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Guest Players

Add walk-up players to your tournaments without requiring them to create accounts.

What Are Guest Players?

Guest players allow tournament directors to add people who want to play but don't want to create an account. This is perfect for walk-ups, casual players, or anyone who just wants to join in for the night.

Guest Player Features

Guest players are temporary user accounts that:

  • Don't require email or password
  • Only need a display name (e.g., "John" or "Mike")
  • Are automatically checked in when added
  • Show a "Guest" badge next to their name in participant lists
  • Are cleaned up automatically after the tournament

Adding a Guest Player

For Singles Tournaments

  1. Navigate to your tournament's Manage page
  2. In the Participants section, click "Add Guest" button
  3. Enter the guest's name (e.g., "John")
  4. Click "Add Guest"
  5. The guest is automatically registered AND checked in

For Doubles Tournaments

  1. Click "Add Guest"
  2. Enter Team Name (e.g., "The Cornholers")
  3. Enter Player 1 name
  4. Enter Player 2 name (partner)
  5. Both players are added as a team

Auto Check-In

Guest players are automatically checked in when added, so they're ready to play immediately. No need to manually check them in!

Duplicate Name Handling

The system automatically handles duplicate names to avoid confusion:

  • If "John" already exists, a new guest named "John" becomes "John (2)"
  • Next duplicate becomes "John (3)", etc.
  • This applies to both registered users and existing guests
  • Names are compared case-insensitively ("john" = "John")

Avoid Confusion

Use clear, distinguishable names for guests like "Mike S" or "John D" if you know multiple people with the same first name might show up.

Guest Appearance in Tournament

Once added, guests appear throughout your tournament:

LocationHow They Appear
Participant ListShows with "Guest" badge
Bracket/GamesShows their display name normally
ScoringWorks exactly like regular players
StatisticsTracked during the tournament

After the Tournament (Cleanup)

Guest records are automatically cleaned up by a scheduled job that runs daily. The cleanup process ensures your database stays clean while preserving game history for registered players.

When Cleanup Runs

  • Tournament status must be "completed"
  • Tournament must be more than 24 hours old
  • Runs automatically via scheduled cloud function (daily at 6 AM UTC)

What Happens During Cleanup

  1. Game records are reassigned to a generic "Visitor" system user
  2. Participant entries for guests are deleted
  3. Guest user accounts are deleted

Why This Matters

  • Stats Preserved: Registered players who played against guests keep their stats
  • Historic Views: Old tournament games show "Visitor" instead of the guest name
  • Clean Database: Temporary guest accounts don't accumulate over time

Limitations

Guests cannot log in or access their own records. Guest game history is not individually preserved after cleanup. Cannot convert a guest to a registered account.

Best Practices

Recommended

  • Use clear, distinguishable names for guests
  • For repeat guests, consider encouraging them to sign up
  • Verify guest names before adding (no edit feature once added)

Example Workflow

  1. Tournament night starts, registration is open
  2. Walk-up player "Mike" wants to join but doesn't want to create account
  3. Director clicks "Add Guest" → enters "Mike" → clicks Add
  4. Mike appears as "Mike (Guest)" in participant list, already checked in
  5. Tournament runs normally, Mike plays his games
  6. Tournament completes
  7. Next day, cleanup runs: Mike's games now show "Visitor", Mike's account deleted
  8. Regular players who played Mike still have those games in their history