Supported Tournament Formats Guide

Created by LeaguePals Support, Modified on Thu, 18 Jun at 9:58 PM by LeaguePals Support

Supported Tournament Formats Guide

A complete reference for LeaguePals tournament formats: what they include and how to configure them correctly.

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Rounds Overview Round Robin Match Play Bracket Quad Bracket Redemption Eliminator Doubles Formats Baker Event Color Coding

Rounds Overview

QualifyingGames TBD by director (typically 8). Options: 1–3 squads, 1–2 rounds.

Advancer Round (optional)Top 1/3 of entries bowl additional qualifying games; count TBD by director.

FinalsSee the Finals Formats section below.

Stepladder (optional)Can be added as a finals format.

Steps marked (optional) are not required for all tournaments.

Finals Formats

Format

Round Robin Match Play

Cut to 8, 12, or 16 bowlers
Match play games = number of bowlers advanced
Final game is a position round; it must be set up as a separate round from your match play games

✔ Things to double-check

If you have a cut before match play, make sure the Cut checkbox is selected in all subsequent rounds.
Games per round: Set to the number of games per opponent (typically 1).
Under Scoring → Points, turn on Match Points
- 1 point per team scratch win
Under Scoring → Points, turn on Bonus Pins
- 30 bonus pins per win (15 each per tie)
For a final position round game, set up two separate rounds inside the same split:
1. Set Event Rules to 7 opponents at 1 game each
2. Add 1 additional round for the 8th game
3. In the round selector dropdown, choose Match Play
4. Enable the Match Play (Different Opponents) checkbox
5. For the 8th game, select Position Roundin the dropdown
  - The Match Play checkbox is not required for a single position round game

Format

Bracket

Cut to 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 32, 64 or 128 bowlers
Optional bye rounds for 12 and 16-bowler brackets:
- 12-man: Seeds 1–4 get 1 bye
- 16-man: Seeds 1–4 get 2 byes, seeds 5–8 get 1 bye
- 16-man option: No byes
Bowlers eliminated by best-of matches or total pinfall
Tiebreakers: single-ball roll-offs
Optional cut to stepladder finals (4 or 5 bowlers, including wild card)

✔ Things to double-check

Allow Brackets is turned on in your event rules.
Under Scoring → Points, turn on Match Points (1 point per team scratch win).
In the lane schedule, the dropdown selector is always set to Position.
Click the trophy icon in the lane schedule to enable brackets for that round.
Go to Gear Icon → Bracket Options and configure based on your bracket type:

Use this formula to calculate Bowlers Per Bracket for any bracket type:

(3 × number of 2-round byes)
+ (1 × number of 1-round byes)
+ number of bowlers advancing
= total bracket spots

Example:
3 × 4 (2-round byes) = 12
1 × 4 (1-round byes) = 4
+ 16 bowlers advancing
──────────────────────
= 32 bracket spots

Regular Single Elimination

Games Per Round: Number of games bowled in a single match
Bowlers Per Bracket: Total bracket spaces, including byes
Bowlers to Be Placed: Players seeded into the bracket - byes auto-calculated as Bowlers Per Bracket − Bowlers to Be Placed
Toggle on Two Round Byes if needed

Quad Bracket Redemption (Illinois Classic Style)

4 separate bracket rounds in the lane schedule, each with 8 bowlers - 32 total bracket spots. Typically 24 bowlers advance, giving seeds 1-8 a first-round bye.

View screenshot: Completed bracket view, 4-Bracket Round of 24

Lane Schedule setup:

Create 4 rounds in the same split in your lane schedule
Set each round's dropdown to Position Round and enable the trophy icon
Name the first round what will be displayed to fans, for example: Bracket Round of 24
Then set the other round names to identifiers: Bracket B, Bracket C, Bracket D

View screenshot: Lane schedule showing 4 bracket rounds

Gear Icon → Bracket Options for only the first round need to be set:

Bowlers Per Bracket: 8
Bowlers to Be Placed in the Position Round: 24
Number of Byes: 8 (seeds 1-8 receive a first-round bye)
Number of Brackets in This Round: auto-calculates to 4 based on your entries above - no manual entry needed

View screenshot: Bracket Options modal settings

Step Ladder

Toggle on Step Ladder under Gear Icon → Bracket Options
Bowlers to Be Placed: Number of bowlers in the step ladder
Use the formula above to calculate Bowlers Per Bracket

Format

Eliminator

Multiple rounds determined by director
After qualifying, cut to a number TBD; bowl additional games (no bonus pins), then cut again
Continue to conclusion or to a stepladder finals (2, 3, 4, or 5 bowlers)

✔ Things to double-check

Make sure you have enough rounds and splits to complete all your cuts.
Each cut is its own split.
In your lane schedule, check the Apply Cut (scissor icon) checkbox.

Doubles Formats

Format

Baker Finals

Each bowler qualifies bowling all frames. Combined pinfall determines seeding. Finals are Baker games, either bracket or round robin format.

Format

Traditional Doubles

All bowlers roll full games. Use any of the singles formats above.

Baker Event

Teams bowl the entire event as a Baker team, using any of the singles/regional formats listed above.

✔ Things to double-check

Allow Baker is toggled on in your rules.
In your lane schedule, check the Single Person box to designate the Baker round.
When moving to a Baker round, a new player on the team named "Player 1 Name / Player 2 Name Baker" will be automatically added to the team's roster. This bowler will automatically be selected for score entry in Baker rounds, but being in the 3rd position in the roster will not affect Ranking Points or Monies Distributions. Only the first two players are awarded those.
More Details Here: Baker What's New Article

Lane Schedule: Format Selector & Color Coding

Use the dropdown in the lane schedule to set the week type. Each type is color-coded for quick identification.

Week Type	Color
Match Play	#f00909
Position Round	#ffef9a
Divisional Position Round	#fb8d1b
Lock Position	#d9db5b
Custom	#1cb048
Skipped	#c9d1d6
Normal	#4888c6
Inter Divisional	#48bdc6
Bracket	#588977
Random	N/A