How fair rotation works

The rules

1. 1

   Fair first, in every mode: whoever has played the fewest games goes on next. The app never picks someone with more games while someone with fewer is waiting (only a keep-together/keep-apart rule, a host edit or Skip can).

2. 2

   Among players on the same number of games, the app mixes groups so you meet different players: it picks the four who have shared a court least, then whoever has waited longest. Anyone who has sat out 2 rounds in a row is preferred, and can wait one round more so groups (and in winners play winners, winners and losers games) can mix.

3. 3

   Then the mode decides only who plays with and against whom (below).

4. 4

   Keep-together and keep-apart rules are never broken: a court waits, and says why, rather than break one. A rule can hold a player back, or bring a partner on a game early.

5. 5

   A late arrival starts level with whoever has played least.

6. 6

   The host can switch the mode at any time; it applies to the next game, never to one already on court.

Four ways to pick the next game

Each example is 14 players on 3 courts for two rounds, computed by the app's own engine. Twelve play each round and two sit out.

With up to 12 players per court, nobody sits out more than 3 rounds in a row, in any mode, unless a keep-together or keep-apart rule holds them back. With more, the wait is shared evenly: nobody waits more than one round longer than everyone’s turn takes.