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Guides

How to get things done on PocketPairings.

Everything an organizer does in the PocketPairings desktop app to create a tournament and run it live — with every option explained.

📂
The desktop app works alongside TOM (Tournament Operations Manager). TOM handles registration and pairings in its .tdf files; PocketPairings reads them, lets you manage the round, and syncs everything to the website. TOM files are upload-only — the app never generates a .tdf for you.

① Set up Settings first

Fill this in once. It pre-fills new events and is required for sanction exports.

👤 Organizer

  • First & last name
  • Player ID — used on CSV / sanction exports
  • TOM Data Folder — where TOM keeps its .tdf files
  • Store timezone — used for round-timer maths
  • Email & API key are shown read-only

🏟️ Liga

  • Name
  • Address, city, state (state only for US / MX / CA)
  • Country
  • Website

② Create an event — two paths

On the Events screen, each tournament shows as a row with its type icon, player count, date and a stage badge:

🃏
Spring League Cup 24 players 04/07/2026 Registration

Badges tell you where each event stands: Registration   Starting soon   Round 3   Completed

Click New event and pick one of two paths:

🗒️
Open registration

Collect online sign-ups now and run it later. Set capacity, entry fee and decklist rules — players get a public link. Attach the TOM file on event day to go live.

›
⚡
Start a tournament now

Upload an existing TOM .tdf file to run the event live straight away.

›

Either way, the event ends up in the same place — live on the website:

🗒️Open registrationcollect sign-ups
→
📎Attach .tdfon event day
→
🖥️Live hubpairings · timer
→
🌐Websitelive for players

③ The registration form — every option

If you chose Open registration, this is the form. Fields marked * are required.

Spring League Cup
League Cup ▾
04 / 07 / 2026
04 / 07 / 2026, 10:00
optional
32
10  ·  EUR
☑ yes
Pricing, venue, schedule, prizes…

Create registration event

🏷️ Type options

  • League Cup
  • League Challenge
  • Prerelease
  • VGC / MSS Premier
  • GO Premier
  • Custom

📝 What players see

  • A public registration link they can sign up through
  • Entry fee, capacity and your information notes
  • A decklist prompt if you required one

④ Take a registration event live

Open a registration event and you'll see the Registrants panel: a live headcount, a searchable list of Player ID · Name · Year · decklist status, and a decklist progress pill that turns from 12 / 18 · 6 missing to green once everyone's list is in.

1
TOM generates the bracket on event day
Run pairings in TOM as usual — it writes the .tdf into your data folder.
2
Click “Upload TOM .tdf to go live”
The button sits at the top of the event details, where Sync normally lives.
3
Players & rounds are ingested
They’re read into this same event, and its stage flips out of registration.
4
The normal Sync button takes over
From here it behaves like any live event.

⑤ Running a live event — the hub

🔗 Details & actions

  • Name, date, view counter, file path
  • Visit website — open the public page
  • Sync event — push the latest data
  • QR code — Show QR opens the poster as a web page you can project or print from any device; Print QR prints it straight from the app, which still works without internet
  • No Delete — removing an event is admin-only; ask us. A registration event nobody signed up for clears itself the day after.

🆚 Pairings

  • Round selector to switch rounds
  • Search by player name or ID
  • Colour-coded win / loss / tie, byes marked

⏲️ Round timer

  • Presets: 30 / 50 / 60 / 75 min
  • Play · pause · stop, with overtime
  • Syncs automatically to the website countdown

👥 Players

  • Division tabs — MA / SR / JR
  • Search by name or ID
  • Each player’s W / L / T record

The round timer is the heart of the hub — pick a preset, then play, pause or stop. It syncs to the same countdown players see on the website:

30 min 50 min 60 min 75 min
00:24:18
▶ Start ⏸ Pause ⏹ Stop

⑥ Remarks & penalties (judging)

Open the remarks panel on any player to record a sanction. The category and severity (Minor / Major / Severe) adjust to the penalty type, and you can add a free-text reason.

Warning Double Prize Card Quadruple Prize Card Game Loss Match Loss Disqualification
📑
Export remarks to CSV into your TOM Data Folder, formatted for official reporting — the app opens the folder for you. Requires your organizer Player ID and TOM folder to be set.

⑦ Syncing to the web

Sync reads your .tdf, extracts players, rounds and results, and publishes them along with the timer state and any remarks.

🔄 Automatic

  • On every timer action
  • Whenever you add a remark

👆 Manual

  • The Sync event button, any time

⭐ Premium auto-sync

  • Watches the .tdf and pushes the moment TOM updates it — no manual steps