How a Pickle Pot event runs
Never played one before? Here's the whole day, start to finish — from checking in to splitting the pot. It's doubles, it's fair, and every team gets into the bracket.
The day, start to finish
Arrive & check in
Sign in and check yourself in from your account, or scan the check-in QR at the venue. Your partner signs the liability waiver when they check in.
Pool play
You play a round-robin against the other teams in your pool — everyone plays everyone.
Standings
Pool results are ranked to set your seed for the bracket (see the tiebreakers below).
The bracket
Every team advances into a single-elimination bracket, seeded by pool finish. Win and keep moving.
Champion & the pot
The bracket plays down to a champion, and the top teams in each division take home the pot.
Divisions
Pickle Pot is doubles. You register as a two-player team, and each division is gated by your team's combined DUPR — a floor, a cap, or both (for example 7.0–8.0, or 9.0 and below). Combined DUPR is the sum of both players' ratings, so partners choose the division their pairing fits. This keeps every match competitive and closes the door on sandbagging.
Pool play
Within a division, teams are drawn into pools and play a round-robin — every team plays every other team in its pool once. Pool games exist to rank the field; they don't eliminate anyone. Play them straight: your pool record decides your bracket seed, and a better seed means a friendlier path.
Standings & tiebreakers
Pool standings are ranked in this order — each step only matters when the one before it is tied:
- Wins — most pool wins first.
- Head-to-head — if teams are tied on wins, the result between them (or among a tied group) breaks it.
- Point differential — total points scored minus points allowed.
- Points for — total points scored.
The order is fully deterministic, so seeding is never a coin flip — the standings you see are exactly what seeds the draw.
The bracket
Every team advances from pools into a single-elimination bracket, seeded by pool finish — a strong pool run earns a better seed. From there it's win-or-go-home: win your match and move on, lose and your day of matches is done. The bracket plays down through the named rounds to a champion.
Scoring
Report scores yourself: one team enters the result from their account, and the other team confirms it. Once confirmed, the score is official and the standings and bracket update immediately. The director can also enter or correct any score.
Disputes
If the two teams don't agree on a reported score, either team can dispute it. That clears the reported result and flags it for the director, who settles it. When in doubt, flag it rather than confirm a score you don't agree with.
Forfeits & no-shows
A team that never checks in on event day is treated as a no-show. The director handles no-shows and forfeits: a forfeit counts as a win for the opponent and a loss for the forfeiting team, but the unplayed game is left out of point differential for both teams so the standings aren't distorted. A forfeited team seeds last.
Withdrawals
Need to pull out? Contact your director. Withdrawing frees your slot, and if there's a waitlist the next team in line is promoted automatically.
Prizes
Entry fees pool into the prize pot. Each division pays out its top finishers in cash, and the payout split for a division is posted with that division so you always know what you're playing for.
Code of conduct
Call your lines honestly, respect your opponents and the director, and keep it competitive but friendly — this is a community event first.
Waiver
If the event has a liability waiver, the registering captain agrees to it at registration and the partner signs it at check-in. You'll see the full text before you agree to it.