How Matches Work

Proposing a match

• You can propose a match anytime after your muddle's season starts and you've paid for the season
• Pick a date, time, and location — date must be within your season's date range
• Match must be in the future
• You can't propose a match within 2 hours of another match you're already in
• Once proposed, all other paid players in your muddle get an email letting them know

Filling the match (open status)

• Your match needs 4 players total (including you, the proposer)
• Other players see your match and can click Join to add themselves
• When the 4th player joins, the match is automatically confirmed
• Everyone gets a confirmation email with the details
• Players can't join if they're already in another match within 2 hours of yours

The 2-hour rule (no double-booking)

You can't be booked into two matches that start within 2 hours of each other. Since you can't physically be at two tables at once, the app blocks any match that would overlap with one you're already committed to.

• The check looks at start times, and applies in both directions — 2 hours before and 2 hours after
• It's enforced when you propose a match, when you join an open match, and when you accept a waitlist spot
• Only your upcoming matches count (open, confirmed, or awaiting-waitlist). Completed and cancelled matches are ignored
• If there's a conflict, the app tells you which match is in the way so you can pick a different time

Example: if you're already in a match at 2:00 PM, you can't join another one scheduled any time between 12:00 PM and 4:00 PM. A match at 4:00 PM or later is fine.

Heads up: the rule measures the gap between start times, not how long a session actually runs. A real game can last longer than 2 hours, so leave yourself enough room between back-to-back matches.

Once confirmed (4 players locked in)

• Match is set. Show up and play.
• Other players who want to play can add themselves to the waitlist in case someone drops

If someone needs to drop out

Anyone except the proposer can withdraw at any time. What happens next depends on timing:

• More than 4 hours before match start, and waitlist is empty: match goes back to open status, needs a new 4th player
• More than 4 hours before match start, and someone's on the waitlist: they get offered the spot via email and have 12 hours to accept (or until 4 hours before match — whichever comes first)
• Less than 4 hours before match start: match is cancelled immediately. Everyone gets an email.

The 24-hour rule (penalty zone)

• If you leave a confirmed match within 24 hours of its start time, you get flagged for admin review
• The admin decides whether to apply a penalty — it's not automatic
• This applies to: withdrawing late, cancelling your own match late, or letting a waitlist offer expire after you left late

Cancelling your own match (as the proposer)

• Open match (not yet full): cancel freely, no penalty
• Confirmed match: you can cancel, but you'll be flagged for review if it's within 24 hours of start time
• A reason is required when cancelling
• Once cancelled, the match is dead — it can't be revived

Joining the waitlist

• Available on full (confirmed) matches
• You're queued in the order you join
• If someone drops out, the #1 waitlister gets offered the spot via email
• You have 12 hours to accept (or until 4 hours before match start, whichever is sooner)
• If you don't respond in time, the match cancels and you lose your spot
• Declining the offer just sends the match back to open status — someone else has to join the normal way

After the match — scoring

• One player submits the scores
• The other 3 players need to confirm
• You have 48 hours to confirm
• At the 24-hour mark, you get a reminder email if you haven't confirmed yet
• At 48 hours, your confirmation auto-fills and the match is finalized
• If scores were never entered, the match stays in limbo and needs admin help

How points work

Only the first 4 games of your session count toward the league. Play as many as you like at your meetup, but score the first 4. For each of those games:

• The winner earns the hand's value (the base points you'd normally count for that hand)
• Self-picked (won off the wall, not a discard): +10
• Jokerless (won without using any jokers): +20 — except on Singles & Pairs hands
• Wall game (no one wins): every player gets +10

On top of the per-game points, the player who proposed the match gets a flat +3 for organizing it.

Only the winner earns base points and the self-pick / jokerless bonuses in a normal game. In a wall game there's no winner, so everyone gets the flat +10 instead.

How the leaderboard works

There are two leaderboards, shown as tabs. They reward different things, so you might rank higher on one than the other:

Cumulative — rewards playing often and playing widely. Your total is the sum of your best 2 scores from each week of the season, plus your diversity bonus (below). More good weeks = a higher cumulative total.

Average — rewards consistency. It's the mean of your counted match scores. You need to have played at least 6 matches before you appear on this board, so one lucky game can't put you on top. The average board doesn't include the diversity bonus.

Diversity bonus — you earn +2 points for every new opponent you play during the season (someone you haven't sat at a table with yet this season). It rewards mixing it up rather than always playing the same people, and it only affects the Cumulative board.

Heads up: your muddle admin may turn on extra scoring rules for a season (like only counting your top N scores). If they do, you'll see a small banner on the leaderboard explaining it.

Match statuses you might see

• Open — needs more players (1-3 in the match)
• Confirmed — full and locked in, ready to play
• Awaiting waitlist — someone dropped, waitlister has been offered the spot
• Completed — match played and scored
• Cancelled — called off

Quick tips

• Don't propose a match unless you really plan to be there — cancelling late hurts other players
• If you have to drop out, do it as early as you can — gives the waitlist time to fill your spot
• Sign up for waitlists on matches you'd play if a spot opens — you'll be the first offered
• Check your email — match-related emails come from your muddle