PICK 'EM POOLS

With a Pick ‘em Pool, the object is simply to choose which teams you feel will win or cover the point spread. Without an account in an offshore gambling business or living in Las Vegas, this is the next best way to satisfy your inner Gamblor. This is done by either

a) choosing the outright victor
b) choosing the point-spread winner


Outright Winner Option
In variation “a”, if you correctly choose the winning team, you are awarded a point. In the end, the individual that accrues the highest number of correct selections wins. A simple strategy would be to just pick the favored teams. Unfortunately, this is a widely-used approach within straight-up Pick ‘em Pools, so you’ll have to mix in a few upsets to differentiate your picks from other pool members.

Point Spread Option
In variation “b”, choosing the right side becomes an even greater challenge. Now you’re battling wits with the oddsmakers. A point is awarded only when you choose the team that covered The Spread on the head-to-head game results or on the total score (if configured). Though it may sound like a conservative figure, if you can somehow manage an accuracy rate of 55%, you’ll have a very good chance of winning your pool.

The configuration options available at MFS are listed below. When playing in a Private Pick 'em Pool, make sure you understand the pool’s configuration and how it impacts your picking strategy. The possible setting options and descriptions are listed below. If you have questions or would like a bit more info about these settings, make sure to visit our FAQ section.

Settings:

                                                                                                                                                                       

Lock Picks: This option determines when the Lock Deadline occurs. It will either occur at the start of the first game of the week, on a designated day and time, or if each game should lock individually when it starts based on the time MFS received the kickoff notification from our stats provider. The default Lock deadline is for each game to lock individually when it starts.   
Hide Picks Until Start of Last Game: This setting dictates when each pool member, including the Commissioner, can see the picks made by other pool members. The choices are to see all picks after the start of the last game of the week or to see the picks for each game after they are locked. The default is to show the picks for games after they have locked (started). The best place to view all picks is in the Weekly Picks report in the Reports section of the pool.   
Weekly Picks Are Optional: Generally pools are played over the course of the season. However, this setting allows a pool to effectively be played on a weekly basis for weekly contests and let's the team decide when they want to participate. The season standings are still maintained no matter what this setting is. The default is to make weekly picks mandatory.   
Use Point Spread: This setting determines if each pool member will pick the Winning team straight up or using the point spread. Picking the Winning team using the point spread is the default.   
Use Under/Overs: This setting determines if the pool members will be able to pick just the teams to win/cover or if they will be able to choose if the game total score will go Under or Over the Vegas line for the game total. No Under/Overs is the default.   
Number of Picks Per Week: This setting determines how many picks need to be made by each pool member each week when picks are mandatory. 16 is the default.   
Max Autopicks: This value determines how many times MFS will autopick a team for pool members that do not have a pick submitted by the Lock Deadline. The autopick logic depends on the choice the pool members make on their Team Settings link found on the Team Home Page. The default number of autopicks per team is 0, which means that MFS will not make any picks for pool members that fail to submit the required number of picks. Pool members failing to make the required number of picks before the Lock deadline will receive a Loss for each game that they are short of the required number. This does not occur if the required number of picks is less than the games played for that week, such as during Bye weeks or the NFL playoffs.   
Tie-handling: It is rare for an actual tie game to happen in the NFL, but it is possible during the regular season. Ties when using the point spread is not uncommon. This option dictates how to handle any Tie situation. The default setting is to award all teams a Win, no matter which team they picked to win.   
Use Ties in Winning Percentage calculation: The season standings are based on the Winning Percentage. Ties are counted as a half win. So, they will affect the Winning Percentage calculation differently than omitting those games. Omitting the ties is the default.   
Maximum Double Plays Per Week: MFS provides the option for pool members to flag their most confident game(s) as Double Plays. This setting determines how many games per week can be flagged as Double Plays. The default is 0.   
Double Play Usage: When using Double Plays, the scoring on Wins/Losses is to either count the one game as two games against the Number of Picks Per Week setting or to count it as one game but the game counts as 2 points. The default is to count each Double Play as 2 Wins or Losses per one game.   
Tie on Double Play results in: If a game flagged as a Double Play results in a Tie (straight-up or using the point spread), we provide a variety of ways to assign points for the game. The default is to award 1 win for the game.   
Drop Weeks: This setting determines if each pool member should have their worst week(s) dropped from the overall record. The week(s) chosen are the week(s) with the lowest winning percentage. The default setting is 0 weeks, which means all weeks will count.   
Extend Into Playoffs If the Confidence Pool begins during the NFL regular season, this setting determines if it ends at the end of the regular season or after the Super Bowl.