diff --git a/app/routes/admin.sports-seasons.$id.darts-elo.tsx b/app/routes/admin.sports-seasons.$id.darts-elo.tsx
index d7329c9..890cfd3 100644
--- a/app/routes/admin.sports-seasons.$id.darts-elo.tsx
+++ b/app/routes/admin.sports-seasons.$id.darts-elo.tsx
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ import {
 } from '~/components/ui/card';
 import { useState } from 'react';
 import { Loader2, CheckCircle2, AlertCircle } from 'lucide-react';
+import { normalizeName } from '~/lib/fuzzy-match';
 
 export function meta({ data }: Route.MetaArgs): Route.MetaDescriptors {
   return [{ title: `Darts Elo & Rankings — ${data?.sportsSeason?.name ?? "Sports Season"} - Brackt Admin` }];
@@ -185,10 +186,6 @@ export async function action({ request, params }: Route.ActionArgs) {
   return redirect(`/admin/sports-seasons/${sportsSeasonId}/expected-values`);
 }
 
-function normalizeName(name: string): string {
-  return name.toLowerCase().replace(/[^a-z0-9\s]/g, '').replace(/\s+/g, ' ').trim();
-}
-
 export default function AdminSportsSeasonDartsElo() {
   const { sportsSeason, participants, existingData } = useLoaderData<typeof loader>();
   const actionData = useActionData<ActionData>();
diff --git a/app/services/simulations/darts-simulator.ts b/app/services/simulations/darts-simulator.ts
index 73dd89f..96af36b 100644
--- a/app/services/simulations/darts-simulator.ts
+++ b/app/services/simulations/darts-simulator.ts
@@ -84,37 +84,6 @@ const SETS_TO_WIN = [2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 6, 7] as const;
  */
 const TOP_SEEDS = 32;
 
-/**
- * Standard seeded R128 bracket for the top 32 seeds.
- * Each entry is [topSeedSlot, unseededOpponentIndex] where:
- *   - topSeedSlot is 1-indexed seed number (1 = world #1)
- *   - unseededOpponentIndex is a placeholder (0..31) indicating which randomly-drawn
- *     unseeded player fills this slot; the actual opponent is drawn at runtime.
- *
- * Structure preserves the property that seeds 1 and 2 can only meet in the Final,
- * seeds 1/2/3/4 can only meet in the SFs or later, etc.
- *
- * Top half:    1v?, 16v?, 9v?, 8v?, 5v?, 12v?, 13v?, 4v?
- * Bottom half: 3v?, 14v?, 11v?, 6v?, 7v?, 10v?, 15v?, 2v?
- * (Each seeded position plays an unseeded opponent in R1)
- */
-const SEEDED_R1_PAIRS: Array<[number, number]> = [
-  [1, 0],  [16, 1],
-  [9, 2],  [8, 3],
-  [5, 4],  [12, 5],
-  [13, 6], [4, 7],
-  [3, 8],  [14, 9],
-  [11, 10],[6, 11],
-  [7, 12], [10, 13],
-  [15, 14],[2, 15],
-];
-
-/**
- * Unseeded R1 matchups: the 96 unseeded players pair off in 48 matches among
- * themselves for the remaining 32 R1 slots. Seeds 33–128 are randomly drawn.
- * We model this by randomly pairing all 96 unseeded players in R1.
- */
-
 // ─── Math helpers ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 /**
@@ -158,14 +127,12 @@ function binomialCoeff(n: number, k: number): number {
  * shuffled and assigned to the remaining slots.
  *
  * Structure:
- *   - 16 seeded-vs-unseeded matches (SEEDED_R1_PAIRS, one per seed 1–16)
- *   - 16 seeded-vs-unseeded matches (seeds 17–32 each also get an unseeded opponent)
- *   - 32 unseeded-vs-unseeded matches (remaining 64 unseeded players)
+ *   - 32 seeded-vs-unseeded matches (seeds 1–32 each face a randomly drawn unseeded opponent)
+ *   - 32 unseeded-vs-unseeded matches (remaining 64 unseeded players paired randomly)
+ *   Total: 64 R1 matches ✓ (128 players)
  *
- * Wait — in the PDC World Championship, seeds 1–32 are all seeded and each plays
- * an unseeded opponent in R1. That gives 32 seeded matches. The remaining 64
- * unseeded players fill 32 R1 matches among themselves.
- * Total: 32 + 32 = 64 R1 matches ✓ (128 players).
+ * Note: in the hot simulation loop, seeded positions are pre-computed via getSeededMatchOrder
+ * and inlined directly — this function is used for testing and bracket-draw path only.
  *
  * Exported for unit testing.
  */
@@ -527,17 +494,29 @@ export class DartsSimulator implements Simulator {
       return Math.random() < winProb ? p1Id : p2Id;
     };
 
+    // Pre-compute fixed seeded bracket positions once — only the unseeded draw changes per sim.
+    const seededMatchOrder = getSeededMatchOrder(TOP_SEEDS);
+    const seededSlots = seededMatchOrder.map(seed => topSeeds[seed - 1]);
+
+    // Pad unseeded pool to 96 once before the loop.
+    // In practice the admin should always load 128 players; this guards against edge cases.
+    const unseededPool = [...unseeded];
+    while (unseededPool.length + topSeeds.length < 128) {
+      unseededPool.push(`__bye_${unseededPool.length}`);
+    }
+
     for (let s = 0; s < NUM_SIMULATIONS; s++) {
-      // Draw: shuffle the unseeded pool and build R1 bracket.
-      const drawnUnseeded = shuffle([...unseeded]);
+      // Draw: shuffle the unseeded pool — seeded positions are pre-computed.
+      const drawnUnseeded = shuffle([...unseededPool]);
 
-      // If fewer than 128 players total, pad with ghost entries using a low fallback Elo.
-      // (In practice the admin should always load 128 players.)
-      while (drawnUnseeded.length + topSeeds.length < 128) {
-        drawnUnseeded.push(`__bye_${drawnUnseeded.length}`);
+      // Build R1 pairs inline using pre-computed seeded slots.
+      const r1Pairs: Array<[string, string]> = [];
+      for (let i = 0; i < TOP_SEEDS; i++) {
+        r1Pairs.push([seededSlots[i], drawnUnseeded[i]]);
+      }
+      for (let i = TOP_SEEDS; i < drawnUnseeded.length; i += 2) {
+        r1Pairs.push([drawnUnseeded[i], drawnUnseeded[i + 1]]);
       }
-
-      const r1Pairs = buildR1Bracket(topSeeds, drawnUnseeded);
 
       // R1 (64 matches)
       const r1Winners: string[] = [];