> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.auora.gg/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Bracket Tournaments

> Sybil-resistant, ESPN-style prediction tournaments for sports and esports.

Beyond continuous asset markets, Auora runs **full-bracket tournaments** for major sports and esports events. These are the bracket pools you grew up filling out — except every entry is on-chain, every payout is automatic, and there is no commissioner who can disappear with the pot.

## How a tournament works

<Steps>
  <Step title="Bracket published">
    A complete bracket — every team, every seed, every round — is published on-chain when the tournament opens.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Players commit their entire bracket upfront">
    Every player picks their **complete** bracket — all rounds, all matchups, all the way to the final — and commits it as a single, sealed cryptographic anchor before the first game starts. You cannot change your bracket later. Neither can anyone else.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Round-by-round reveals">
    After each round of real-world games settles, players progressively reveal that round of their bracket. Reveals are matched against the original commitment, so you can only reveal what you originally picked.
  </Step>

  <Step title="ESPN-style path-dependent scoring">
    Picks are scored only if the **feeder games** that produced the matchup were also picked correctly. Lucky guesses on the championship don't outweigh real forecasting skill across the bracket.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Automatic payout">
    When the tournament ends, the prize pool is distributed to top finishers automatically by the contract. There is no "we'll Venmo you next week."
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Why upfront commitment matters

The single biggest problem with on-chain bracket pools is **Sybil attacks** — one person spins up dozens of wallets, plays every plausible bracket, and guarantees themselves a top finish. Auora's tournament structure eliminates this:

* **Every entry costs the same fee.** Spinning up 50 wallets costs 50 entries.
* **Every entry must be a complete bracket, committed before the first game.** You cannot wait to see how round one plays out and then "decide" your round-two picks across 50 wallets. Your picks are locked the moment the tournament starts.
* **Path-dependent scoring punishes spread bets.** Wallets that picked random brackets to "cover all outcomes" score badly across the board because none of their later picks are anchored by correct earlier picks.

The result is a tournament structure where the cheapest way to win is to **actually be good at predicting the bracket**, not the cheapest way to win is to spin up wallets.

## Supported events

Auora tournaments support 4-team to 128-team brackets and scale to thousands of concurrent entrants per event. We focus on majors:

* **Sports:** football playoffs, basketball brackets, World Cup knockouts, tennis grand slams.
* **Esports:** League of Legends Worlds, Dota 2 TI, CS major playoffs, Valorant Champions.

The full live calendar is on the [tournaments page](https://www.auora.gg/tournaments).