Single or double elimination for a pool tournament?

Double elimination. A single rack turns on the break, so one loss is a poor measure of who plays better. A short race in double elimination is fairer than a long race in a knockout.

How long does a 16 player pool tournament take?

Thirty matches in double elimination. At a race to three and twenty five minutes a match, that is about six hours on two tables and three on four.

Does this handle APA or BCA handicaps?

No. The bracket records who won the match. Set the race length for each pairing yourself and write it on the printed sheet.

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Bar pool tournaments run double elimination almost universally, and the reason is the break. A single rack of eight ball can turn on a break nobody controls, so one game is close to a coin toss and one loss is a poor measure of who plays better. A race to three, twice over, reads much more fairly.

The decision that actually shapes the night is the race length rather than the bracket. A race to three at about eight minutes a rack is twenty five minutes a match; a race to five is nearer forty. Across thirty matches on two tables, that difference is the gap between finishing at eleven and finishing at one.

Which format to run

Double elimination at a race to three for a bar tournament of sixteen. If you are short of time, shorten the race rather than cutting the bracket: a race to two in double elimination is fairer than a race to five in a straight knockout.

Running it on the day

A race to three at eight ball takes about twenty five minutes. A race to five is closer to forty, and that difference multiplies across thirty matches.
APA and BCA handicap systems set a different race length for each player. The bracket carries no handicap, so write the race on the sheet beside each match.
Two tables is the practical minimum for sixteen players. Thirty matches on one table is not an evening, it is a weekend.
Winner breaks or alternate break changes match length more than most organisers expect. Decide it before the first rack, not during the final.

How the draw is structured

Entrants

Matches played

Rounds

Byes

Round by round

Round	Matches	Entrants left after it
Winners Round of 16	8	8
Winners Quarter-Finals	4	4
Winners Semi-Finals	2	2
Winners Final	1	1
Losers Round 1	4	1
Losers Round 2	4	1
Losers Round 3	2	1
Losers Round 4	2	1
Losers Round 5	1	1
Losers Final	1	1
Grand Final	1	1

Opening round by seed

Seeds are paired so the strongest and weakest meet first, which keeps the top seeds in opposite halves of the draw. This is the order the board is drawn in, top to bottom.

1 v 16
8 v 9
4 v 13
5 v 12
2 v 15
7 v 10
3 v 14
6 v 11

How long it takes

Rounds run one after another, because a round cannot start until the one feeding it has finished. Matches inside a round can all run at once, so the number of tables you have decides the day more than the number of entrants does.

Tables	13 min matches	25 min matches	38 min matches
1	6h 30m	12h 30m	19h
2	3h 41m	7h 5m	10h 46m
4	2h 36m	5h	7h 36m

Playing time only. Add changeovers, warm-ups and the gap between rounds.

Questions

Single or double elimination for a pool tournament?: Double elimination. A single rack turns on the break, so one loss is a poor measure of who plays better. A short race in double elimination is fairer than a long race in a knockout.
How long does a 16 player pool tournament take?: Thirty matches in double elimination. At a race to three and twenty five minutes a match, that is about six hours on two tables and three on four.
Does this handle APA or BCA handicaps?: No. The bracket records who won the match. Set the race length for each pairing yourself and write it on the printed sheet.

Brackets for other sports

The same draw, in detail

16 Team Double Elimination BracketSixteen teams, no byes, thirty matches across winners and losers brackets. The standard competitive bracket, free to draw and print.