Cornhole Tournament Bracket

Backyard and bar cornhole tournaments usually run 8 or 16 teams, playing in pairs (two players per team) or singles. 8 teams is the most common size for a casual backyard cookout, while bar leagues and larger events often scale up to 16.

Single elimination is the default for a quick backyard event — it's fast and keeps things moving. Bar leagues and more competitive tournaments often prefer double elimination, since a single bad toss shouldn't end a team's day; see our double elimination bracket at /8-team-double-elimination-bracket.

An 8-team single elimination bracket is 7 games total. At roughly 15-20 minutes per game to 21 points, expect the whole bracket to take about 2-2.5 hours on a single set of boards, or under an hour if you run two boards at once.

Each player throws 4 bags per round, alternating with their opponent. In a two-person team, each player stands at opposite boards and throws 4 bags per turn, for 8 total bags per team each round.

Cancellation scoring is the standard cornhole rule where bags on the board and in the hole cancel out between opposing teams — only the team with more points that round scores the difference. Most tournament brackets use cancellation scoring by default; confirm the rule with your event organizer before the first game.

For anything beyond a 4-team tournament, running two or more boards at the same time keeps the bracket moving and avoids a long wait between rounds. Bar tournaments with 16+ teams typically run 3-4 boards simultaneously.