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How an NFL Playoff Pick'em pool works

NFL Playoff Pick'em covers all thirteen NFL playoff games, round by round: Wild Card, Divisional, Conference and the Super Bowl. Members pick every game in each round, and later rounds score more. Here is one real game from each round of the January 2026 playoffs, with closing lines.

1. The commissioner sets the rules

The games are set for you. The commissioner chooses the rest, and can change it until the playoffs open, the Tuesday after the regular season ends:

• Pick types. The winner, the spread, or both, with the total (over/under) as an extra if you like. Members make every pick type on every game.
• Pushes. With spreads or totals on, a pick that lands exactly on the line can count as nothing (the default), as a win, or as a loss.
• Round points. By default a correct pick scores 1 point in the Wild Card round, 2 in the Divisional round, 3 in the conference championships and 4 in the Super Bowl.
• Locks. Each game at its own kickoff (the default), or each round at its first game.
• Tiebreaker. The Super Bowl's total points (the default), or none.
• Scoring. Standard (the default, as below), or points allocation, explained at the end.

2. You pick each round

A game opens for picks once both teams are set and, if the pool picks spreads or totals, its lines are in. Wild Card games open when the regular season ends, and each later round opens as its matchups are decided; PikSheet reminds you to pick them before they lock. Pick every open game, for every pick type, and save.

PikSheet posts each round's spreads and totals before it opens. Each game's lines are set once and don't move after that, so everyone picks against the same number.

3. Picks lock

By game, each game locks at its own kickoff. By round, every pick in a round locks when that round's first game kicks off. You can change a pick until it locks, and once a game locks, everyone's picks on it show in the Field tab. A game you didn't pick before it locked scores nothing.

4. Games are graded

• Winner: the team that wins the game, overtime included.
• Spread: the team that covers. LAR −10 needs the Rams to win by 11 or more; CAR +10 wins if Carolina wins or loses by 9 or fewer.
• Total: whether both teams' points combined finish over or under the line.

A spread or total that lands exactly on the line is a push, scored the way the commissioner chose. Every correct pick scores its round's points. One entry's picks on a game from each round:

8 of 12 picks correct scores 21 points. The Rams won by 3 in Carolina, so LAR −10 missed; a clean Super Bowl paid 12.

5. Tiebreaker

Entries level on points rank by correct picks, then by pushes. Only the Super Bowl round has a tiebreaker: once its matchup is set, predict the Super Bowl's total points before kickoff. The closest prediction breaks a tie in the Super Bowl round and overall, and an entry without one ranks behind every entry with one. Ties in earlier rounds share places.

6. Standings

Each round has its own standings, and every round's points add up overall. The most points after the Super Bowl wins.

Points allocation

With points allocation, each round you spread a set number of points over its games (25 by default), with at least a minimum on each (2 by default), and a correct pick scores the points on it. The pool uses one pick type, the winner or the spread, and no round points. A round opens once all of its matchups are set (and, with spreads, its lines), so you place all 25 points in one save, for example 10 on your surest pick, 7 on the next and 2 on each of the other four Wild Card games. A game that locks without your pick still uses its minimum and scores nothing, so skipping a game never frees points for another.

Ready to run one? Start a pool and choose NFL Playoff Pick'em.