Padelio tournament formats — which one should I pick?

At a glance

Base formats

Format	Partner rotation	Scoring	Best for	Min players
Americano	Every round (dynamic) or fixed	Individual	Mixed-level social play	4
Mexicano	By rank each round	Individual	Competitive groups, even levels	4
Mix In	Flexible mixing each round	Individual	Mixed-format social events	4
King of the Court	Winners stay, losers rotate	Individual	Fast casual sessions, larger groups	8

Pro formats

Format	Structure	Scoring	Best for	Min players
Round Robin	Everyone plays everyone	Pair / individual	Smaller competitive groups	4
Single Elimination	Knockout bracket	Match win/loss	Quick competitive cup	8
Double Elimination	Winners + losers brackets	Match win/loss	Fairer knockouts, fewer "one bad day" exits	8
Swiss	Paired by current standings	Match win/loss	Larger fields without elimination	8
Group Stage Knockout	Group robin → bracket	Group + bracket	Club championships, league finals	8
Tiered Americano	Americano split into ability tiers	Individual per tier	Wider skill spread, social + fair	8

All formats support both fixed pairs and dynamic pairs as a separate variant — see the FAQ.

Americano

The default for most casual tournaments. Every round, Padelio creates new pairings so each player partners with as many different teammates as possible across the tournament. Points are scored individually — your final standing is the sum of your points across all rounds.

Why pick it: levels out mixed-ability groups (good players will partner with weaker ones at some point), keeps the standings interesting (no early elimination), and there's no awkward "who plays who" debate.

Round duration: 12–18 minutes is typical.

Mexicano

Like Americano, but each round's pairings depend on current standings. After round 1, the top two players are paired against the next two, and so on. Strong players keep meeting strong opponents.

Why pick it: keeps competitive groups engaged. Players of similar level play each other, so games stay close. Standings feel earned.

Caveat: can feel harsh in mixed-level groups — weaker players end up always together. Use Americano if your group has a wide skill spread.

King of the Court

A fast, social format. The court at the top of the rotation is the "King's court". Whoever wins on the King's court stays. Losers rotate down. After each short round (often 5–8 minutes), everyone shuffles up or down based on outcome.

Why pick it: great for groups of 8+ where you want lots of movement, short games, and a casual vibe. Not for serious competition — there's no fixed end state, you stop when time's up.

Round duration: 5–10 minutes.

Mix In

A flexible variant of the rotating-pairs idea. Padelio mixes partners and opponents from round to round but with looser rules than Americano — you can adjust who plays whom between rounds. Useful when your group has a mix of regulars and drop-ins and you want to keep things social without pinning down a strict rotation up front.

Why pick it: social events where attendance is fluid, or club nights where you want to nudge pairings (e.g., putting a coach with a beginner) without going to fixed pairs.

Pro formats

Pro formats unlock with a Pro subscription on your account, or when you host the tournament as a crew or organization that has Pro. They give you more competitive structure: brackets, group stages, and skill-tiered rounds.

Round Robin

Everyone plays everyone (or every pair plays every other pair, in fixed-pairs mode). The number of rounds scales with player count, so it's best with smaller fields — about 4–12 players (or 4–8 pairs). Padelio computes a complete schedule up front and tracks individual or pair scoring depending on the variant you pick.

Why pick it: the fairest possible format — final standings reflect head-to-head results across the whole field, no luck of the bracket.

Watch out: match count grows quickly. With 16 players and dynamic pairs, you're looking at a long event — switch to Swiss or Group Stage Knockout above ~12.

Single Elimination

A classic knockout bracket. Pairs are seeded (manually or by Padelio) and one loss eliminates a team. Padelio handles byes automatically when the player count isn't a power of two.

Why pick it: the shortest competitive format. With N pairs, you play exactly N − 1 matches total, so a 16-pair cup wraps up in 15 matches across 4 rounds.

Watch out: half the field plays only one match. Use Double Elimination or Group Stage Knockout if you want everyone to play more.

Double Elimination

Like Single Elimination, but losing once doesn't end your tournament — you drop into a losers' bracket and have a second life. You're only out after losing twice. The losers' bracket champion meets the winners' bracket champion in the grand final.

Why pick it: competitive cup that's more forgiving than single elim — one bad match doesn't knock the favorite out.

Watch out: roughly twice as many matches as single elim. Plan court time accordingly.

Swiss

Each round, pairs are matched against opponents with a similar current record — not a bracket and not full round robin. After R rounds (typically 4–7), the team with the best record wins. Nobody is eliminated mid-event; everyone keeps playing the same number of matches.

Why pick it: large fields where round robin would take forever and elimination feels unfair. Common in chess and trading-card events; works great for padel club championships with 16+ pairs.

Watch out: standings depend on tiebreak rules (head-to-head, opponent strength). Decide tiebreaks up front if a final ranking matters.

Group Stage Knockout

A two-phase format: pairs are split into groups that play round-robin, then top finishers from each group advance to a knockout bracket. The same shape as a football World Cup — group stage first, knockout after.

Why pick it: every team gets multiple matches in the group stage even if they don't make the bracket. Feels structured and fair without dragging on.

Watch out: needs at least 8 pairs to work well (typically 4 groups of 3 or 4). Set group size and how many advance up front.

Tiered Americano

An Americano variant for wide skill spreads. Padelio splits the field into tiers (e.g., A and B, or A/B/C) by skill level, runs an Americano within each tier, and tracks standings tier-by-tier. Strong and weak players still get a social rotating-partners experience without being thrown together unfairly.

Why pick it: club nights where you've got 1.5 players and 4.0 players in the same room and you want everyone to have fun.

Watch out: you need enough players per tier (4+) for the rotation to work. With 12 players you can probably do two tiers; with 8, stick to a regular Americano.

Fixed pairs vs dynamic pairs

Each format supports two variants:

• Dynamic pairs (default for Americano-style formats): Padelio chooses partners every round.
• Fixed pairs: you set partnerships at creation; they don't change. Use this for league-style play, bracket-based Pro formats, or when teams have already been agreed (e.g., a club Americano where members register as a duo).

You pick the variant during tournament creation, alongside the format.

Where to go next

• Ready to set one up? Go to tournaments/create.
• Wondering how rounds and the timer behave once it starts? tournaments/rounds-and-timer.
• Want to unlock Pro formats? See getting-started/upgrading-to-paid.

FAQ

Can I switch format mid-tournament?

No — the format is fixed once the tournament is created. If you need a different format, finish or delete the current tournament and start a new one.

What's the difference between fixed and dynamic pairs?

Fixed pairs means you decide partnerships up front and they stay the same across all rounds — best for clubs and league-style play. Dynamic pairs means Padelio rotates partners every round so everyone plays with everyone — best for social tournaments.

Which format is most beginner-friendly?

Americano with dynamic pairs. Every player rotates partners, scoring is purely individual, and there are no knockouts — nobody is eliminated and the standings stay close.

How do I unlock the Pro formats?

Pro formats (Round Robin, Single Elimination, Double Elimination, Swiss, Group Stage Knockout, Tiered Americano) require a Pro subscription on your account, or hosting the tournament as a crew or organization that has Pro. See [getting-started/upgrading-to-paid](/docs/getting-started/upgrading-to-paid).

What's the difference between Single and Double Elimination?

In Single Elimination one loss puts you out of the bracket. In Double Elimination you have to lose twice — losers drop into a losers' bracket and can still reach the final. Double takes roughly twice as many matches.

See something off? Suggest a fix — emails support@padelio.org with the article and a prefilled subject.