Tournament Guide
A complete plan states the rules, authority, safeguards, and result path before registration.
To plan a Rock Paper Scissors tournament, declare eligibility, capacity, ruleset, match format, bracket format, tie and bye procedures, venue or online controls, staffing, accessibility contact, privacy and media terms, prize terms, dispute process, result authority, and cancellation policy before registration. Use the calculator for a planning estimate based on your own player, court, match-time, and buffer inputs. A WRPSA sanction requires a separate recorded approval; an inquiry, bracket, or rules download does not confer it.
Tournament Formats
Single Elimination
A single-elimination bracket removes a player after one match loss. For n entrants, a completed bracket with one champion uses n−1 matches. Court count, match length, transitions, ties, disputes, and breaks determine elapsed time.
- Operational property: n−1 matches produce one champion
- Trade-off: each entrant is guaranteed only one match
- Time: calculate from event inputs below; no universal 32-player duration is claimed
Double Elimination
A double-elimination bracket removes a player after a second match loss. The exact match inventory depends on field size, bracket implementation, byes, and whether the final requires a reset.
- Operational property: each entrant receives a second path after the first loss
- Trade-off: more matches and more bracket states than single elimination
- Time: calculate with the selected reset policy and event inputs
Round Robin
In a complete round robin, every entrant meets every other entrant once, producing n(n−1)/2 matches. The organizer must declare scoring, tie-breaks, advancement, and whether all scheduled matches must finish.
Swiss System
A Swiss-format event pairs entrants by record across a declared number of rounds without a full round robin. The organizer must specify pairing software or rules, byes, repeat-pairing prevention, scoring, tie-breaks, and correction authority.
Planning Checklist
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Players | Use the actual capacity and eligibility policy. Any positive field can be planned; bracket format determines byes and match inventory. |
| Space | Define one safe, accessible court or online room per simultaneous match, including circulation, spectator, equipment, and emergency needs for the venue. |
| Time | Enter an observed or rehearsed average match duration, court count, and buffer in the calculator. Static “minutes per match” claims are not guarantees. |
| Referee(s) | Name the result authority and backup for every operating period. Staffing needs follow court count, format, evidence method, safeguarding, and dispute policy. |
| Bracket board | Publish a readable current bracket and preserve versioned corrections, whether the display is a whiteboard, projection, printout, or online view. |
| Prizes | Optional. Publish eligibility, value, delivery, tax, tie, cancellation, substitution, and dispute terms before entry or payment. |
| Rules printout | Publish the exact ruleset and version, plus every approved event-specific rule, before registration. |
Planning tool
Tournament match and time calculator
Estimate the bracket inventory and reserve a realistic event block. This is a planning aid, not a sanctioning decision or a guarantee: check venue transitions, breaks, late arrivals, broadcasts, and local requirements separately.
- Matches to reserve
- 31
- Rounds / stages
- 5
- Byes
- 0
- Reserve at least
- 39 min
Format-dependent planning stages
32-slot bracket reference
4 active courts, including buffer
Printable resource
Tournament operations checklist
Use this as a minimum control list and add venue, safeguarding, legal, insurance, broadcast, and sponsor requirements that apply to your event.
Before registration opens
- Choose the format, eligibility rules, capacity, venue, date, and cancellation policy.
- Publish the official throw cadence, match format, dispute process, and accessibility contact.
- Name the event owner, head referee, scorekeeper, safety contact, and backup for each role.
- Confirm prize terms, sponsor approvals, photo/video consent, and privacy notices in writing.
Before doors open
- Freeze the player list, seeds, byes, court assignments, and a versioned bracket copy.
- Brief referees with the same rules sheet and test the timer, display, network, and result workflow.
- Mark check-in, warm-up, spectator, media, and accessible routes at the venue.
- Prepare an offline bracket/result fallback and a visible correction log.
During and after the event
- Record every accepted result with player identities, round, court, referee, and timestamp.
- Resolve protests before advancing the affected bracket branch; preserve the decision note.
- Publish only reconciled final results and clearly label provisional totals or delayed verification.
- Retain consent-safe evidence, issue corrections visibly, and record the archive owner and review date.
Building the Bracket
- Freeze the eligible field. Record the registration and check-in cutoffs, accepted entrants, substitutions, and withdrawal policy before generating the bracket.
- Declare seeding. State whether placement is random, rating-based, group-derived, or manually reviewed, including the tie-break and conflict policy.
- Handle byes explicitly. When a bracket has open slots, publish how byes are assigned. Seeded and randomized events may use different policies; the rule must match the announced format.
- Publish the current bracket. Use a board, display, or online view that identifies provisional and final states and preserves visible corrections.
Rules and Judging
Before registration, publish the exact ruleset and every event-specific choice. Repeat the decisive procedure in the player and staff briefings.
- Counting method: "Rock... Paper... Scissors... Shoot!" Throws revealed on "Shoot." Not before. Not after.
- Match format: WRPSA v1.0 uses first to two decisive-round wins as the standard. Any longer odd format must be announced before play.
- Legal throws: Rock (fist), Paper (flat hand), Scissors (two fingers). Anything else is a foul. No, "dynamite" is not a throw.
- Timing: under WRPSA v1.0, both players reveal on “Shoot.” An early reveal is a false start; delaying to react is a late throw.
- Disputes: identify the referee or result authority, evidence accepted, protest deadline, bracket hold, decision record, and correction path. Under WRPSA v1.0, a serious protest is filed immediately after the match.
For the complete competitive ruleset, see the Official WRPSA Rules.
Running the Event
Before the Event
- Freeze and publish the eligible field, seeds, byes, court assignments, and versioned bracket
- Brief every result authority on the same ruleset, evidence standard, protest deadline, and correction path
- Test check-in, staging, accessible routes, timing, displays, result entry, network, and offline fallback
During Matches
- Call the identified entrants to the assigned court and confirm readiness and ruleset
- Use the declared cadence and result authority for that court
- Record the accepted result, evidence class, timestamp, and bracket effect; label provisional states
- Pause an affected bracket branch while a timely protest or correction is unresolved
Finals
- Use the match format published before registration
- Confirm court, entrants, result authority, ruleset, prize terms, and broadcast or spectator controls
- Preserve the final result evidence and resolve eligible protests before marking the bracket final
- Publish consented media only under the event’s written privacy and media terms
WRPSA-Sanctioned Events
A WRPSA sanction is an explicit administrative state on an event record. Submitting an inquiry, using WRPSA software, downloading rules, or linking to WRPSA does not confer sanctioning, rating eligibility, or result authority.
- Rules identity: the event records the WRPSA ruleset version and any approved event-specific terms
- Rating scope: only eligible results accepted through the sanctioned write path can affect WRPSA platform rankings
- Public listing: publication requires a separately approved public event record with complete non-private details
- Operational scope: software, staffing, evidence, branding, and managed-production commitments are only those written into the approved event record or agreement
Submit a hosting inquiry for review. The response must state the approved route and scope; no approval is inferred from submission.
Host your first tournament
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