How to Create an NFL Playoff Pool

One way to create a competitive environment in your office, home or local sports bar is to gamble on your favorite NFL teams. In order to get the most out of your NFL playoff wagers, you'll want to create an effective betting pool.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Establish an NFL Playoff Pool for Friends and Colleagues

1. Invite a large group of people to join your NFL playoff pool to drive up the total winnings. Hand out larger prizes at the end of the postseason or after a particular game if you have more participants.
2. Explain the process of distributing money to winners of your NFL playoff pool. Before you create brackets or invite people, determine if your pool will be winner-takes-all or include the top three participants in the reward.
3. Distribute selection sheets to your pool participants the day after the following week's seeds are announced. You should create a miniature version of brackets or a simple list of games that can be selected by participants.
4. Facilitate side pools for friends and colleagues who want to go beyond the bounds of your pool. Create special sheets that allow serious participants to wager on specific statistics or occurrences during the playoffs.
5. Choose a set of odds to use if your pool involves the point spread or the over/under. You can create friendly odds based on your knowledge of the NFL to keep your pool entirely in-house. Consult Las Vegas odds to assuage pool members who are nervous about your odds.
6. Organize your pool on a points-based system that allows participants to prioritize important games. This type of system lets players assign a number to each game based on its importance and then determine the winner. Players receive points for successful guesses that are used to determine the grand champion.
7. Run a pool that focuses entirely on the Super Bowl to simplify the process for participants. Ask each bettor to enter the Super Bowl participants, the winner and the total points scored as a tie-breaker tool.

Tips & Warnings

• Change the type of NFL playoff pool you use annually to keep the competition fierce among your friends.