Guides

Snake vs. repeat draft: which is fairer for season tickets?

When a group drafts games from a shared season-ticket package, there are two common ways to run the rounds. Each is fair in a different way.

Repeat order

Everyone picks in the same order every round. With three people, the turns go 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, and so on. It is simple to explain and easy to follow, but whoever picks first gets first choice every time.

Best when the games are fairly similar in value, or when the order changes between seasons so that the advantage evens out over time.

Snake order

The order reverses after each round. With three people the turns go 1, 2, 3, 3, 2, 1, 1, 2, 3. The person who picked last in one round picks first in the next, which offsets the advantage of an early pick.

Best when some games are clearly better than others, such as marquee opponents or weekend dates.

A worked example

Four friends share a package. Under repeat order, the first person gets picks 1, 5, 9 and so on. Under snake order, they get picks 1, 8, 9: a strong start, then a long wait while others choose. The last person gets picks 4, 5, 12 instead of 4, 8, 12 on repeat. Snake narrows the gap between the best and worst seat.

Can one game be picked more than once?

No. Each game goes to one person: it can be picked only once, and the draft ends when the games run out.

How Top Salty Picks handles it

When you create a draft you choose snake or repeat order. Snake is the default. Turn order is calculated for you, so nobody has to track whose turn it is. See how to set the starting order and the full process for sharing season tickets.