does not have enough teams in its playoff tournament where re-seeding would make a difference in the matchups, (The NFL is at the minimum, which is 6 from each league (or conference in the NFL, NBA or NHL) for a total of 12). The NBA's format calls for the winner of the first-round series between the first and eighth seeds (within each of the two conferences the league has) to face the winner of the first-round series between the fourth and fifth seeds in the next round, even if one or more of the top three seeds had been upset in their first-round series; critics have claimed that this gives a team fighting for the fifth and sixth seeding positions near the end of the regular season an incentive to tank (deliberately lose) games, so as to finish sixth and thus avoid a possible matchup with the top seed until one round later. In some situations, a seeding restriction will be implemented; from 1975 until 1989, the NFL, and, since 1998, MLB have a rule where at the conference or league semifinal, should the top seed and last seed (wild card) be from the same division, they may not play each other; in that case, the top seed plays the worst division champion; the second-best division champion plays the wild card team.

[edit] Evaluation
The single-elimination format enables a relatively large number of competitors to participate. There are no "dead" matches (perhaps excluding "classification" matches), and no matches where one competitor has more to play for than the other. The format is less suited to games where draws are frequent. In chess, each fixture in a singleelimination tournament must be played over multiple matches, because draws are common, and because white has an advantage over black. In association football, games ending in a draw may be settled in extra time and eventually by a penalty shootout, viewed by many fans as an unsatisfactory conclusion to a fixture, or by replaying the fixture. In various forms of one-day cricket, a bowl-out has been used in recent years to settle tied matches. Another perceived disadvantage is that most competitors are eliminated after relatively few games. Variations such as the double-elimination tournament allow competitors a single loss while remaining eligible for overall victory. In a random knockout tournament (single-elimination without any seeding), awarding the second place to the loser of the final is unjustified: any of the competitors knocked out by the tournament winner might have been the second strongest one, but they never got the chance to play against the losing finalist. Also, if the competitors' performance is variable, that is, it depends on a small, varying factor in addition to the actual strength of the competitors, then not only will it become less likely that the strongest competitor actually wins the tournament, in addition the seeding done by the

tournament organizers will play a major part in deciding the winner.[1] As a random factor is always present in a real world competition, this might easily cause accusations of unfairness.