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Single elimination in darts

Lose once, you're out. Single elimination is the simplest tournament format there is — and the one that gives a final its stakes.

How it works

Players are paired off; the loser of each match is eliminated, the winner advances. The bracket halves every round until two players remain for the final. For N players it takes exactly N−1 matches — fast to run, easy to follow.

FreeDarts' version

Rather than seeding a bare knockout, FreeDarts runs a pool stage first so nobody's night ends after one match, then feeds the qualifiers into a single-elimination bracket that updates itself live as results come in.

Pros and cons

• Pros — the fastest format there is: N players, N−1 matches, no complicated maths. Every match matters, which keeps the tension electric all the way to the final.
• Cons — a bad draw can knock out the tournament's best player in the very first round, with no chance to bounce back.

Frequently asked questions

What happens with an odd number of players?
A player or team gets a "bye": they move straight to the next round without playing, usually drawn at random like everything else.

Can top players be seeded so they don't meet too early?
That's the idea behind seeding, common in official competitions. FreeDarts favours a random draw after a pool stage instead, which already lowers the odds of two favourites meeting in round one.

Above how many players does this format alone become a bad idea?
Beyond around fifteen players, pure single elimination knocks too many people out after just one match — a pool stage before the final keeps everyone involved for longer.