Run a pick'em pool
Everyone picks the winners. Points stack. The leaderboard settles who actually knows ball.
Free for groups up to 10. Any sport. No spreadsheet.
A pick'em pool is a group game where everyone predicts the winner of each game on the slate; every correct pick earns a point, and the highest total over the season wins. It's the simplest and most popular office sports pool.
How it works
Create the pool
Pick your sport and season, choose which games count and when picks lock, and launch in under two minutes.
Share the link
Drop one link in the group chat. Players join with a display name - no accounts, nothing to download.
Pick and climb
Everyone picks the winners each week. We auto-grade and stack the points on a live leaderboard.
How a pick'em pool works
A pick'em pool is the most popular sports pool there is: every week, everyone in the group picks who they think will win each game. Correct picks earn points, points stack across the season, and the leaderboard decides who's the real expert.
It's dead simple to play and endlessly arguable - which is exactly the point.
The core rules
- Pick every game. Each week you choose a winner for every matchup on the slate.
- Score the winners. A correct pick earns a point (or the spread-adjusted result - see below). Most points wins.
- It stacks all season. Standings carry week to week, so a hot streak in November can erase a slow September.
- Last word goes to the leaderboard. No spreadsheets, no arguing the math - the standings are the standings.
Scoring variations
- Straight up. Just pick the winner. Simplest, most popular, great for casual groups.
- Against the spread. Pick winners after the point spread - levels the field so picking favorites every week isn't a free ride.
- Confidence. Rank each game by how sure you are and earn weighted points. (See the dedicated NFL confidence pool format.)
- Survivor. A stricter cousin: one pick a week, lose once and you're out. (See survivor pool.)
Formats & tiebreakers
Run it for the NFL, college football, soccer, or any sport with a weekly schedule. Players level on points share the position on the leaderboard, so if you want a single winner, agree the decider with your group before the season - a final-week showdown is the usual one.
Pick'em pool strategy and advice
A pick'em pool is won by whoever is dull for longest. That's unsatisfying, and it's true.
Volume beats brilliance
Take the favourites. Across a full season the field's clever picks cancel out and the player who quietly banked the obvious games is four points clear. Being right about a game everyone got right still scores.
Be contrarian only where it's cheap
Every slate has a few genuine coin flips. Those are the games worth disagreeing on, because you risk almost nothing and gain separation. An underdog pick in a game the whole league expects to be a blowout is not bold, it's just a point you gave away.
Match your risk to the format
Season-long standings reward consistency - grind the favourites. Weekly prizes reward swings, because to win one week you must beat everyone, which means picking differently somewhere. If your pool runs both, play the season and take weekly wins as they come.
Don't overreact to last weekend
Teams get overrated after one good result and buried after one bad one, and a pool full of people who watched the same highlights will overreact together. That shared overreaction is where your edge is.
For commissioners: smaller slate, longer pool
The most common way a pick'em dies is asking casual players for too many picks. Trim the slate to the games your group cares about, lock picks at kickoff so nobody needs a reminder, and agree the tie decider before the season rather than in the final week.
Format-specific advice: NFL pick'em, college football pick'em, and the sudden-death variant, survivor pool.
Why run it on Trofeo.live
The classic pick'em pool dies the week the commissioner forgets to update the spreadsheet. Trofeo.live runs the whole thing for you.
- Auto-grading. Picks are scored the second games end - one point per correct call, no spreadsheet to maintain.
- Live leaderboard. Standings update in real time; everyone sees who's winning and who picked what.
- Public proof. Bold calls get gassed up, faceplants get roasted. Built for the group chat.
- No app for players. You set it up; they pick from a link with a name.
Pick your format, share the link, and let the season sort out the pretenders.
The receipts keep themselves
Every pick is logged, scored, and stacked on a leaderboard nobody can argue with. Talk all the trash you want during the week - the standings have the final say.
FAQ
What is a pick'em pool?+
A pick'em pool is a group game where everyone picks the winner of each game on the weekly slate. Correct picks earn points, points accumulate across the season, and the highest total tops the leaderboard.
What's the difference between straight-up and against-the-spread?+
Straight-up means you just pick the winner, one point per correct pick - that's the format Trofeo.live scores. Against-the-spread applies the point spread, so a favourite has to win by enough to 'cover', which makes picking chalk every week far less of a sure thing. It's a popular house format but not one we grade, so you'd track the lines and score it yourself.
What sports can I run a pick'em pool for?+
Any sport with a regular schedule - NFL, college football, soccer, basketball, and more. The NFL and college football versions are the most popular, and each has its own page.
How many players can join?+
As many as you want. It's free for groups up to 10 players, with larger pools on paid plans. Pick'em pools are more fun the bigger the field.
Is it free?+
Yes - free for groups up to 10. Larger pools and custom branding come with paid plans.
Predict it live
Put your calls on the line in a real bracket - run a free prediction pool for these events.
Run a pick'em pool
Everyone picks the winners. Points stack. The leaderboard settles who actually knows ball.
Free for groups up to 10. Any sport. No spreadsheet.