Format guide

King of the Court

King of the Court turns your courts into a ladder, with court 1 at the top: the King's Court. Win and you move up. Lose and you move down. The pair holding court 1 are the kings, and everyone else is trying to take it from them.

At a glance

Players
5 or more on one court, so someone is waiting to come on. 8 or more for two courts.
Win
Your pair stays together and moves up a court.
Lose
Your pair splits up, moves down a court, and you each play with someone new.
Bottom court
Its losers make way for whoever has waited longest on the bench.

How the ladder works

The first round is a random draw. After that, every court sends its winners up a court and its losers down one. The winners on court 1 have nowhere higher to go, so they stay on as the king pair until a pair beats them. The losers on the bottom court make way for whoever has waited longest on the bench.

Winning pairs stay together, so a pair on a run keeps climbing. Losing pairs split up, so nobody is stuck with a partner on a bad night and everyone keeps meeting new people. A draw counts for the pair that was higher on the ladder, so they hold their place.

Scoring

Shorter matches keep the ladder moving, so many groups play 16 points rather than 24, or first to a few games. The ladder decides who plays where. SetPoint also keeps every player's points on a leaderboard, the same way an Americano does, so the night has a points winner as well as a king pair.

Players and courts

The ladder needs somebody to move. On one court that means at least five players, so there's always someone waiting to come on. Two or more courts work from eight players, since pairs can move between the courts. Players who don't fit on a court wait on the bench, and losing on the bottom court means sitting the next round out.

How long does it take?

Eight rounds is a good evening. With 8 players on two courts at 16 points, that's a little over an hour, and at 24 points about an hour and a half. SetPoint estimates the finish from your settings, then from how fast your group actually plays.

Run King of the Court with SetPoint

  1. Choose King of the Court, then add your players and your courts. SetPoint says if you need more players.
  2. Choose the scoring and how many rounds to play.
  3. Start. SetPoint draws round 1.
  4. Type each score on its court. When the round is done, the next one appears: who moves up, who splits, and who comes off the bench.
  5. Sign in to share a link or QR code, and players follow the ladder on their own phones.

SetPoint is free, works without an account and keeps going with no signal at the courts.

Start King of the Court

Questions

What happens to the winners on court 1?

They stay on court 1, together, for as long as they keep winning. They're the king pair.

Why do losing pairs split up?

So nobody is stuck with the same partner on the way down, and the lower courts keep mixing. Winning pairs stay together, so a good partnership is rewarded.

How many players do you need for King of the Court?

Five for one court: four playing and one waiting. Eight for two courts. Four players on one court can't play it, because nobody has anywhere to move.

What if a match is a draw?

The pair that was higher on the ladder keeps its place, and the draw counts as a win for them.