Rules for Evan's NFL Pool

General Information

1. Each week, usually on Tuesday, I will email a link to the pool listings to anyone who I think wants to play.  If someone else wants to get pool info, they can email me (evan-pool@marcus5.net), and I'll add them to the list. If someone doesn't want to play, I will remove them by request.
2. Each week's email will point players to a web entry for that contains all NFL games being played that week.
3. Each game will list a favorite, an underdog, and a point spread.  Point spreads come from whatever newspaper I happen to see first on Tuesday morning (or sooner), usually this web site.
4. When a point spread is an integer (e.g. 4, 5, 39, etc.), I will add or subtract 0.5, so that we do not have any ties on any games.
5. If the official point spreads change over the course of the week, we will NOT reflect that change in the pool. 
   
6. As long as you pay for each entry, and each entry is listed under a separate name or nickname, you may enter as many times each week as you wish.
7. You need not play every week, although if you don't, you may make yourself ineligible for the end-of-season payouts.

Playing

1. To play, you must select a winner for each game in the list, and enter the total points that you guess will be scored in the Monday night game (as a tiebreaker).
   
2. We are NOT playing simple winners and losers, but rather winners and losers against the official point spread.  If the line on a game is, say:

   Favorite	Point Spread	Underdog
   Jets	6.5	Patriots

   that means that if you pick the Jets, they must win by MORE THAN 6.5 points for you to get credit for the game.  If the Jets win by only 5 or 6 points (or fewer, or the Patriots win outright), then people who picked the Patriots get credit for the game.
3. There is a column on the entry sheet called "Best Bet". As part of their entry, players must pick one game from the week's slate as their Best Bet for the week. The Best Bet game counts twice for the week for the player who picks it. This means that in a 16-game week, there will be 17 contests, plus the regular tie-breaker.

How to Enter

1. Return to the Pool Home Page, and click on the link to this week's entry form. Complete the form, and click Submit. You're entered!
2. Entries should be made via the web-form only. There will be a link to the current week's entry form from the home page.
3. If you prefer to keep your entries anonymous, that's fine, but I need to know who you are.  We will give you an alias, and you may hide behind that all year if you like.
4. Standings and other public information will be listed by your nickname only.  If you do not want everyone to know you are playing, choose a nickname that is not obvious.  (But stick with the same nickname all year to be eligible for end-of-season payouts!)
5. The deadline for each week's entries will be specified in the email that announces the week's games, but will generally be one hour before the first game.  (In Week #1, as in some other weeks (including Thanksgiving week), the first game of the week is played on Thursday night.  Deadline those weeks will be Thursday.)  Weeks where the first game is on Saturday night or Sunday, the deadline will be later.
6. NEW! It is up to each player to make sure that his/her entry shows up on the entries page. If an entry does not show up on the entries page, it has not officially been entered. The entries page is updated every time it is refreshed, and should reflect new entries immediately.

Weekly Scoring

1. The web site will keep track of each player's correct and incorrect guesses, and publish interim results on Sunday night or Monday morning, and then publish the final results on Tuesday morning.
   
2. Whoever picks the most games correctly (including the Best Bet) in a given week wins the pot for that week.
3. If two or more players are tied after all of the week's games have been played, we will break the tie by using each player's guess for total points that will be scored in the Monday Night Football game. Whichever player's guess is closest to the actual number of points scored in the game wins the week.
4. If two or more players are tied after the tiebreaker has been applied, then the week's pot will be split evenly between them.
5. All weekly results will be published.
   

Financial Information

1. It costs $5 a week to play.
2. Of the $5 a week, $4 from each player goes to the week's winner.
3. The remaining $1 goes into a pot for end-of-season prizes.
4. This is a completely zero-sum pool.  All money that gets paid in will get paid out to the winners.
5. Once you have entered, you are committed to pay your share at the end of the season.

Who Can Play?

1. Essentially anyone with email and web access. If someone that I (Evan) don't know would like to play, then I need someone else to vouch for them. (See Collection below.)

Collection

1. The worst part of running a football pool is dealing with the money.
2. Everyone who plays (except for non-paying players) is in for $5 a week per entry.
   
3. All money will be collected and paid out at the end of the pool, in January.
4. Everyone who plays is on their honor to pay in.
5. Payouts will not be made until all owed money is received.
6. If any money is not paid in, then payouts will be reduced proportionally to all players.
7. If someone wants to play who I don't know, then a known player must vouch for them, and make good on any debts they owe at the end of the season.
8. Everybody knows all this stuff going in, and so there should be no excuses at the end.
9. I reserve the right to use peer pressure, public embarrassment, and any other means at my disposal to get stragglers to pay up at the end of the season.
10. If you fail to pay in a timely manner at the end of the season, you may be permanently banned from the pool. You also risk being excluded from many really cool parties, and considered a pariah in important social circles. Plus you may get really bad breath, and the fleas of a thousand camels may infest your armpits.

The End of Season Payouts

1. There will be five payouts at the end of the season. 
   
2. The amount to be paid out will depend on how much money is collected.
3. The prize pool will be:

Honesty and Integrity

1. I, Evan, will play in the pool. So will members of my family. One or more of us may even win once or twice. If this troubles you, please don't play.
2. To keep the pool honest, all entries in the pool are automatically posted on the web site as soon as they are entered
3. Any other circumstances that the rules do not account for will be judged on the basis of logic, reasonability, and integrity.
4. If you have a problem with my decisions, let me know. If the problem persists, then please don't play.
5. This is supposed to be fun.
6. If this were just about money, it'd cost a lot more to enter the pool each week.

Non-Paying Players

1. There will be several non-paying players in the pool each week. They do not pay in, and cannot receive payouts, either week-to-week or at the end of the season. They are playing for pure recreation, or for inclusion in the seasonal standings.
2. Among these will be some or all of my children Hannah, Maddie, and Jonathan, who may or may not know anything at all about football. Other children of regular players may also play for free.
3. Anyone under the age of 18 who wishes to play must play for free.
4. Each week's entries will also include a random number generator ("dartboard") as a non-paying player, as well as non-paying entries for Favorites and Home Teams.
5. If you would like to be a non-paying player, let me know BEFORE the first week's deadline. If you wish to change the status of a player from paying to non-paying, or vice-versa, please select a different nickname after the change.

The Rules

1. The rules are subject to change at any time.  I will do my best to send out a note to all players if the rules do change.
2. It is assumed that anyone who plays in the pool has read the rules.
3. If you have a gambling problem, please call 1-800-GAMBLER