Foosball Tournament Formats and Terminology
Here are some common foosball tournament formats and terminology:
Single Elimination: teams play (and advance) until they lose 1 match. There is only 1 bracket. Usually these events are seeded and matches can be scheduled.
Double Elimination: teams play (and advance) until they lose 2 matches. There is a ‘winners’ or ‘A’ bracket, and a ‘losers’ or ‘B’ bracket. Usually these events are seeded.
Championship Format: similar to Double Elimination, but the match between the top 2 teams in the ‘winners’ bracket IS the finals to determine 1st and 2nd place. The winner of the ‘losers’ bracket is awarded 3rd place. 2nd and 3rd place receive the same prize as both have only lost 1 match. This eliminates the last 3 matches of Double Elimination, and the ‘winners’ bracket does not need to wait for the ‘losers’ bracket to catch up. Usually these events are seeded.
Round-robin: teams are grouped and play within that group, and the results used to qualify for a playoff round. Usually these events are seeded (so each group is approximately equal).
Swiss Format: teams play a round-robin format (with games to 7), with the top teams advancing to a seeded Single Elimination playoff round. This is common in ITSF events in Europe.
Monster DYP: partners and opposing teams are randomly drawn, usually playing Race to 7 games. Results generate individual rankings, which are used to form an optional playoff round (which can be singles or doubles). This event is very flexible, as players can join (or leave) at different times.
Draw Your Partner (DYP): player names are randomly drawn to form doubles teams
Bring Your Partner (BYP): players form teams to compete in the event
Race to 7: a single game where the first team to score 7 goals wins
2/3, 3/5: this indicates the number of games needed to win a match, and total possible games
Mixed: teams must have 1 female and 1 male player
Open: event is ‘open’ to ALL skill levels of player
Women: only women can play these events
Designated: a female player must be forward, and a male player the goalie position
Pro / Expert /Amateur / Novice: only players of that ranking and LOWER can play this event
Rookie: similarly, ONLY new players (usually without tournament experience) can play this event, as permitted by local organizers
Deuce (win by two): this indicates the last game must be won by at least 2 points.. so games can go into overtime. 6-4, 7-5, 8-6 etc.
Cut Throat: 1 player vs 2 players. Usually a fun match where talking is allowed (except when shooting). If the doubles team wins, the forward becomes the next singles player. If the doubles team loses a game, they switch goalie / forward positions.
One-Ball: first player/team to score a goal wins the match!
Break Point: first player/team to score a goal on their opponent’s serve wins the match!
Seeding: event is structured so higher ranked players/teams initially face lower ranked players (based on local or international ranking systems), or are more likely to receive a BYE
BYE: a player or team automatically advances (usually due to uneven numbers of teams in an event, or if the other team withdraws)
Forfeit: a player or team loses a match automatically (usually because they do not appear in time for a called match, or they violate an event rule)