7 Team Double Elimination Bracket

One bye, three opening games and 12 numbered games, with Game 13 held back for a replayed final.

7 Team Double Elimination Bracket

No teams yet. The bracket prints blank, to fill in by hand.

7 teams, double elimination: 12 or 13 games. Seed 1 has a bye.

Seed 1: Bye
Loser to Game 7
Winner of Game 1Loser to Game 8
Loser to Game 6
Loser to Game 6
Winner of Game 2Winner of Game 3Loser to Game 7
Winner of Game 4Winner of Game 5Loser to Game 11
Loser of Game 1Loser of Game 5Loser out: 5th to 6th
Loser of Game 2Loser of Game 3Loser out: 7th
Winner of Game 6Loser of Game 4Loser out: 5th to 6th
Winner of Game 7Winner of Game 8Loser out: 4th
Winner of Game 10Loser of Game 9Loser out: 3rd
Winner of Game 9Winner of Game 11
Winner of Game 12Loser of Game 12If the losers bracket team wins Game 12
Champion

Tap a team to send it through; tap it again to take the result back. The bracket scrolls sideways.

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How it works

A 7 team double elimination bracket gives Seed 1 the only bye. Seeds 4 and 5, 3 and 6, and 2 and 7 play Games 1 to 3; Seed 1 enters in a semifinal, Game 4. It takes twelve games, thirteen with a replayed final.

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Three opening games and a bye

A seven team double elimination bracket uses seven of eight lines; the empty one faces Seed 1. Game 1, Seed 4 against Seed 5, decides who meets Seed 1 in Game 4. The winners of Games 2 and 3 meet in Game 5.

Three losers, two games

The losers of Games 2 and 3 meet in Game 6, and its loser is seventh outright. The Game 1 loser waits for the Game 5 loser in Game 7, while the Game 6 winner gets the Game 4 loser in Game 8. The losers of Games 7 and 8 share fifth.

Tips
  • Two courts take 7 slots: play in number order, two games at a time, then Games 11 and 12 alone.
  • A third court cuts that to 6 slots; a fourth saves nothing more.
  • An eighth team? Change the Teams box to 8 and Seed 1 plays in round one. The notes here still describe seven.

Questions and answers

How many games are in a 7 team double elimination bracket?

Twelve, or thirteen if the final is replayed: six in the winners bracket, five in the losers bracket and the championship. A 7 team round robin takes 21.

Who gets the bye with seven teams?

Seed 1, and it enters in a semifinal. An unbeaten Seed 1 wins the title in three games: 4, 9 and 12. Every other seed needs four, and none can play more than seven.

7 team tournament bracket double elimination: can two teams meet twice?

Yes, but not before Game 10, which can repeat Game 1, 2 or 3. Game 11 can repeat any of Games 1 to 5. Games 6, 7 and 8 are always first meetings.

Does it work as a 7 man double elimination bracket?

Yes. Type the seven players best first and the top line gets the bye. Without rankings, press Random draw and the bye goes to whoever lands on line one.

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Every game in the 7-team double-elimination bracket

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7 teams, double elimination: 12 or 13 games. Seed 1 has a bye.

Games of the 7-team double-elimination bracket, in playing order
GameRoundTeamsWinner goes toLoser goes toNotes
1Winners round 1Seed 4 vs Seed 5Game 4Game 7Seed 4 against Seed 5. The winner is Seed 1's first opponent, in Game 4. The loser waits in Game 7 for the team that loses Game 5, the semifinal in the other half.
2Winners round 1Seed 3 vs Seed 6Game 5Game 6Seed 3 against Seed 6. Its winner plays the Game 3 winner in Game 5; its loser plays the Game 3 loser in Game 6, the first game that sends a team home.
3Winners round 1Seed 2 vs Seed 7Game 5Game 6Seed 2 against Seed 7. A win leads to the Game 5 semifinal. A loss leads to Game 6, where the loser is out in seventh place after only two games.
4Winners semifinalSeed 1 vs Winner of Game 1Game 9Game 8Seed 1 comes off its bye into a semifinal against Seed 4 or Seed 5. The winner reaches Game 9. The loser drops to Game 8 against the Game 6 winner, a team from the other half of the sheet.
5Winners semifinalWinner of Game 2 vs Winner of Game 3Game 9Game 7Semifinal between the winners of Games 2 and 3, each 1 and 0. The winner meets the Game 4 winner in Game 9. The loser drops to Game 7, where the Game 1 loser is waiting.
6Losers round 1Loser of Game 2 vs Loser of Game 3Game 8Out (7th)Losers round 1 is this one game, for the teams beaten in Games 2 and 3. Whoever loses is out first and has seventh place to itself. The winner goes to Game 8 to play the Game 4 loser, who may be Seed 1.
7Losers round 2Loser of Game 1 vs Loser of Game 5Game 10Out (5th to 6th)The Game 1 loser has played once, the Game 5 loser twice, and they come from opposite halves. The loser is out, tied for fifth with the Game 8 loser. The winner goes to Game 10.
8Losers round 2Winner of Game 6 vs Loser of Game 4Game 10Out (5th to 6th)The Game 6 winner against the Game 4 loser. If Seed 1 lost its first game, this is its second, and a defeat here puts it out tied for fifth. The winner meets the Game 7 winner in Game 10.
9Winners finalWinner of Game 4 vs Winner of Game 5Game 12Game 11Winners final. Seed 1 can get here with a single win; everyone else needs two. The winner goes to Game 12 unbeaten. The loser drops to Game 11, the losers final.
10Losers round 3Winner of Game 7 vs Winner of Game 8Game 11Out (4th)Losers round 3, and the earliest possible rematch on this sheet: a team beaten in Game 1, 2 or 3 can meet the team that beat it, if that team has since lost its semifinal. The loser finishes fourth. The winner goes to Game 11.
11Losers finalWinner of Game 10 vs Loser of Game 9Game 12Out (3rd)Losers final. It can repeat any of Games 1 to 5. The loser finishes third. The winner reaches Game 12 with one defeat and has to beat the unbeaten team there and again in Game 13.
12ChampionshipWinner of Game 9 vs Winner of Game 11Champion, or Game 13 if the losers bracket team winsRunner-upChampionship. The Game 9 winner has played two or three games and lost none; the Game 11 winner has played between three and five. A win for the unbeaten team ends it at 12 games.
13If necessaryWinner of Game 12 vs Loser of Game 12ChampionRunner-upThe if game, also known as the bracket reset. It is drawn on the sheet and played only if the Game 11 winner also won Game 12. Its winner is champion; for Seeds 2 to 7 it can be a seventh game.

Each seed's unbeaten path, and where a first loss drops it 7

  • Seed 1: Game 4, Game 9 and Game 12 The one seed with a bye. It starts in Game 4, a semifinal, against the Game 1 winner, and its first defeat sends it from Game 4 down to Game 8, or from Game 9 down to Game 11. Three wins in a row win the bracket.
  • Seed 2: Game 3, Game 5, Game 9 and Game 12 Opens with Seed 7 in Game 3, and its first defeat sends it from Game 3 down to Game 6, or from Game 5 down to Game 7, or from Game 9 down to Game 11. It needs four wins in a row to stay unbeaten.
  • Seed 3: Game 2, Game 5, Game 9 and Game 12 Opens with Seed 6 in Game 2, and its first defeat sends it from Game 2 down to Game 6, or from Game 5 down to Game 7, or from Game 9 down to Game 11. It needs four wins in a row to stay unbeaten.
  • Seed 4: Game 1, Game 4, Game 9 and Game 12 Opens with Seed 5 in Game 1, and its first defeat sends it from Game 1 down to Game 7, or from Game 4 down to Game 8, or from Game 9 down to Game 11. It needs four wins in a row to stay unbeaten.
  • Seed 5: Game 1, Game 4, Game 9 and Game 12 Opens with Seed 4 in Game 1, and its first defeat sends it from Game 1 down to Game 7, or from Game 4 down to Game 8, or from Game 9 down to Game 11. It needs four wins in a row to stay unbeaten.
  • Seed 6: Game 2, Game 5, Game 9 and Game 12 Opens with Seed 3 in Game 2, and its first defeat sends it from Game 2 down to Game 6, or from Game 5 down to Game 7, or from Game 9 down to Game 11. It needs four wins in a row to stay unbeaten.
  • Seed 7: Game 3, Game 5, Game 9 and Game 12 Opens with Seed 2 in Game 3, and its first defeat sends it from Game 3 down to Game 6, or from Game 5 down to Game 7, or from Game 9 down to Game 11. It needs four wins in a row to stay unbeaten.

How this list was compiled: Bracket layout worked out by Wheel of Teams; it is the layout the bracket maker on this page draws, compared game for game. Seven teams go on the 8-slot double elimination bracket with standard seeding (1 v 8, 4 v 5, 3 v 6, 2 v 7 down the sheet). The one slot left empty faces Seed 1, and every game that would have an empty slot in it is removed. That gives Seed 1 a bye and sends each loser to the place it would have in the full bracket. Every road a seed can take through the 12 games was followed, 131 in all (a team's road depends only on its own results): each one ends as champion with at most one loss, or out with exactly two. Then all 4,096 possible sets of results were played through. The checks agree: the total is always 12 or 13 games, no two teams can meet twice before Game 10, a champion plays between 3 and 7 games, and the fewest time slots are 12, 7, 6 and 6 on one, two, three and four courts, plus one if Game 13 is played. The seed paths list the games a seed plays while it keeps winning. The game count (2n - 2, or 2n - 1 when the winner is not undefeated), the two-game final and the names 'if game' and 'bracket reset' were checked on 2026-10-04 against https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-elimination_tournament. Licence: own work