Frequently Asked Questions
Short answers about running a free sports pool on Sportpoolz. If you want the steps rather than the summary, the help guide walks through each screen.
General
What is a sports pool?
A sports pool is a friendly competition where a group predicts the outcomes of real games — picking winners, beating the spread, or ranking picks by confidence. Everyone's picks are scored against the actual results, standings update as games finish, and the sharpest forecaster tops the leaderboard. It's a way to make every game day more fun with friends, family, or coworkers.
Full steps in the help guide →What is a survivor pool?
A survivor pool is the simplest high-stakes format: each week you pick one team to win, straight up. Win and you survive; lose and you're out. The catch is that you can never pick the same team twice, so the season becomes a rationing problem — burn a heavy favorite now or save them for later. The last player standing wins the pool.
Full steps in the help guide →What is a pick'em pool?
In a pick'em pool everyone picks the winner of every game on the week's schedule — no spread to beat, just who wins. Each correct pick earns a point, standings update as games finish, and the best record at the end takes the pool. It's the easiest format to learn, which makes it the usual choice for office groups and families with casual fans.
Full steps in the help guide →What is a confidence pool?
A confidence pool is pick'em with a twist: after choosing winners, you rank your picks by how sure you are, and a correct pick earns the number you staked on it. Your surest call might be worth sixteen points, your coin flips one or two. Reading the week well matters as much as picking well, which keeps the standings close all season.
Full steps in the help guide →How does a playoff pool work?
A playoff pool runs on the postseason bracket instead of a weekly schedule. You pick who advances round by round, later rounds are worth more, and you score as your teams keep winning. It packs a season's worth of drama into a few weekends — and because everyone starts fresh when the playoffs begin, it's the easiest pool to join late in the year.
Full steps in the help guide →Is Sportpoolz really free?
Yes. Sportpoolz is completely free: no credit card, nothing to pay, and no money changing hands. Automated scoring, standings, and the activity feed are all included. You can join as many pools as you like, and there is a cap on how many active pools one person can own at once — the create page shows your count against that limit.
Is this real-money gambling?
No. Sportpoolz does not accept, hold, or transfer money, and does not operate a betting or wagering service — no real money is ever collected or distributed. SportBucks are a virtual tracking tool with no cash value: they cannot be bought, cashed out, transferred between players, or exchanged for anything. You're playing for bragging rights and good times, whether that's picking winners or proving your sports knowledge. It's entertainment only.
Full steps in the help guide →What sports do you support?
NFL today. NFL is the league you can choose when you create a pool; NBA and other leagues appear as coming-soon cards while we finish them. Schedules, spreads, and final scores all arrive automatically for every NFL week your pool covers, so nobody has to enter anything by hand. Tell us through support which sport you want next — that is what shapes the order we add them in.
What if I don't know much about sports?
No worries! Our pools are all about having fun, so you don't need to be a sports expert to play. You can make your picks based on team colors, mascots, or even a gut feeling. Plenty of office-pool champions have never watched a full game.
Is there a mobile app?
Sportpoolz runs in your phone or tablet browser, so nothing needs installing to play. Making picks, reading standings, following the activity feed, and running a pool you own all work on a small screen, and kickoff times show in your device's own timezone. Sign in at the same address you use on a desktop, or add it to your home screen for one-tap access.
Pools
How do I join a pool?
Three ways in: open an invite link someone sends you, accept an email invitation waiting on your Pool Hub, or pick an open pool from Browse Public. After that you can make picks for any game that has not kicked off. Joining is not always immediate, though — a full pool, a roster the manager has closed, a pool whose manager screens new members, or a Survivor pool that already started will each stop or delay you.
Full steps in the help guide →How do I create my own pool?
Head to the Pool Hub and click "Create a Pool". Pick your sport and format, set your rules, and share the invite link with your group. You control the settings — format, scoring, deadlines — so the pool runs exactly the way your group likes it.
Full steps in the help guide →How long does it take to set up a pool?
Creating it takes a couple of minutes. The create page is a single form — name, sport, week range, format — and pressing "Create Pool" at the bottom makes the pool live straight away. Setting it up properly takes longer: rules, winners, ties, capacity, and invitations are separate settings sections you work through afterwards, and you can pause the pool while you do.
Full steps in the help guide →Can I invite friends, family, or coworkers?
Of course — that's the best part! Once you've created a pool you get an invite link to share with anyone. They click it, join your pool, and the trash talk can begin. It's a great way to add excitement to game day.
Full steps in the help guide →How many players can join a pool?
The pool's manager sets that. Capacity is a number in the pool's access settings, shown as a members-out-of-capacity bar, and the manager can adjust it — though never below the number of members already active. Once a pool reaches its capacity, further joins are refused with "Pool is full", so ask the manager for a seat if you are shut out.
Full steps in the help guide →How many pools can I join?
There is no limit. Join as many as you like — one with the office, one with the family, one with your college friends. The only cap is on pools you own at the same time, which is a different thing entirely. Each pool keeps its own picks and standings, and if several run on the same season you can copy one week's picks across them.
Where do I find my messages?
Open Messages in the sidebar, or the Messages tab in the installed app. It lists your pools' chats and your direct messages in one place. Each pool's chat stays in its pool: Messages shows who's been talking and when, never what anyone said, and tapping a pool opens its chat. Public pools have no chat, so they never appear there.
Can I react to a direct message? Does it notify them?
Yes. Tap the message, then React, and pick one of five: 👍 😂 🔥 😮 😬. On a phone you can also press and hold it. You each get one reaction per message, your own messages included — pick another to swap it, or tap yours to take it back. A reaction doesn't send an email or a notification, doesn't mark the conversation unread and doesn't move it up anyone's list. They'll see it next time they look at the conversation.
How do I tidy up my Messages list?
Archive a conversation: swipe it left on a phone, or use its ⋯ menu. Undo shows for a few seconds afterwards. Archived conversations sit under Archived at the bottom of the list, and come back on their own when either of you writes again. Archiving doesn't tell the other person or stop them writing — to stop someone, open the conversation's ⋯ menu and choose Hide this person.
How do I message my pool's manager?
Press Message manager at the top of any page in the pool, Message beside their name on the pool's dashboard, or Message privately on their card in the standings. It opens a private conversation that only the two of you can read. It's there while the pool is running and for a few weeks after its last game. Pools run by Sportpoolz itself don't have a manager to message — use Help instead.
Can a pool's manager message me privately? Can I stop them?
Yes, a pool's manager can start a private conversation with you. If you'd rather they didn't, open the pool's dashboard and turn off "… can message me first" under You in this pool. After that they can't start a conversation with you, in that pool or any other they run, even if you're friends. You can still message them, and they can reply for a week after you do. They aren't sent any notice, and when they try, they see the same message as for any conversation they can't start. You can also hide someone completely, or report them to Sportpoolz.
I started writing a message and closed it. Is it gone?
No. What you'd written stays in that conversation's box on this device, for up to a week, until you send it. It's kept in your browser, not on Sportpoolz, so it won't be on your other devices, and signing out clears it.
Someone keeps messaging me. How do I stop it?
Open the conversation's ⋯ menu. Hide this person… stops messages between you both ways and hides their messages in pool chats. It asks first, and they aren't told. Hiding doesn't report anyone: use Report on one of their messages, or Report this person in the same menu when the conversation began in a pool you share, and Sportpoolz will look. The conversation stays, so you can report it after hiding too. Undo a hide in People you've hidden.
I sent something to the whole pool that was meant for the manager. What now?
Take it back: open the message's ⋯ menu and choose Take it back. It leaves the chat, but anyone who already read it saw it. To write to the pool's manager privately, use Message the manager under About this chat on the pool's Chat page — or, on a phone, the link at the bottom of the box you type in.
Who can see messages in my pool?
Only active members of that pool. Messages aren't public, they don't show up in search, and they don't appear anywhere outside the pool. Public pools don't have pool chat at all. A pool only has it if its manager switches it on, and they can switch it off again — earlier messages stay readable either way.
Someone in my pool is being awful. What can I do?
Four things, fastest first. Hide their posts from your view — instant, private, and they aren't told. Report them to Sportpoolz, usually answered within 3 business days. Ask a pool manager to remove the message, or the pool's manager to remove the member. Or leave the pool. Report before you hide: once you've hidden someone their messages are gone from your view and there's no menu left to report them from.
Can a pool manager read or change my messages?
They can read everything in the pool, including messages they've removed. They can remove a message, and you'll still be able to see what you wrote and ask us to look again. They cannot edit one — nobody can put words in your mouth. That holds for the pool's manager, its co-managers and Sportpoolz staff alike.
I reported someone who runs my pool. Do they find out?
No. Reports go to Sportpoolz, not to your pool's manager, and we don't tell anyone who reported what. If the person you're reporting runs the pool, that report is treated as more urgent, not less. In a pool with only one or two other people we say so up front, because they may be able to work it out themselves.
Why did my pool light up when I've hidden the person who posted?
A pool's unread dot — on its tile in the sidebar, its Chat tab, its row in Messages, and the plain dot on Messages itself — lights for new messages and replies to yours without checking whether you've hidden the person who wrote them, so it can light up for someone you've hidden. Open the chat and their messages still won't be there. It's a known trade — the alternative would make that dot far more expensive to work out on every page you load.
I muted a pool's messages. Why am I getting emails again?
Muting is per pool, and importing a pool into a new season creates a new pool. Your mute doesn't carry over, so you'll need to set it again on the new one. People you've hidden are different — that's account-wide and follows you everywhere, season after season.
Making Picks
When is the deadline for making picks?
Each game closes at its own kickoff. Until then you can pick and re-pick freely; once a game starts, that game's buttons go dead and a padlock appears on the row, while later games in the same week stay open. Kickoff times are shown in your own timezone. In Confidence pools nothing counts until you press Submit Picks, so submit before the first game.
Full steps in the help guide →Can I change my picks after submitting?
Yes, until that game kicks off. Tapping the other team replaces your pick — there is no separate save step outside Confidence pools, and no way to clear a pick once made, only to switch it. After kickoff the row locks and the pick you had stands. In Confidence pools, reordering the ranking panel and pressing Submit Picks again replaces the whole week.
Full steps in the help guide →What happens if I forget to make my picks?
If the pool's manager has turned autopick on, missed picks get filled shortly after each game starts, using the one strategy the manager chose for the whole pool — home teams, away teams, favorites, underdogs, or random. It is not a personal setting and there is no opt-out, so the only way to choose for yourself is to pick before kickoff. Autopicked games carry an AUTO badge. With autopick off, a missed game scores as a loss.
Full steps in the help guide →Can my pool's manager remind me to make picks?
Yes. A pool's manager or co-manager can send a reminder when you still owe picks for the week. It has fixed wording, shows on My Picks and your pool's page, and arrives by email unless your picks are in first. To stop them, turn off Pick reminders from managers under You in this pool on the pool's page, or use the email's link. The managers aren't told.
Full steps in the help guide →What are quick picks?
Quick picks fill the week's open games in one action, using a strategy you choose from the menu: all home teams, all away teams, favored teams, underdog teams, teams with the most wins, teams with the most losses, or random teams. They skip games that have already started, and they are not available in Confidence pools.
Full steps in the help guide →Scoring & Winners
How does automated scoring work?
Nobody enters scores by hand. Sportpoolz polls a commercial sports-data feed through the day, with a slower sweep behind it as a backstop, so live scores and finished results usually land within a few minutes of a game ending rather than instantly. Your picks are then graded by your pool's format, and the leaderboard and weekly standings recalculate from those results.
Full steps in the help guide →How are winners determined?
Winners are determined by pick accuracy and total points under your pool's rules — most correct picks, most confidence points, or best record against the spread, depending on the format. Standings refresh within a few minutes of each game finishing, so everyone can watch the order change as the week plays out, and the manager decides how many players are recognised each week and for the season.
Full steps in the help guide →What happens if there's a tie?
New pools settle ties with a tiebreaker, and the game it turns on is designated for you. A tiebreaker asks members to predict the total points in that game: closest guess wins, then earliest answer, then an answered entry over an unanswered one, and if it is still level the manager's fallback of sharing or no award applies. The manager can change it: a tied week can instead be shared by everyone level, left with no winner, or rolled over to the next week.
Full steps in the help guide →Challenges
What is a pick challenge?
A pick challenge is one claim on one game, or a few: you pick a team, straight up or against the spread, and share a link. Anyone who opens it can back you or take the other team, or you can make it a head-to-head with one friend. When the games finish, Sportpoolz grades it and everyone in it gets the result. It's free, and it's bragging rights only.
Full steps in the help guide →Do my friends need an account to take a challenge?
Not to look. Anyone can open a challenge link and see the game, the line and who picked which team. Picking a team is the step that asks them to sign up, and the free account is created in the same tap. Their pick is saved and waiting when they land back on the challenge, even if they finish signing up on another device.
Full steps in the help guide →What happens if a challenge lands exactly on the spread?
It's a tie, and nobody wins that game, the way a sportsbook grades a push. That's one place challenges differ from Sportpoolz pools, where an exact landing goes to the underdog. The line on a challenge is frozen when it's posted, so everyone is graded against the number they saw. Half-point lines like -2.5 can never tie.
Full steps in the help guide →Should I start a challenge or a pool?
A challenge is for one game, or a few: a few taps to set up, open to anyone with the link, and decided at the final whistle. A pool is for a season: weekly picks, standings, weekly winners and a champion for a group you invite. Many people run both, and every game in a pool has a menu to challenge someone on your pick.
Full steps in the help guide →Your Account
Can I have multiple accounts?
Yes. From the account menu you can add another account, sign into it once, and then switch between accounts from that same menu without re-entering a password — useful for running a family member's entry alongside your own. Each account keeps its own pools, picks, profile, and email preferences. The link lasts for the browser session, so signing out detaches them and you add them again next time.
Full steps in the help guide →How do I reset my password?
Use the password-reset link on the sign-in page, enter your email address, and we will send you a link that lets you choose a new one. For privacy the page says the same thing whether or not the address is registered, so check your inbox and your spam folder. Resetting is the only way to change a password — there is no change-password screen once you are signed in.
Full steps in the help guide →Can I delete my account?
Yes. Your Profile has a Delete Account page: type DELETE to confirm and the account closes for good. Your name and picture come off every pool you played in, while your picks stay so nobody else's standings change. Your email address is freed up, so you can start a fresh account with it later. First delete or hand off any pool you run that other people are playing in.
Full steps in the help guide →Still have questions?
We're happy to help — reach us through the contact form, or jump in and see for yourself.