How it works
Pick against the spread every week of the regular season. Most points at the end of week 18 wins; the top three get the glory.
Each week
- Lines are set Wednesday morning from the DraftKings spread, and they stay put for the week no matter what the apps show later. Saarth can adjust a line by hand before picks open.
- No pushes. A line on a whole number becomes a half-point in the home team's favour (BUF -3 is BUF -2.5; a pick'em is the home side +0.5), so every pick is a win or a loss.
- Pick 5 games against those lines and star one as your best bet.
- Each pick locks at its game's kickoff, and only that one. Pick the Thursday game by Thursday night, change your Sunday picks until 1pm ET, and swap the Sunday night or Monday game right up to its kickoff.
- A correct pick is worth 1 point, the best bet 2. That is 6 a week at most.
- Miss a week and you score zero for it. Late joiners start from zero; the leaderboard shows weeks played.
Save it as an app
Spreads works as a home-screen app called "Spreads", with the football as its icon. Once it is there, you stay signed in.
- iPhone: open this site in Safari, tap the Share button (the square with the arrow), then Add to Home Screen, then Add.
- Android: open it in Chrome, tap the three dots, then Add to Home screen (or Install app).
- Computer: in Chrome or Edge, click the install icon at the right end of the address bar, or the three dots and then Install Spreads.
Warm-up
A week marked warm-up plays exactly like the rest, Discord messages included, but stays out of the leaderboard and the stats. It is for signing up and trying it before the pool counts.
Specials
Thanksgiving and Christmas weeks usually change the rules: more picks, or every game worth double. The week page says so when it does.
Discord
- When lines are set, the channel gets the slate.
- An hour before picks lock, anyone who has not filled in every pick gets a mention. Add your Discord user ID on your profile so it can find you.
- When the last game goes final, the week's results and the season standings go out.
Ties
There are none. People level on points share the rank, and they split whatever that rank wins.