NFL Playoff Pool Rules

An NFL playoff pool is a betting pool in which players predict the teams that will advance in the NFL playoffs. Playoff pool rules vary widely depending on the specific system setup, most often in how participants in the pool score points.

  1. Basics

    • Regardless of the format, all pool participants make their predictions before a given game takes place. The pool organizer must keep track of everyone’s selections (by providing sheets for them to fill out, for example) and keep track of the points earned each week. Finally, he or she needs to determine a method of breaking ties; for example, by having pool participants predict the final score of each game, and awarding the tiebreaker to the participant who comes the closest.

    Front-Loading Pools

    • A front-loading pool means that every pool participant makes their picks before the playoffs begin. They assign point values to the 12 teams in the NFL playoffs, putting more points on the teams they think will go farther. Every time a team wins, the participant receives the number of points he or she assigned to it. After the Super Bowl has been played, the person organizing the pool tallies the points and the player with the most points wins the pool. The organizer can also establish a more complicated point system, based on how many touchdowns a given team scores, whether or not they were favorites, and the like. Front-loading pools have the benefit of getting all of the selections out of the way before the playoffs start, allowing participants to enjoy the games.

    Ongoing Pools

    • An ongoing pool approaches the playoffs week by week. This type of pool tends to be more hotly contested because participants don’t necessarily suffer an eliminating disadvantage for backing teams that lose early. Four games are played in the first round, four in the second, two in the third and one in the final week (the Super Bowl). Pool participants select the team they think will to win each game week by week and receive points based on correct predictions. After the Super Bowl, the pool organizer totals the points each participant earned and determines the winner. Pools can be adjusted to reflect the "line" on each game, set by betting organizations—that is, which team is favored to win and by how many points. So, for example, if San Francisco is favored to win a playoff game against New York by six points and it only wins by three, pool participants who bet on New York still win, even though the team lost the game.