King of the Table

Last updated April 10, 2026

King of the Table

King of the Table (KotT) is a continuous play format where the winner stays on to face the next challenger in the queue. It's the fastest way to get a lot of games in at your venue and watch your Elo move.

How it works

  1. A player creates a KotT event at a specific venue and table.
  2. The creator picks the sport (8-ball, 9-ball, or any other sport the venue offers) and invites players.
  3. Invited players accept or decline. Once at least 2 have accepted, the first game starts.
  4. The winner of each game stays on as the "King" and faces the next player in the queue.
  5. Defeated players return to the end of the queue.

Creating an event

From the home dashboard or the King page, tap New Event. On the form you'll see:

  • Sport — pick which game you're playing. The dropdown only shows sports your current venue offers. If your venue is set up for both 8-ball and 9-ball, you can choose either.
  • Players — everyone at the venue is listed, with checked-in regulars at the top. You (the creator) are sorted to the top of the list and default-checked so you're automatically in the queue. Uncheck yourself if you're only organizing the event and don't plan to play.
  • Table — if your venue has multiple tables, pick which one the event is on.
  • Visibility — see below.
  • Foul rules — toggle ball-in-hand on scratches. Coin-operated tables automatically disable this since balls can't be returned.

Tap Start Event to create it. Invited players immediately get a notification (in the app and by email if they have notifications turned on).

Public vs private events

When you create an event you choose its visibility:

  • Public — anyone at the venue can find the event and tap Join Queue to add themselves, even if they weren't on the original invite list. Good for a walk-up event where anyone's welcome.
  • Private — only the players you originally invited can join. The Join Queue button is hidden for everyone else, and anyone else who tries to join sees a "Private event — invitation required" message. Good for a planned group that doesn't want strangers jumping into the queue.

Note: viewing a private event is still allowed — only joining is restricted. This means an invited player can still share the event page with a friend for spectating.

Being invited

When someone invites you to an event, two things happen:

  1. You get a notification (in the bell icon and in your email) that tells you which venue and table you've been invited to, so you know exactly where to go. Example: "You've been invited to King of the Table Event #42 at The Cue Cave (Dufferin Table 1)."
  2. A gold-bordered "You've been invited!" card appears at the top of the event page with Accept and Decline buttons. Tapping Accept adds you to the playing queue; Decline removes you from the event entirely.

Clicking the notification in the bell dropdown takes you straight to the event page, where the Accept/Decline card is the first thing you see.

The queue

The queue is first-come, first-served after the initial randomization. When the current game ends, the next player in line is called up. You can Leave Queue from the event page at any time — if you're the loser of the most recent game and haven't confirmed the result yet, leaving counts as implicit confirmation.

You can Join Queue on a public event if you weren't originally invited, assuming there's still an event running.

Ending an event

KotT events end in one of four ways:

  1. Manual end — when the queue drops below 2 players, a gold "Not enough players to continue" prompt appears on the event page with an End Event button. Any current queue member, or a venue/sys admin, can tap it to immediately wrap up the event. The event disappears from the Active list and shows up under Past Events.
  2. Everyone leaves — if all players resign, the empty-queue event automatically moves to Past Events. No button click needed.
  3. Inactivity — an event with 2+ players but no games in the last 2 hours auto-expires. This prevents stale events from cluttering the venue page.
  4. Never started — if no one accepts and no games are played, the event auto-expires 2 hours after creation.

Expired events aren't deleted — they stay in Past Events for history. Their stats (wins, streaks, reigning king) are preserved.

Ratings

All KotT games count toward your per-sport Elo rating, just like regular games. An 8-ball KotT updates your 8-ball rating; a 9-ball KotT updates your 9-ball rating. It's a great way to get multiple games in quickly and see your rating move.