The vocabulary a bracket desk uses, defined plainly. Useful if you are new to side action, and useful if you are writing rules that other people have to read.
Written for tournament directors, bracket operators and bowling centers · last reviewed 2026-09-10
Alive list. A printed list of the bowlers still in contention in a cut-based format such as an eliminator. Published after each game so bowlers can stop asking the desk.
ALL entry. A bowler buying into every bracket in a group rather than a specific number. Convenient for the bowler, and the most common cause of a lost count at the desk, because one line on a sheet represents a seat in every bracket built.
Average. A bowler's established scoring average, used to compute handicap. Handicap side action is only as credible as the averages behind it.
Basis. The fixed score handicap is measured against — the 220 in “90% of 220”.
Blind doubles. A format pairing bowlers at random and scoring them as a team on combined totals. See blind doubles bowling software.
Bracket. A single-elimination side pot, usually eight bowlers over three games, in which the higher game score wins each match. See how bowling brackets work.
Bye. An empty seat in a bracket. Whoever is drawn against it advances without beating anyone that round. See byes in bowling brackets.
Cut. The score that separates survivors from eliminated bowlers in a cut-based format. A tie on the cut line is the single most common eliminator dispute.
Cutoff. The published moment after which no further entries are accepted. Holding it is what keeps the counts you build from valid.
Draw. The process of assigning bowlers to bracket positions or to partners. Should be random and repeatable, so nobody has to defend the pairings.
Eliminator. A format in which the lowest-scoring portion of the field — commonly half — is cut after each game. See bowling eliminator software.
Entry fee. The price of one seat in one bracket or pot. Multiplied by seats sold, it is the entire prize fund.
Handicap. Pins added to a bowler's game based on the gap between their average and the basis, multiplied by a set percentage. See scratch vs handicap brackets.
High game / high series pot. The simplest side pot: highest single game, or highest total for the set, takes the money.
Mystery pot. A pot whose winning condition stays hidden until it is revealed. See bowling mystery pot software.
Net pool. What is left of the gross pool after the retain. The number that actually gets paid out.
Over-buy. A bowler having bought more brackets than the entries can support. Capped and refunded at the cutoff, it is routine; discovered at payout, it is a problem.
Payout slip. An individual printed statement of what one bowler is owed and why. The most effective anti-argument document at a bracket desk.
Retain. The amount held back per bracket or pot by the house or director — also called the admin fee or house cut. Legitimate; disclose it.
Reverse bracket. A bracket run on the same three games in the opposite order, producing a different result from scores already collected. See reverse bowling brackets.
Scratch. Actual pins, no handicap added.
Session. One squad's worth of side action — the entries, scores, brackets, pots and payouts that belong together and must reconcile together.
Side action. The collective term for optional pots played on scores already being bowled. See the side action guide.
Side pot. A pot ranked on score rather than played head-to-head. See bowling side pot software.
Squad. A scheduled bowling session within a tournament. Side action is usually sold and settled per squad.
Sweeper. A short optional tournament, often run after a main event, and a common home for side action.
Tie rule. The published method for resolving equal scores. Post it before entries are sold; there is no sport-wide default.
The free demo of J&K Brackets Pro is the complete program, not a limited trial — every feature unlocked, capped at 16 bowlers per session, so you can work a whole session end to end and see exactly how it behaves.
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