Rules
Your house rules
have a home.
Your scoring, your tiebreakers, the traditions your group has built. You decide how the pool runs. We help you make it work.
NFL Pick’em Pool Hosting
Your pick’em pool, the way your group plays.
Keep the rules your group knows: confidence values on each pick, a bonus game, a Sunday deadline, or five picks instead of the full slate. Bring your existing rules sheet, or choose a format for a new pool.
$1 per entry for the season. Nothing upfront.
How NFL pick’em works
Every week is another chance to win.
Choose the games members pick.
Have members pick every NFL game, or let each entry choose a set number. Straight-up pools use the winner; against-the-spread pools use the posted line.
Add up the points.
Correct picks earn points under your scoring rules. Keep every game equal, assign confidence values, or make selected games worth a bonus.
Follow both races.
Weekly standings give everyone a new contest to chase. Season standings reward the best run across your schedule. A wrong pick never knocks an entry out of a pick’em pool.
Running yours on paper? Print this week’s pick sheet. Free, no account.
Three scoring formats
Three ways to score your pool.
Choose how much a correct pick is worth, then decide whether to use spreads.
Standard pick’em.
Every correct pick has the same value. At one point per win, ten correct picks score ten points. It is an easy starting point for a group that wants to pick the games and follow the standings.
Confidence.
Members assign more points to the picks they feel best about. In a five-pick week using values 1–5 and zero points for losses, two correct picks worth 5 and 4 score nine points. Three correct picks worth 3, 2, and 1 score six.
Key picks.
Give a bonus to one member-selected game each week, or to every Monday game. With one point per win and a two-point bonus, a correct key pick is worth three points.
Your pool’s rules
Every NFL pick’em and confidence rule you can set.
Most pick'em pools run the standard way: everyone picks every game, a point for each winner, and the highest score takes the week. Picksheet runs that, and the confidence, bonus-game, and against-the-spread versions too.
Scoring
- Format
- Standard, where every correct pick is worth the same; Confidence, where members assign each pick a value and a correct pick scores it; or Key Picks, where designated picks add a bonus to the Standard win value
- Points per win
- One to ten for Standard and Key Picks. Ignored for Confidence, where confidence values are the points
- Points per loss
- Incorrect picks score zero, or cost the same as a correct pick would have paid — the confidence value under Confidence, the win value plus the bonus on a key pick
- Confidence scale
- For confidence pools: start at 1 and top out at that week’s pick count, or keep the same top value all season
- Custom point weights
- For confidence pools: choose values such as 7, 5, 3, 3, 3, with additional picks worth 1. Unassigned values go to picks left without a value when they lock
- Auto-pick confidence
- For confidence pools: automatic picks, missed required picks, and picks left without a value use the lowest or highest remaining value when they lock
- Key picks
- One player-selected key pick each week, or every Monday game, including doubleheaders
- Key pick bonus
- One to ten points added to the normal win value
- How picks resolve
- Straight up, or against the spread
- Over/Under
- Allow picks on game totals as well as teams. A totals pick counts toward the pool’s pick requirement and carries a confidence value in a confidence pool
- Game ties
- Worth half the pick’s value for ties or pushes, when allowed by your rules. An 8-point confidence pick earns 4 with half credit
Deadlines
- Pick deadline
- At the first kickoff, at each game’s own kickoff, or a day and time you set
- One week’s deadline
- First kickoff, each kickoff, or a day and time for one week only, like Thanksgiving
- Postseason deadline
- First kickoff, each kickoff, or a day and time, separate from your weekly rule
- Per-game lock
- Always on. A game that kicks off early locks early
Standings and tiebreakers
- Standings
- Both, always. Weekly standings for weekly prizes, season standings for the season race
- Dropped weeks
- Off, or drop each player’s worst 1-10 weeks from the season standings — weekly standings still count every week
- Weekly tiebreaker
- Average score margin; closest guess to the last game’s combined score, including overtime, typically Monday night; or none
- Season tiebreaker
- Average score margin — against the spread in spread pools, margin of victory in straight-up pools; most wins (correct picks) in confidence pools; or none, leaving season ties for you to settle
Picks and season
- How many games
- Every game, a set number each week, a weekly minimum, or a season-long pick budget members use across the weeks. With different pick counts, set how points are assigned and standings are compared
- A missed pick
- Is scored as an incorrect pick, or auto-picks an available home team, road team, favorite, underdog, or random team. For Over/Under picks the side is chosen randomly
- Starting week
- Any week from 1 to 18, or start in the playoffs
- Where it ends
- Any week from 1 to 18, any playoff round, or the Super Bowl
- Entry deadline
- Close the pool at your first week’s deadline, keep taking late entries until a week you pick, or leave it open all season
- Entries per person
- One each, or a cap you choose
Visibility and control
- Seeing other picks
- As each game locks, or all at once at the deadline
- Point spreads
- Shown on the pick sheet, or kept off it. A pool that plays against the spread always shows them
- How ATS spreads get set
- Automatically from the market at any day and time, or manually. Straight-up pools use the time only for Over/Under totals; manual mode ignores it
- Half-point ATS spreads
- Automatic spreads always use half-points, so games cannot push; manual spreads are not guaranteed to use half-points
- Commissioner picks
- Enter and fix picks for a member, or turn that off
- Commissioner visibility
- Always off. Nobody sees a pick before it locks, you included
- Audit markers
- Always on. Commissioner picks are flagged "C"
- Rules text
- A rules page generated from your settings, plus a note in your own words
- Entry management
- Keep track of who has joined, how many entries they have, and who still owes their dues.
Don’t see your house rule? Tell us what it is.
Your house rules
People
Your pool.
Your people.
Your members won’t be added to a marketing list or shown sportsbook promotions. You decide who joins.
Support
Get help from
a real person.
A setup question, a scoring issue, a house rule you want to try: you’ll hear from the people building Picksheet.
Football pool pricing
$1 per entry. For the season. Nothing upfront.
Pay only for the entries you keep.
- No credit card to start
- No minimum charge
- Set up before inviting anyone
Before the first pick sheet.
Settle the scoring and schedule once, then let everyone play.
How is straight-up different from against the spread?
Straight-up picks need the selected team to win. Against the spread, the selected side needs to cover the pool’s line. A favorite at −3.5 must win by at least four points. Use the line posted in your pool; it may differ from a later market line.
Can we pick fewer than all the games?
Yes. Your pool can pick every game or a set number each week. In a five-pick pool, members choose five matchups. With the usual confidence scale, those picks use values 1–5; you can also choose custom values.
Can we start after Week 1?
Yes. Choose a later starting week for a new pool. Weekly standings and season totals begin with your pool’s schedule, so nobody needs to make up games that happened before it started. Publish the pool before its opening week’s pick deadline.
What happens if someone misses a week?
Your missed-pick rule determines whether unpicked games lose or get automatic selections. You can also enable dropped weeks in the pool settings to exclude each entry’s worst weeks from the season total. Weekly results stay intact whether that setting is on or off.
How should we handle tied standings?
Set weekly and season tiebreakers before the first picks lock. You can use different rules for each, or allow tied standings. If you award prizes, specify how any remaining ties affect prize splits.
Ready to run your pool?
Set up your pool and make sure everything looks right before inviting your group.
Need a hand with your rules? Get in touch.