Every Kout group knows the problem. Four players agree on everything until the moment teams are picked, and then the arguing starts. One wants a certain partner, one refuses to play against another, and the night begins with two teams nobody is happy with. The fault is rarely the players. It is the way the teams were picked.
The simplest way to settle everyone is a draw. Write the names on small slips of paper, pull two out, and let the first name start the picking. A draw removes favouritism from the first step, so nobody can claim the split was arranged before anyone arrived.
If the group is larger than four, draw the full order once and keep it for the evening. The order decides, not the mood.
Once the first picker is decided, alternate. The first captain takes one player, the second captain takes two, and the first captain takes whoever is left. This is a snake draft, and it is fairer than letting one side take the two strongest players back to back.
The common mistake is splitting by friendship or by who arrived together. The result is one strong pair and one pair defending all night, and the session is decided by round two.
Balance by experience instead. If there is a beginner, put him with the calmest and most patient player, not the strongest, because a new player learns more from clear explanations than from winning. If one player is clearly the best at the table, give the other side a solid mid-level partner rather than the weakest one.
After the split, do not reshuffle every round. Agree on a fixed block, say ten rounds with the same pairs, and only then change. Fixed pairs keep the scoring readable and let partnerships develop, because each pair starts to read the other player's habits.
Next session, rotate fully. Whoever played with one partner plays with someone else, so over a month everyone plays with everyone and no one feels stuck in the weakest seat.
The most neglected step: record the lineup. Two names for team A, two for team B, and the date. If an argument comes up a week later about who played with whom, the note settles it in a minute instead of half an hour of debate.
Keeping the lineup and the score in the same place from the first round saves that argument entirely. The Kout Score app helps you tally and track your Kout session scores — free on Google Play — so both are recorded before the second deal.
Start your next session with a split nobody can argue with. Download the Kout Score app from Google Play and record the lineup before the first deal.