One hundred and thirty-seven men have signed up for an elimination tennis tournament. All players are to be paired for the first round, but because 137 is an odd number one player gets a bye, which promotes him to the next round. The pairing continues on each round, with a bye to any player left over. If the schedule is planned so that a minimum number of matches is required to determine the champion, how many matches must be played?

136 (the number of people who lose)

1st round 68 matches w/bye
2nd round 17 matches w/bye
3rd round 9 matches
4th round 4 matches w/bye
5th round 2 matches w/bye
6th round 1 match w/bye
7th round 1 match declaring winner

Total matches 102

ManXman has the solution .. because 136 players must be eliminated, there must be 136 matches