Football Sweepstakes Rules
General
We try to make sure that all information in the game (picks, results, records etc.) are correct and up to date and whlie this is generally the case, it does happen here or there that results are entered a little late, or - in rare cases - incorrectly.
HOWEVER, WE DO NOT ACCEPT ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY LOSS OR OTHER DISADVANTAGE (FINANCIAL OR OTHERWISE) RESULTING FROM MEMBERS' OR VISITORS' USE OF ANY INFORMATION ON THIS SITE FOR ANY BETTING, GAMBLING OR SIMILAR ACTIVITIES. If you use this data, you do so at your own risk!
There is no money involved. You cannot win any money but you also do not have to pay any money to play. We are playing just for fun and to make watching football on Sundays a bit more interesting.
Do not choose nick names that are politically incorrect or offensive to others. If we find any such nick names, the user will be asked to change them. Non-compliance will result in deletion of the account.
Be courteous to players in the forum and via e-mail. A little competitive spirit never hurt anybody, and while good-natured ribbing in the forums (particularly the smack thread) is certainly allowed, bear in mind that what is funny to you might be considered insulting by other people. Players who are abusive or insulting to other players will receive a warning. If such behaviour continues, they will have their account terminated. In severe cases, an account can be terminated without prior warning at the discretion of the administrator.
Sweepstakes Game
The basic principle of the game is as follows: players pick the results of all games over the course of the current NFL season, as well as the divisional champions and the Super Bowl champion. Points are awarded depending on how well players pick (see below for details). The player with the highest total score the end of the season wins.
Weekly Picks
| Game |
 
|
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game Result | 30:17 | |||||
| # | Pick Result | Picks | Basic Points | Bonus Points | Total Points | Definition |
| 1 | Wrong Winner | 17:24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Wrong Winner |
| 2 | Correct Winner | 21:10 | 5 | 0 | 5 | Correct winner, but outside the TD bracket on at least one of the teams' scores |
| 3 | TD Bracket | 24:14 | + 2 | 7 | Correct winner and neither team's score is off by more than +/- 7 points | |
| 4 | FG Bracket | 27:14 | + 4 | 9 | Correct winner and neither team's score is off by more than +/- 3 points | |
| 5 | Correct Score | 30:17 | + 8 | 13 | Exact score for both teams | |
Pick Points
This is the main part of the game. Players have to pick the score for each game. Basic points are awarded for picking the correct winner.You get additional points for good score predictions - i.e. the closer to the actual score your pick is, the more bonus points you can get. The different types or results are color-coded (see the table 'Overview Pick Results' for details). However, you won't get any points if you don't get the winner right, no matter how close you are to the actual score.
Pick Deadline
Players are allowed to enter picks until 30 minutes before kick-off (all times shown in the game are US Eastern times). Before this deadline, players cannot see each others' picks. This is to avoid strategic picking and ensure that players are ranked solely on their football knowledge. Players can change their picks as often as they want prior to the deadline.
All picks must be entered via the website. No late picks will be accepted, nor will any picks by email be accepted, regardless of the time!
Playoff Multipliers
| Playoff Round | Multiplier |
|---|---|
| Wildcard Round | x2 |
| Divisional Round | x3 |
| Conf. Champ. | x4 |
| Super Bowl | x5 |
The scores you saw in the overview table above are the basic scores for regular season games. In the playoffs, a multiplier is applied that increases with each playoff round. The multiplier applies to all points: pick points as well as lock points and - in the case of the latter - both bonuses and penalties (see below). This means that while a successful lock in the playoffs can give you a big boost, the penalty for a wrong lock can cost you dearly, too. So make sure you know what you are doing when you set a lock...
Locks
If you feel absolutely sure about your pick for a certain game, you can lock it. There are two different types of locks, each with their advantages and disadvantages (see below), but the basic principle is the same: if your pick is correct, you get bonus points (how many dependy on your pick - see below for details). However, if you screw up and get it wrong, you will get a penalty. This is in contrast to picks without a lock, where a wrong pick yields no points, but doesn't cost you points, either.
Winner Lock
The winner lock is the more straightforward of the two locks. In case of a correct pick, you double your basic points for getting the winner right (5 Points). Bonus points for a TD bracket / FG bracket / correct score are added afterwards. Example: Getting a FG bracket result on a winner lock would be worth 5 points for the correct winner x2 for the lock + 4 points für the FG bracket = 14 total points. However, if you set a winner lock but get the winner wrong, you now get a penalty of -10 points.
Margin Lock
The margin lock is the more high risk, high reward option of the two lock types. It works as follows: by picking a result, you automatically pick a winning margin for the team you believe will win. If the team you picked to win the game covers (i.e. wins by at least the predicted margin, regardless of the absolute score), you will get the predicted margin as a bonus. However, if they do not cover (i.e. they either win but by a smaller margin or they lose outright), you will get the difference between the actual and the predicted margin as a penalty.
Let's look at a few examples to make this clearer. Suppose that, in a given game, you pick the road team to win 21:10, which would be a +11 point margin. There are now three types of possible outcomes:
- Scenario 1 - Score 30:17
The road team covered (in this case even exceeded) the predicted winning margin of 11 points. This means that in addition to the pick points (in this case 5), you get the predicted 11 point wining margin as lock points for a total of 16 points for your pick.
- Scenario 2 - Score 24:21
The road team still won, but by a smaller margin (+3) than you predicted (+11). In this case, you still get the 5 pick points for your pick, but you will now get the difference between the actual and the predicted margin (-8) as a penalty for a total of -3 points for your pick. In other words, when you use a margin lock, you can have a correct pick but a wrong lock.
- Scenario 3 - Score 17:24
The road team lost by a touchdown. In this case, you won't get any points for your pick (wrong winner), but you will still get the difference between the actual (-7 from the point of view of the road team) and the predicted margin (+11) as a penalty for a total of -18 points for your pick.
Understand the high risk, high reward designation now? In contrast to the winner lock, where both the bonus and the penalty are capped, in the margin lock you set your own bonus payout - but the higher you set it, the higher the risk you will fail and the higher the penalty if you do. And, to make matters worse, the penaly is not capped - the further off you are with your prediction, the more points you are going to lose...
| Game |
|
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game Result | : | ||||
| Pick Result | Picks | Pick Points | Lock Points | Total Points | |
 |
No Lock | : | |||
|
Winner Lock | : | |||
|
Margin Lock | : | |||
It is very important that you understand the mechanism behind and implications of setting a lock before doing so. Spend some time with the scoring widget - it lets you enter your pick for a hypothetical game, the eventual score as well as the regular season / playoff round. The widget will then show you how many points you would get for a pick without a lock, a pick with a winner lock and a pick with a margin lock. We recommend that you take the time and play around with these until you are sure you understood the scoring logic.
Season Picks
| Div. Picks | SB Pick | |
|---|---|---|
| Full points bef. | Week 3 | Wildcard Games |
| Initial Points | 40 Points | 40 Points |
| Weekly Switch | Kickoff of first game | |
| Weekly Point Reduction | -3 Points | -10 Points |
| Final Deadline | 1st Game of Week 13 | 30 min. before SB kickoff |
In addition to the weekly picks outlined above, there are also two types of season picks - the divisional picks and the Super Bowl pick. In both cases, you pick a season result (divisional champions for the regular season, Super bowl winner for the playoffs). Doing well in these can give you a boost in the standings, or at least help mitigate the fallout from a bad week.
You can start entering your picks at any time from before the regular season (divisional picks) and before the playoffs as soon as the first playoff teams are fixed (Super Bowl pick). You can enter and change these picks as often as you want prior to their respective deadlines, but with each passing week, any pick you enter/change will be worth fewer points. As with all other picks, you cannot see other players' picks prior to the deadline, so you cannot pick strategically - you have to rely on your football acumen and hope you know more than the competition.
Standings
Players are ranked according to the points accrued over the season. The player with the highest total score at the end of the season will be our champion. Each player's total score is the sum of his weekly scores and those from the divisional champions picks and the Super Bowl pick. There are no tie breakers.
Historic Scores
The exact scoring rules have been tweaked here and there over the course of the game. All scores are calculated based on the scoring rules that applied at the time, so if you look at result tables from seasons past, you might not be able to reconcile the scores with the rules outlined above. You can find an overview of the rules evolution here.
The Eliminator
The Eliminator is a separate game. Players can choose to play it together with or instead of the main sweepstakes game, or not at all. Performance in one has no effect on performance the other.
Each player picks one team they think will win every week. As long as the picks are correct, the player is allowed to continue into the following week. While each player has a 'buffer zone' of one game - meaning if you have one wrong pick you can still continue to play - two wrong picks result in elimination from the game. Not entering a pick is counted as a wrong pick. In order to make matters more difficult, you can only pick each team once per season, so make sure you pick wisely.