6 Team Round Robin Schedule: how it works
A 6 team round robin is 15 games: five rounds of three, and no byes, because six is even. The example runs six sample teams on two courts, 20-minute games from 10:00, and ends at 1:20 pm. Type your names over them, then print it or save it as a PDF from your browser's print window.
Two courts or three for a 15-game day
On two courts a round takes two slots, two games and then one, so the example runs 10 slots to 1:20 pm. One court needs 15 slots and ends at 3:00. Three courts need five and end at 11:40 am, but then all six teams play in every slot: five games straight and nobody spare to referee. A fourth court would stand empty.
Seed order: 1 v 6 first, 1 v 2 last
Untick Random draw, press Make schedule, and the pairings follow your list. Round 1 is line 1 against line 6, 2 against 5 and 3 against 4: top against bottom, the way seeding folds a list. Lines 1 and 2 meet in round 5, and on two courts that game has the final slot to itself, 1:00 pm on court 1. If the seeding holds, the decider comes last.
Tips
- On two courts the pair idle in a round's first slot plays its second, so they can score the first two games.
- Press Double for home and away: 10 rounds, 30 games. On three courts it ends at 1:20 pm, the same finish as the single on two.
- Fix the tiebreak before round 1: three teams that finish four and one each lost to one of the other two, so head-to-head can never split them.
Questions and answers
How many games does a six team round robin take?
Fifteen. The first team listed has five opponents, the next has four new ones, then three, two and one: 5 + 4 + 3 + 2 + 1 = 15. Each team plays five games, one in every round.
One pool of six or two pools of three?
One pool gives every team five games and a table nobody can argue with, but costs 15 games. Two pools of three need 6 pool games, two crossover semi-finals and a final: 9 games, five slots on two courts instead of ten. The catch: two teams go home after two games.
Why are some teams listed first more often?
Five games cannot be split evenly, so three teams get three home listings and three get two. In typed order the extra one goes to lines 1, 3 and 5. If listed first means first serve or the home bench, give those lines to teams that went short last time, or press Double for five and five.