Pool rules

The settings below are read live from the pool, so they cannot drift out of date. The original write-up follows underneath for the parts a setting cannot express.

In force for 2026

Format: Pick every game straight up. No point spreads.
Key picks: 5 a week. Each one is a bonus point.
Scoring: A correct pick is 1 point. A key pick is a bonus point. A tied game is half a point for everybody.
Standings: Ranked on points, not win-loss record.
Season: 18 weeks, regular season only. No playoffs.
Deadline: Sunday 10:00 AM Pacific. Games that kick off earlier close at kickoff.
Autopicks: If you miss a sheet the computer picks the home team in every game.
Free autopicks: A game that kicks off before the deadline is free however it gets picked: Thursday and Saturday nights, holiday games, and the Sunday morning games from overseas. Being autopicked into one costs you nothing.
Autopick limit: 5 charged weeks a season. After that the computer stops filling in for you: a missed sheet stays blank and scores nothing. You can still turn in your own picks.
Tiebreakers: Wins, then fewest charged autopicks, then key picks, then the Monday night pick. Level on all four is a shared week.

The Commish can change any of these; this page follows whatever they are set to.

The written rules

Carried over from OfficeFootballPool and maintained by The Commish. Last edited Sep 9, 2026.

POOL FORMAT
Pick the winner of every NFL game each week, straight up. No point spreads. You also choose key picks, the games you feel best about. A correct pick is one point and a key pick is a bonus point. A tied game is half a point for everybody. The number of key picks per week is at the top of this page.

Standings run on points, not your win-loss record, for the week and for the season. Your record still gets tracked, it just isn't what ranks you.

Regular season only. No playoffs.

DEADLINE
Sheets are due Sunday at 10:00am Pacific, 1:00pm Eastern.

Any game that kicks off before that closes when it starts. Thursday and Saturday nights, holiday games, and the Sunday morning games from overseas. The rest of your sheet stays open until Sunday.

MISSED SHEETS
If your picks aren't in, the computer fills them for you using the method you chose under Settings, or the pool default if you haven't set one.

An autopick on a game that started before the deadline is free. Your sheet wasn't due yet, so it costs you nothing. After the deadline is a different story. That's a week you missed, and those count. Once you hit the season limit at the top of this page the computer stops covering for you, and a missed sheet stays blank and scores nothing. You can always still put your own picks in.

TIEBREAKERS
Weekly ties break in this order:
1. Wins. The most correct picks.
2. Autopicks. If the computer picked for you after the deadline, you lose the tiebreaker.
3. Key picks. The most correct key picks.
4. Monday night. Whoever got the Monday night game right.

Level on all four and you share the week. A tie is a co-win, the way I have always run it.

ARBITRATION
There is no whining, crying, or being babies. Corner cases, point discrepancies, and anything these rules do not cover are settled by The Commish. His call is the final one.