Tournament Pool Play (Round Robbin) or Double Elimination

I have run our association's summer tournament for the last 6 or 7 years. The tournament ranges from a low of about 40 teams to a high of 64, depending on the year. When I inherited it, it was a double elimination tournament. It is now round robin (or pool play as you use the term).

From the viewpoint of the tournament director, round robin/pool play is much, much easier to plan and coordinate. Pretty much all the work is done in advance of the weekend. Once the first games start the tournament pretty much runs itself.

You do run into issues with tie breakers, uneven pools, effect of forfeits, that do not have as much significance in double elimination. But those issues are all handled fairly easily with some advance thought.

Double elimination can, no doubt, be more exciting as you try to claw your way back out of the losers' bracket. On the other hand, double elimination can result in an inordinate number of games for those coming out of the loser's bracket. The number of games is much better balanced between all teams when using round robin.

On balance, even as a manager I prefer round robin, for all the reasons stated by Darrell. Planning is much, much easier. And, you usually avoid back-to-back games if the tournament director has done his job correctly.

Neill