User guide

Everything you need to know about SixBagel: signing up, tournament formats, scoring, ladder points, tournament coins, and pickup games.

Signing up for tournaments

SixBagel runs official monthly tournaments every calendar month. Registration opens on the Monthly registration page during the prior month - for example, sign up in June for July's draws.

  1. Open Monthly registration and choose which events you want to enter (men's singles, women's doubles, mixed doubles, etc.).
  2. For doubles, enter your partner's exact profile username (shown on their profile, not a nickname). They receive a direct message and must accept before you both appear on the roster.
  3. Registration closes at the end of the month. On the 1st of the competition month, the system builds draws automatically (see How matching works).
  4. Once draws are generated, find your event on Current tournaments to see your draw, schedule matches, and enter scores.

To register, you need an account and a profile (username, gender for gendered draws, city if your community uses home-city checks) to register.

Types of tournaments

Official monthly events use a single-elimination draw. The available categories are:

  • Men's singles — 1 v 1; profile gender must be set to male.
  • Women's singles — 1 v 1; profile gender must be set to female.
  • Co-ed singles — 1 v 1; any gender.
  • Men's doubles — 2 v 2; both partners must have male gender on their profile.
  • Women's doubles — 2 v 2; both partners must have female gender on their profile.
  • Mixed doubles — 2 v 2; each side must have one man and one woman.

Every category follows the same single-elimination format: lose one match and you're out. The last player (or team) standing is the champion, earning bonus ladder points, tournament coins, and a title on their profile.

Want to play more matches outside of monthly tournaments? Check out Pickup games to find or host casual matches anytime!

How players get matched

When the draw is generated on the 1st of the month, entrants are ranked by ladder points (highest first). Ties are broken by self-rating on your profile, then randomly. The more matches and results players have on SixBagel, the better the ladder (and this matching) reflects real skill.

Pool Allocation: Entrants are ranked and split into distinct single-elimination pools. Pool 1 contains the highest-ranked players/teams.

Minimum Requirements: A pool must have at least 4 players (Singles) or 4 teams (Doubles) to run. If registration falls below this, the event for that category is canceled for the month.

Seasonal Capacity:

  • Outdoor (May–Oct): Top pools are capped at 16 entrants, preparing for one match per week.
  • Indoor (Nov–Apr): All pools are capped at 8 entrants, keeping winter draws shorter and easier to schedule.

Seeding & Draws:

  • Singles: Players are placed in seeded order (e.g., #1 vs. lowest seed). If the total is not a power of two (4, 8, 16), top seeds receive first-round byes.
  • Doubles: Teams are ranked by the average of both partners' ladder points. Ties are broken by individual self-ratings. Seeding follows the same logic as singles.
Tournament rules

Scheduling your match

  • Agree on a date, time, and court with your opponent using direct messages or your own contact method.
  • Arrive on time and bring balls and any shared equipment you agreed on.
  • Each round has a deadline you must meet. However, once you advance and your potential opponent is decided, you can start your next match anytime — you do not have to wait for every other match in the previous round to complete.

Round deadlines

  • Each round has a deadline. For official monthly events, the competition month is divided evenly across the number of knockout rounds (e.g. a 4-round draw in a 30-day month gives roughly one week per round). You get a direct-message reminder two days before each deadline.
  • If no score is entered by the deadline, the match is recorded as Incomplete: both sides receive a −25 ladder penalty and the draw may award a bye on the other side of the pairing.

Scoring

Either player (or any doubles team member) can enter or update the score on the match card. Two scoring modes are available:

  • Mode 1 — Two sets + 10-point match tiebreak
    Each set is played to 6 games (win by two). At 6–6, a 7-point set tiebreak decides the set. If sets are 1–1, a 10-point match tiebreak (first to 10, win by 2) decides the match.
  • Mode 2 — Pro set
    One set to 8 games (win by two). At 7–7, a 10-point tiebreak decides. Record as 8–7 / 7–8 plus tiebreak points.

Scoring examples

Mode 1 — straight sets:

Set 1: 6–4   Set 2: 6–2

Mode 1 — with set tiebreak and match tiebreak:

Set 1: 6–4   Set 2: 6–7 (TB: 5–7)   MTB: 10–7

Mode 2 — pro set:

Match: 8–5

Mode 2 — pro set with tiebreak:

Match: 8–7 (TB: 10–8)

Curtailed matches

If play is interrupted by weather/court time limits/other reasons and cannot be resumed, you may select the Curtailed Match option to record the result as-is. The winner is determined by completed sets first — a partial later set does not cancel a set your opponent already won. If completed sets are tied, the partial last set or match tiebreak decides. On a pro set at 7–7, whoever is ahead in the 10-point tiebreak wins.

Mutual no-contest

If both sides agree the match cannot be played for a valid reason (e.g. bad weather, poor air quality, courts closed), either player can start a mutual no-contest request from the match card. In singles, both players must confirm; in doubles, all four players must confirm. The match is closed with no winner and no ladder points — the other half of the draw advances as a bye.

Disputes and no-shows

  • If you disagree about a score or outcome, use Report issue on the match card and choose Score issue. Your report is private — only site moderators and admins see it.
  • No-show — if your opponent is more than 15 minutes late without agreement on a new time, you may claim a walkover. On a knockout match, the no-show path records a walkover for your side and default for the absent side on the draw, and advances the draw automatically. The no-show side loses −25 ladder points (same as withdrawal after lock). Staff still review your description.
  • Staff review reports in the Dispute inbox and may follow up. For minor disagreements, try to resolve directly with your opponent first when safe and reasonable.

Conduct

Players are expected to be courteous and respectful. Scheduling, line calls, and score entry work best when everyone acts in good faith. First serve, lets, choosing sides, and ad vs no-ad are decided between opponents unless the organizers publish different house rules.

Match outcomes

The draw can display the following outcome tags under a player or team name:

  • Walkover — the opponent wins because the other side could not play (no-show, illness before start, or withdrawal after the draw). Often applied automatically when someone withdraws from a locked event.
  • Withdrew — a player or team leaves the event before the match is closed with a final score.
  • Default — a player or team cannot continue during the match (injury, illness, equipment, time violation). The opponent is awarded the match.
  • Disqualified — removed for serious misconduct or a rule breach. The opponent wins.
  • Retired — a player or team voluntarily stops play during the match (often injury-related). Record completed sets and choose Retired as the outcome.
  • Curtailed — play stopped for external reasons (weather, court time). Enter the score as it stood; the trailing side is tagged curtailed.
  • Mutual no contest — both sides agree the match cannot be played (e.g. bad weather, poor air quality). In singles both players must confirm; in doubles all four players must confirm. No winner is recorded and the opponent from the other match in the same pairing advances as a bye.
Pickup games

Pickup games let you play either ladder points or casual matches outside official tournaments.

Hosting

  • Creating a game costs 5 tournament coins. You earn coins by participating in tournaments (see Tournament coins). If you cancel before the match is created (i.e. before all slots are filled), the coins are refunded.
  • Choose a format: women's singles, men's singles, co-ed singles, women's doubles, men's doubles, or mixed doubles.
  • Pick a scoring mode: Mode 1 (two sets + 10-point MTB) or Mode 2 (pro set).
  • Access: Every hosted game appears on the open list. You can optionally require a password so only people who know it can join, or set a ladder point range (min/max) to filter by skill.
  • Ladder Tracking: Enable ladder tracking if you want the match result to count toward ladder points; with this setting disabled are treated as Casual Play and will not affect your ladder points.

Joining

  • Browse open games on the Pickup games page.
  • When all slots are filled (2 for singles, 4 for doubles), the match is created and you can enter scores on the game page.

Ladder and rewards

Pickup games earn per-match ladder points only when the host enabled ladder tracking. They do not earn knockout advancement bonuses or champion bonuses — those are reserved for draw tournaments.

Ladder point system

How to Earn Ladder Points

Your ranking is built through consistent play and tournament success. Points are awarded in two ways:

  • Match Points: Decisive matches award Elo-scaled win and loss adjustments. Neither draw tournaments nor pickup games (with ladder tracking on) add a flat participation amount per match.
  • Tournament Bonuses: Official events award knockout round advancement for qualifying main-draw wins (walkovers can still qualify; pure bye placeholders do not), plus a champion bonus for winning the title.

Please note for pickup games, match points apply only when the host turned on ladder tracking for that game. Casual games with ladder tracking disabled do not affect your standings. For pickup games with ladder tracking on, while they contribute to your base points, they do not offer advancement or title bonuses.

Starting points

Every player begins with 100 ladder points per category as a baseline (outdoor/indoor × singles/doubles each include that floor before ledger changes). Accounts created in April 2026 (UTC) use 150 per category instead for that signup cohort. Points are tracked separately for singles and doubles.

How you earn (and lose) points

  • Draw tournaments: decisive matches use an Elo-scaled win bonus for the winner and a scaled loss adjustment for the loser — there is no separate participation grant. If you advance without playing that match (bye, walkover over withdrawal or no-show, etc.), you do not receive those match win/loss points; knockout round advancement bonuses still apply when the match qualifies.
  • Pickup games (ladder on): same rules as draw tournaments — a decisive match applies the Elo-scaled win bonus and loss adjustment only, with no separate participation grant.

Knockout round bonuses (tournaments only)

Each knockout win (not a bye) earns an extra ladder bonus on top of the match formula: 10 + round × 5 points (e.g. round 1 = 15, round 3 = 25). Doubles partners each get the full amount.

Champion bonus (tournaments only)

Winning the final earns a large extra bonus based on the draw size (first knockout round match count), plus a champion title on your profile:

  • +80 — 8+ first-round matches (e.g. 16-player draw)
  • +50 — 4–7 first-round matches
  • +35 — 2–3 first-round matches
  • +25 — 0–1 first-round matches

Penalties

  • Withdrawal after lock: −25 — leaving a registration-locked event forfeits your open matches as walkovers for your opponents; you pay this fixed penalty only (not an additional match rating loss on that forfeit).
  • Deadline incomplete: −25 — both sides when a knockout match auto-closes with no score after the round deadline.

Season totals are floored at 0 — you cannot go negative.

Outdoor vs Indoor Seasons

Ladder points are tracked in two separate seasons each year. The seasons never mix — you maintain separate totals and ranks for each. Singles and doubles are also separate ladders.

  • Outdoor — May through October
  • Indoor — November through April

Rankings

The Rankings page is the public leaderboard, ordering players by ladder points in each bucket (outdoor or indoor, singles or doubles). Your own totals and rank also appear on your player profile.

Your standing is calculated using a rolling 12-month window. Only months belonging to the specific season (indoor or outdoor) are counted. As each new month begins, the oldest corresponding month drops off, ensuring your rank reflects your current skill level rather than lifetime history.

Tournament coin system

Tournament coins are an in-app reward system for active players. Earn them by competing in official monthly tournaments and use them to host your own pickup games.

Earning coins

  • Joining a tournament match: +5 coins per signup (removed if you leave or withdraw).
  • Knockout wins: 2 + round × 1 coins per knockout win (e.g. round 1 = 3, round 3 = 5).
  • Champion bonus (by draw size): +12 / +9 / +6 / +4 — per player when the final is decided (doubles partners each get the full amount).

Spending coins

  • Hosting a pickup game: 5 coins. Refunded if you cancel the game before the match is created (before all player slots are filled).

Your coin balance is shown in the account menu next to your username. Coins have no monetary value.