How to Play
Learn the rules and scoring system for Beating Bookies
Beating Bookies is a fun NFL prediction competition where you compete against friends without using real money. Test your football knowledge by making predictions about games, season outcomes, and postseason results.
Main Activities:
- Predict season-long team performance (Over/Under wins)
- Pick division winners before the season starts
- Make weekly game predictions against the spread
- Challenge other players with side bets
- Make postseason predictions with higher stakes.
Over/Under Wins
Predict whether each NFL team will finish above or below their projected win total.
✓ Correct: +1 point
✗ Incorrect: 0 points
Lock Pick (1 allowed):
Correct: +2 points | Incorrect: -1 point
Division Winners
Select which team will win each of the 8 NFL divisions.
✓ Correct: +1 point
✗ Incorrect: 0 points
Lock Pick (1 allowed):
Correct: +2 points | Incorrect: -1 point
Each week, make 5 predictions on NFL games against the spread.
Locks 1 hour before each slate's first kickoff — Sunday's main slate & Monday lock together; early Sunday games lock separately (ET)
✓ Correct Pick: +1 point
✗ Incorrect Pick: 0 points
⚖ Push (tie on spread): 0.5 points
Weekly Lock (1 of your 5 picks):
Correct: +2 points | Incorrect: -1 point | Push: 0.5 points
Pro Tip: Spreads are sourced from FanDuel, DraftKings, and MyBookie and locked at pick time. Choose your lock pick carefully - high risk, high reward!
Challenge another player by proposing a side bet on any game. You pick one team, they automatically get the other.
How it works:
- Propose a bet by selecting a game and your pick
- Another player accepts, taking the opposite side
- Winner gets +1 point, loser gets -1 point
- Points transfer directly between players
Important:
- Limited by number of games each week
- You can go negative in total points
- Can't cancel once accepted
- If a side bet is a push (lands exactly on the spread), it is cancelled/voided and 0 points are transferred
All postseason picks automatically use elevated scoring (+2/-1). You can designate one super lock per playoff round for even higher stakes (+3/-2).
Pick Limits by Round:
Postseason Scoring (All Playoff Picks):
Correct: +2 points | Incorrect: -1 point | Push: 0.5 points
All playoff picks automatically use elevated scoring – no need to lock them!
Super Lock (1 per playoff round):
Correct: +3 points | Incorrect: -2 points | Push: 0.5 points
Maximum risk, maximum reward!
Pro Tip: Every playoff pick is already high-stakes at +2/-1. Use your one super lock per round on your most confident pick for +3/-2 scoring!
| Pick Type | Correct | Incorrect |
|---|---|---|
| Regular Pick | +1 | 0 |
| Lock Pick | +2 | -1 |
| Side Bet | +1 | -1 |
| Postseason Pick | +2 | -1 |
| Postseason Super Lock | +3 | -2 |
Most total points wins. Players level on points go down this list until one of them is ahead:
- Head-to-head side bets: net side-bet points won off each other
- Weekly head-to-head: who won more of the weeks they both played
- Common games: better record on the games they all picked (at least 4)
- Pick record: better win %, with a push as half a win
- Locks: locks won minus locks lost
Still level?
They share the spot, shown as T-2 – no coin flips. Season-long Over/Under and Division Winner picks are never used to break a tie.
Three-way ties and single-week boards: see How are ties on the leaderboard broken? in the FAQ.
Ready to test your NFL knowledge?