What a round robin is
In a round robin, every competitor meets every other competitor. Because everyone plays multiple opponents, one early loss does not automatically eliminate a participant. It is commonly used for league competitions, group stages and club ladders.
The trade-off is size. A knockout with 16 teams needs 15 matches; a round robin with 16 teams needs 120.
A round robin produces a set of results that can be used to calculate each participant's winning percentage.
How many rounds and matches?
With an even number of teams, everyone can play in every round, and the tournament takes one round fewer than the number of teams. With an odd number someone must sit out each round — a bye — so it takes as many rounds as there are teams, and each team byes exactly once.
Matches = teams × (teams − 1) ÷ 2Rounds = teams − 1 (even) or teams (odd) In a double round robin, both the number of rounds and the number of matches are doubled.
| Teams | Rounds | Matches per round | Total matches | Byes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | — |
| 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 per round |
| 4 | 3 | 2 | 6 | — |
| 5 | 5 | 2 | 10 | 1 per round |
| 6 | 5 | 3 | 15 | — |
| 7 | 7 | 3 | 21 | 1 per round |
| 8 | 7 | 4 | 28 | — |
| 9 | 9 | 4 | 36 | 1 per round |
| 10 | 9 | 5 | 45 | — |
| 11 | 11 | 5 | 55 | 1 per round |
| 12 | 11 | 6 | 66 | — |
| 13 | 13 | 6 | 78 | 1 per round |
| 14 | 13 | 7 | 91 | — |
| 15 | 15 | 7 | 105 | 1 per round |
| 16 | 15 | 8 | 120 | — |
The match total grows quickly, because each new team has to play everyone already there. Going from 10 teams to 16 adds six teams and 75 matches.
How the schedule is built
The standard method is sometimes called the circle method. Write the teams in two rows, pair them off vertically, then hold one team still and rotate all the others one place each round. After every rotation a new set of pairings appears, and after one full turn every possible pairing has happened exactly once.
For an odd number of teams, a placeholder is added to make the count even. Whoever is paired with the placeholder that round has the bye. The bye rotates through the schedule so that each team gets one bye.
Home and away
In a single round robin, each pairing happens once, so the schedule assigns one team as home and the other as away for each match. The home/away assignment is part of the generated fixture list.
Tick double round-robin and every pairing is played twice, with the home and away teams reversed in the second meeting. That gives every pair of teams one home fixture and one away fixture against each other, while doubling the total number of matches.
Tips for running one
- Shuffle before you start. The order you enter the names affects which opponents meet in each round. The shuffle button randomises the starting order so the schedule isn't determined by sign-up order.
- Plan for byes Everyone gets exactly one bye in an odd-numbered field, but make sure your scoring and scheduling rules handle a team sitting out for a round correctly.
- Rounds don’t have to be days. A round is just a set of matches that can happen at the same time, because no team appears twice in it.
- Plan for ties. Decide your tiebreaker before play starts. Depending on the competition, this might be head-to-head results, point or goal difference, total points scored, or another published rule.
Need to create teams first? Use the Random Team Generator to split participants into teams.
If you're tracking player or team ratings across matches, the Elo Calculator can help calculate rating changes from match results.
Frequently asked questions
How many matches are in a round robin with 6 teams?
15 matches, played over 5 rounds with 3 matches in each. Doubled for home and away, that's 30 matches over 10 rounds.
What happens with an odd number of teams?
One team sits out each round, which is called a bye. The generator rotates the bye so every team gets exactly one, and the tournament takes one extra round compared with an even number of teams.
What is a double round robin?
Every pairing is played twice rather than once, usually with the venue swapped for the return match. It doubles the number of rounds and matches, and is commonly used for league seasons in sports such as football and basketball.
Can I use it for players rather than teams?
Yes. Chess, darts, pool and card tournaments all use the same structure — enter one name per line instead of team names.