When a tournament reaches its maximum number of participants, any additional players who register are placed on a waitlist. The waitlist is an automated queue that fills open spots when players from the main roster don't check in. If you're on the waitlist, you still have a chance to compete — here's how it works.

Your position on the waitlist is based on when you registered for the tournament, not when you check in. The earlier you register, the higher your priority. This means you don't need to race to check in — just make sure you do check in before the window closes.

Before the check-in window opens, you'll see a Waitlist Check In card on the tournament page with a countdown timer and a disabled button.

Once the check-in window opens, the button becomes active. Tap Check In to confirm you're ready to play. After you check in, your view will change to the Check in Updates card, which tracks your status and regularly refreshes or you can manually refresh the card by pressing the refresh icon in the card.

After checking in, you'll see a card with two progress bars that show you exactly where you stand:

Tournament Capacity Bar — This bar shows how full the tournament is. It displays how many registered players have checked in, how many waitlist players have received spots, and how many spots are still open. This tells you at a glance whether there's room in the tournament.

Waitlist Queue Bar — This bar shows your position among all the waitlisted players who have checked in. A YOU marker shows exactly where you are in the queue. If more waitlisted players have checked in than there are spots available, a yellow cutoff line appears. Players to the left of the line are currently in position for a spot. Players to the right are not.

The card refreshes automatically so you don't need to keep reloading the page. You can also tap the refresh button at any time to get an instant update.

As check-in progresses, the card will show one of these statuses:

Spots available — You're checked in and there are open spots in the tournament. Your position may still shift as more registered players check in.

Spot confirmed — Check-in has closed and you've secured your spot. You're in! Wait for the organizer to seed the bracket.

Not enough spots — Check-in has closed and your position fell outside the available spots. The card will show you exactly how many waitlist spots were available and where you landed in the queue (for example, "142 waitlist spots were available. You were #264 of 299 in the waitlist check-in order.").

I checked in before my friend, but they're higher on the waitlist. Why? Priority is based on when you registered for the tournament, not when you checked in. Your friend registered before you, so they have higher priority.

The card said I was in position, but now it says I didn't get a spot. What happened? A player who registered before you checked in after you did. Because they registered earlier, they have higher priority and took the spot you were temporarily holding.

Can the organizer change the waitlist order? The tournament organizer has final discretion over how the bracket is seeded. While the waitlist provides an automated order, the organizer can make manual adjustments if needed.

How do I improve my chances of getting off the waitlist? Register for tournaments as early as possible. Since priority is based on registration order, signing up sooner gives you a better position if the tournament fills up.