# NBA Pick'em Pool — Rules, Scoring & Hosting > How NBA pick'em pools work: the commissioner sets each week's slate, and members pick N games straight up, ranked 1–N for points or one point per win. Source: https://piksheet.com/pools/nba_slate_pickem Last updated: 2026-10-06 **NBA Slate Pick'em:** Pick your games from the week's NBA slate. NBA pick'em on a slate the commissioner chooses. Pick N games straight up each week — ranked for confidence points, or one point a pick. Sport: [NBA](https://piksheet.com/nba) ## How it works 1. The commissioner chooses which NBA games make each week's slate, and can add, swap, or remove games until that week opens at 3:00 AM ET Monday. 2. Each week you pick N of those games straight up — no point spread. N is the pool's picks-per-week setting, from 1 to 20. 3. Ranked pools: give your picks the values 1 through N, each used once; a correct pick scores its value. Flat pools: one point per correct pick. 4. A week with fewer than N slate games picks every one of them, and in a ranked pool they take the top values — with N = 5, a 3-game week is ranked 5, 4, and 3. 5. Picks lock at the week's first slate game, each day's first slate game, or each game's tip-off, per the pool's lock setting. Regular-season games only; most points across the season wins. ## Week 6 example (ranked, 5 picks) 1. Rank 5: correct → 5 points 2. Rank 4: correct → 4 points 3. Rank 3: wrong → 0 points 4. Ranks 2 and 1: correct → 3 points 5. Week total: 12 points. In a flat pool the same card scores 4. ## How to win - In a ranked pool, put your top value on the game you are surest about, not the earliest one. - One star sitting out can flip an NBA game. If your pool locks by day or by game, wait for the injury report before you pick the late games; if it locks by week, everything is set at the first tip. - Check for back-to-backs. Teams often rest regulars on the second night, so think twice before putting a top value on a favorite playing its second game in two nights. - You only pick N games, so when the slate has more than N, skip the coin flips and use that choice. ## What the commissioner controls Picks per week, scoring, the tiebreaker, and lock mode are editable until the pool opens, and the week range is set at creation. Each week's slate stays editable until that week opens at 3:00 AM ET Monday. - Picks per week (N, 1–20, default 5) - Ranked (1–N) or flat scoring - The slate: which games count each week — add, swap, or remove games until the week opens (Monday 3:00 AM ET) - Start / end week, lock mode (week, day, or individual game) - Weekly tiebreaker: total points in the week's last slate game (optional) - Entry fee (optional — you collect, we don't touch it) ## Frequently asked questions ### What is an NBA pick'em pool? A pool where members pick NBA game winners each week and the highest season total wins. On PikSheet it runs as NBA Slate Pick'em: the commissioner chooses which games count each week, and each member picks N of them straight up — ranked 1 to N for confidence points, or one point per correct pick. ### How does an NBA pick'em pool work each week? Weeks run Monday through Sunday. The commissioner can change the week's slate until it opens at 3:00 AM ET Monday; members make their N picks before they lock (at the week's first game, each day's first game, or each game's tip-off, per the pool's setting). Each pick is graded straight up when its game goes final, and weekly points add to the season standings. ### What if a week has fewer games than the picks-per-week setting? Members pick every slate game that week. In a ranked pool those picks take the top values, so with N = 5 a 3-game week is ranked 5, 4, and 3 — a short week never shrinks the points on your best pick. ### How are weekly ties broken? If the commissioner turns on the weekly tiebreaker, each entry also predicts the total points scored by both teams in the week's latest-starting slate game; when entries tie on both points and record, the closest prediction wins. Without it, those ties stand. ## Related - [Compare every pool format](https://piksheet.com/pools/compare) - [Pricing](https://piksheet.com/pricing) --- Most pages on https://piksheet.com have a markdown version: add .md to the URL (the home page is https://piksheet.com/index.md) or request the page with `Accept: text/markdown`. https://piksheet.com/llms.txt lists every page and links each markdown version.