Fair play

Picks lock when the game starts

Each game locks at its kickoff. That rule lives in the database, not just on the screen, so a late pick is refused however it is sent. It applies to every player, including the person who runs the pool.

If a kickoff moves later after a game has locked, the game stays locked. Nobody gets a second look.

Nobody in your pool sees your picks first

Your pick on a game stays hidden from the other players until that game locks. That includes the pool’s owner, and it includes the percentages showing how the pool picked.

The one exception is The Slate’s site administrator, who can read the data in order to run the site.

The rules stop changing once a pool starts

The owner chooses the games, the scoring and the tiebreaker before the pool begins. When the pool’s first game starts, those choices are frozen for everyone, the owner included.

A pick’em pool closes to new players at that same moment. A survivor pool stays open until the last game of its first week starts, because anyone joining before then can still play that week in full.

How picks are scored

• Each pool’s owner sets what a right, a wrong and a missed pick are worth. Unless they change it, a right pick is one point and anything else is none.
• An owner can have the pool graded against the spread. The line used is the one fixed when the game locks, so it cannot move afterwards. If the result lands exactly on the line, that pick scores nothing.
• A game that ends in a tie counts as wrong for a straight-up pick, because neither team won.
• A cancelled game is worth no points to anyone.
• Players level on points share a place, unless the owner turned on the tiebreaker before the pool started.
• In a survivor pool, a wrong pick or a missed week costs a life, and a tied game counts as wrong.

When a result is wrong

Schedules and scores come from ESPN’s public data, which can be late or wrong. A wrong result can be corrected, and when one is, the standings can move.

A correction changes the result, never your pick. Picks can only be made by the player, and no screen on The Slate lets anyone else change one.

It is a game, not a sportsbook

Joining a pool is free. There are no entry fees, no prizes and no betting, and The Slate is not a sportsbook.

One person, one account. The Terms of Use cover the rest, including what can get an account closed.