Newbie's Guide to Evan's NFL Pool

• Welcome to my NFL Pool. I've been running this pool since 2003, and the people who play regularly tell me how much they enjoy it and how simple it is to play.
• The pool costs $5/week to play. Of the $5, $4 is paid out each week to the weekly winner. The remaining $1 rides to the end of the season, and is paid out as part of end-of-season awards. This is a zero-sum pool.
• Each week of the NFL season, we post an entry sheet that lists all the games for the week, and their Vegas point spread. You pick each game against the spread.
  • Picking games against the spread means that if a team is a 6 1/2 point favorite, they must win the game by MORE THAN 6 1/2 points to get credit for the victory in the pool. Otherwise the losing team gets credit.
  • This makes the pool much more difficult, and explains why even the best players can only pick slightly more than 50% of the games correctly over an entire season. (In 2012, the overall winner for the season only picked about 57% of the games correctly.)
  • In the pool, all games have a spread that includes half a point so that there are no tie games for pool purposes.
• Each entry also includes the selection of a Best Bet. This game counts double for you.
• Each entry also includes a tie-breaker at the end. The tie-breaker is the total number of points scored in the last game of the week (the Monday night game; the last Monday night game if there is more than one).
• Your pool nickname is your primary identifier. It's how I know who you are. Please be sure to use the same nickname all season. And try not to pick a really complex one (with lots of mixed capitals and lower case letters, and/or odd puncutation), because you'll probably mess it up at some point.
• Much of the pool is run on the honor system. While you are encouraged to pay up front, it's not actually a requirement.
• Make absolutely sure that you read The Rules. They contain a lot of important information.
• Poke around the web site, as there are pages with statistics and other relevant information that may make it easier for you to pick your games.
• You are allowed to enter more than once per week, simply by using different nicknames.
• Some entrants play for free, which means they don't pay in, and they don't win money. They are generally highlighted in pink for easy recognition.
• There is no registration process. Just start playing. We assume that if you play, you will pay. Otherwise you'll be banned.
• I am responsible for the design and for every bit of code that makes this pool and web site work. It's the main reason I run the pool.

Any questions? Let me know.

Thanks, Evan

Version 1.1 -- Sept 2, 2013

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