Once you've picked your bracket structure, there's a second decision that trips up just as many new tournament directors: who's actually playing? Is it one player per side? Two players sharing shots? A team roster with a captain setting the lineup?
This is a different question from bracket format (single elimination vs. double elimination, etc.) — this is about the makeup of who's competing. Get it wrong and you'll spend your whole event fielding confused questions at the sign-up table. This guide breaks down every format you're likely to run into, in plain language, so you can explain it to your players in one sentence.
Singles
How it works: One player, one opponent. The simplest possible format — whatever bracket structure you're running (single elimination, double elimination, round robin) is just applied directly, player versus player.
Best for: Any standard individual tournament — this is the default format most people picture when they hear "pool tournament."
Why directors like it: Nothing to explain. No lineup cards, no partner logistics, no confusion about whose shot it is. Handicapping (Fargo, APA skill level, etc.) is also simplest in singles, since it's rating one player against one player.
Doubles (Standard Team Doubles)
How it works: Two-player teams, but each teammate plays their own separate individual match against the opposing team's corresponding player. The team's final score is the sum or combination of both individual match results — similar to how an APA Doubles Division scores an individual match plus a combined doubles match for bonus points.
Best for: League nights and team-based tournaments where you want partner camaraderie but still want each player to be judged on their own game.
Why directors like it: It rewards individual skill while still giving players a partner to share the night with. It's also handicap-friendly — you can pair a stronger player with a weaker one and let each match be handicapped on its own, rather than needing to average two players' skill into a single combined rating.
Scotch Doubles
How it works: Two-player teams share one single match, alternating shots at the same table for the entire game. If you pocket a ball, your inning continues but your partner shoots next. Miss, and it's the opposing team's turn. You and your partner never both shoot in a row — you're always alternating.
Best for: Casual, social, or mixed-skill events where the appeal is the "we're in this together, one shot at a time" dynamic. Extremely popular for date-night tournaments, fundraisers, and bar leagues.
Why directors like it: It's a fast, fun, genuinely different experience from singles — communication between partners becomes part of the game itself. Many leagues (APA, BCA, VNEA) run dedicated Scotch Doubles divisions and even World Championship events in this format, so there's a lot of established rule precedent to lean on if you need it.
Example: Player A and Player B are partners. A breaks and pockets a ball — A's team continues, so B shoots next. B pockets another ball, so the turn stays with the team and it's A's shot again. A misses. Now the opposing team (C and D, alternating the same way) comes to the table.
Doubles vs. Scotch Doubles
Now that you've seen both explained, here's the distinction worth putting in bold on your registration page:
- Standard Doubles — each player plays their own match against a corresponding opponent, and the team's score is the combination of both individual results.
- Scotch Doubles — the two teammates share one match, alternating shots at the same table. There's no "your match, my match" — it's one shared game.
These get mixed up constantly because both are called "doubles." If a flyer just says "Doubles Tournament" without specifying which one, expect your phone to ring.
Jack & Jill (Mixed Scotch Doubles)
How it works: Exactly like Scotch Doubles — alternating shots, one shared match — but with a rule requiring one male and one female player per team.
Best for: Co-ed leagues, mixed social events, and any tournament that wants to guarantee a balanced, mixed-gender pairing rather than leaving partner selection open.
Why directors like it: It's an easy way to build a genuinely mixed, social event without extra handicapping logic — the male/female pairing requirement does a lot of the balancing work on its own. This format is common enough that BCA and APA both run dedicated Jack & Jill Scotch Doubles brackets at their national and world events.
Scotch Triples
How it works: Same alternating-shot concept as Scotch Doubles, but with three players sharing one match, rotating through the shooting order (Player 1 shoots, then Player 2, then Player 3, then back to Player 1).
Best for: Larger casual events, fundraisers, or league nights where you want bigger teams sharing the fun of a single alternating match, and often paired with a combined skill cap similar to Scotch Doubles.
Why directors like it: It's a great option when you have an odd or larger group that wants to play together rather than split into pairs, and it's already used at the APA Regional and National level with well-established rules to borrow from. Common rulesets there use a modified single elimination structure guaranteeing every team at least two matches before elimination.
Example: Team of A, B, and C plays in rotation: A shoots, then B, then C, then back to A, continuing that order for the team's entire inning at the table, regardless of who pockets a ball or misses.
Team Format (3-Man, 4-Man, and 5-Man Rosters)
How it works: Structurally, these are all the same format — each player on the roster plays their own individual match against the same-numbered opponent on the other team, and the team's total score is the sum of every individual result. The only real difference between them is roster size:
- 3-Man Team — an officially recognized format. APA runs dedicated "3-Person Divisions" with their own combined skill cap, known as the 14-Rule (three players, combined skill levels can't exceed 14). If a team can't field three eligible players under that cap, APA's fallback lets them play two players at 11 or less and forfeit the third match — the same logic as the 5-man fallback below.
- 5-Man Team — the classic, most established league format. This is the structure behind APA's Open 8-Ball and 9-Ball divisions, with a mature rulebook covering skill caps (the well-known 23-Rule), lineup order, and substitutions. If a team can't field five eligible players under the 23-Rule, the fallback is four players at 19 or less, forfeiting the fifth match.
- 4-Man Team — not an officially standardized format at the national league level. No major sanctioning body (APA, BCA, VNEA) runs a dedicated "4-man" division. It shows up informally at plenty of local bars and clubs simply because that's the roster size that showed up — if you run it, you're setting your own skill cap and scoring rules from scratch since there's no established rulebook to lean on.
Best for: Ongoing weekly leagues where you want team standings, a captain role, and lineup strategy — sized to how many committed players you can realistically field every week.
Why directors like it: Roster size is really a knob you turn based on how many reliable players you can find, not a different format each time. A smaller roster (3) is easier to keep full every week; a full 5-person roster (with 5–8 on the bench) is the most standardized and gives you the most established rules to fall back on when a dispute comes up.
Example: A 5-man team fields players rated Skill Level 3, 4, 4, 5, and 7 (adding to 23 — right at the APA cap). The opposing team must also field five players whose skill levels add up to 23 or less. Each of the five players plays one individual match against their counterpart, and the final team score is the total points earned across all five matches. The same logic applies at 3 players — just with a smaller roster and a lower combined skill cap (14, with an 11-or-less fallback for two players if a team can't legally field three).
Aggregate / Mixed-Format Team Match
How it works: Instead of a team match being all-singles or all-doubles, it blends multiple formats into one match. A well-known real-world example: a team match built from seven individual games in this order — Scotch Doubles, Singles, Singles, Scotch Doubles, Singles, Singles, Scotch Doubles — with the overall team score being the combined result across every game.
Best for: Higher-profile or TV-style team events, and any league that wants variety within a single team match rather than repeating the same format seven times in a row.
Why directors like it: It keeps a team match interesting to watch and play — Scotch Doubles segments add a shared, communicative dynamic while the Singles segments still showcase individual skill. It also gives team captains more lineup decisions to make, since they're setting a rotation across different formats, not just one lineup order.
How to Actually Choose
If your event is about individual skill and simplicity, go Singles. If you want team spirit without losing individual accountability, go standard Doubles or a team format, sized to how many committed players you can realistically field every week. If the goal is fun, social, "we're doing this together" energy — especially for a one-off fundraiser, date night, or co-ed event — Scotch Doubles or Scotch Triples (with a skill cap) is almost always the better call than standard Doubles.
Whatever you pick, don't skip the skill cap conversation if partners or teammates share any part of a match. It's the single most common source of complaints in Scotch-style and team formats, and it's also the easiest thing to fix before the tournament starts rather than mid-event.
Conclusion
The format question isn't really about "singles vs. doubles" — it's about matching the social contract of your event to how players will actually compete. A weeknight fundraiser wants shared shots and shared laughs. A serious league wants individual accountability wrapped in team standings. Once you know which experience you're building, the right format is usually obvious.
