The serpentine system (also called snake seeding) is a method employed in the organization of a
competition
Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indiv ...
to define the
seeded teams and arrange them in pools. The ''n'' ranked teams that will be involved in the
tournament
A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses:
# One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...
are distributed in ''m'' pools according to the following
algorithm
In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific Computational problem, problems or to perform a computation. Algorithms are used as specificat ...
:
For instance, 12 teams would be organized in four-team pools, according to the serpentine system, as follows:
To improve competitivity, this method is sometimes used in conjunction with the
drawing of lots method: the serpentine system is used only for some of the teams involved in a competition ("seeds"); the rest are distributed in pools following a drawing of lots.
Sports terminology
{{Sport-stub