Hi schurz52,
I am persuming you are spekaing about Live Chess Tournaments.
If so i would suggest reading the followeing article here:
http://support.chess.com/Knowledgebase/Article/View/177/0/how-do-live-tournaments-work-where-can-i-join-one
Please pay particular attention to the section near the end marked "bye points".
This will explain why you may have had to sit a round out, however this does not count as a loss for you. ITs where there isnt a player to match you against you get 1 point.
Regards
Hydra
I played in my first tournament. After round one, everyone else kept playing and I just sat and watched. Even the losers continued to play, so I know I did not get knocked out. After each round the standings just added another loss to my name even though I did not play. Is there something I have to do to continue playing?