FAQS

Select a category to filter specific questions or search all frequently asked questions below.

FAQCategory

What types of pools do you offer?

At the moment we offer four types of pools: NFL Pick'em, NFL Survivor, NFL Maxout, and NFL Squares but have plans to offer many more in the future.

General

Does it cost money to sign up and play?

Registering an account is free, and after you've created your account you can play in as many pools as you like. Register now and start playing for free today!

General

Do you have a mobile app I can download to my phone?

We don't have a mobile app available at this time for iPhone or Android users to download to their phone, however our web application is optimized for mobile devices so you can still access your pools and submit picks easily from your phone.

General

What is Gridiron Plus?

Gridiron Plus is a season-long subscription that grants access to premium features and analysis to help you gain an edge over the competition and dominate your pools! Check out the Gridiron Plus page for more information about which benefits are unlocked with your subscription and how you can subscribe today.

General

If I buy Gridiron Plus do the benefits apply to everyone in my pool?

Gridiron Plus is a premium subscription tied to individual player accounts so only you will receive benefits if you subscribe. If other players in your pool would like to access the same benefits they would also need to subscribe to Gridiron Plus.

General

Is there a phone number I can use to contact support?

At the moment we only provide support via email. If you can't find the answer to your question by searching our FAQs, please reach out to support and a member of the team will be happy to help.

General

I can't log into my account or access my pool

Please make sure you're using the correct credentials when trying to log into your account or access your pool. Some players have reported getting this information mixed up when trying to log into their pool. If you do not remember your account password, you can reset your password at any time. If you do not remember your pool password, please reach out to your commissioner and they'll be able to send you the password.

Account

I can't remember my username and password. How can I retrieve them?

Not a problem, don't sweat it. To retrieve your login or password information visit the Password Recovery page.

Account

I haven't received an email to reset my password

If you don't see the password reset email in your inbox please also check your Junk/Spam folder as some users have mentioned this email accidentally being filtered there. If you still don't see the email in your junk/spam folder let us know and we'll be happy to generate a temporary password for you to log in with.

Account

I'm not able to reset my password

In order to help troubleshoot, please let us know exactly what issue you're running into when trying to reset your password. If the issue is related to a specific error message, please include that message in your support request as well as any details or screenshots you can provide.

Account

My member is having trouble logging in, what do I do?

Please make sure they're using the correct login information by verifying their Username and Email on your Members page. In most cases, players with multiple accounts simply are using login information for one account while trying to log into another. If they are still unable to log into their account, please refer them to the Password Recovery page to reset their password.

Account

How do I edit my account information?

You can edit your Name, Email, Password, Display Name and other account information at any time from your Account Settings.

Account

What's the difference between Username and Display Name?

Username is your unique name established when you first create your account, and along with your email can be used to sign into your account. We typically don't allow players to change their Usernames, however if you feel you have a good reason to change it please contact support and a member of the team will be happy to review your case.

Display Name is your public name visible within your pools. You can change your Display Name as much as you like from your Account Settings, so get creative and make it something fun!

Account

Is my profile visible to everyone?

No, only you can view your profile. We take privacy very seriously at Gridiron Games so player profiles are only accessible to the currently logged in user. If you would like to read more on how we handle player account information, please read our Privacy Policy.

Account

I created two accounts by accident, how can I combine/merge them together into one account?

Not a problem, it happens! Please reach out to support and a member of the team can assist with consolidating picks under one account.

Please note: When submitting your request, be sure to include the Username and email associated with the account you'd like to transfer picks from and the Username and email associated with the account you'd like to move picks to.

Account

How do I delete my account?

We'd hate to see you go, but if you want to delete your account you can do so at any time from your Account Settings.

Please note: You cannot delete your account if you are commissioner of a pool that contains other members. You must first make someone else commissioner before deleting your account.

Account

Does it cost money to run my pool?

All of our football pools are offered free of charge! Feel free to create multiple pools and invite as many players as you like.

Pickem,Survivor,Maxout,Squares

I ran a pool with you last season, do I need to start a new pool this season?

No, in fact we strongly recommend you use your existing pool. Re-using your existing pool will maintain pool settings, members, and history from year-to-year and overall just make your life easier as commissioner to manage your pool. Using a previous season's pool also helps prevent confusion amongst pool members about which pool to access, where to submit picks, etc. If you want to change any information about your pool from season-to-season including your pool's name, you can do so at any time from your pool's Settings page.

Pickem,Survivor,Maxout,Squares

I'm reusing my pool from last season, how do I handle new and returning members?

Returning members can simply log in with their existing username and password. If they've forgotten their login information, they can reset their password at any time.

New members can join your pool from a previous year. You can find instructions for how to invite new members to your pool on the Members page of your pool.

Pickem,Survivor,Maxout,Squares

How many players can join my pool?

Feel free to invite as many players to your pool as you like! Whether your pool consists of 2 players or 200 there is absolutely no cost to run your pool on the site.

Pickem,Survivor,Maxout,Squares

How do I invite players to my pool?

Players can join your pool at any time from the Join Existing Pool page. If your pool is Private, you'll need to give them the Pool ID/Name and Pool Password first in order for them to join. Alternatively, if you want to invite players directly, you can send them a link or email from the Members page of your pool.

Pickem,Survivor,Maxout,Squares

Can my pool have multiple commissioners?

While there can only be one commissioner in each pool, the pool commissioner can assign other members as Managers which will give those members additional control over pool functionality. This includes functionality like editing picks, selecting squares, and moderating messages.

Please note: Only pool commissioners can edit settings and assign roles to other members.

Pickem,Survivor,Maxout,Squares

What roles can I assign to pool members?

Everyone who joins your pool is considered a member. Pool members can have one of three roles:

Commissioner: Commissioners have full access to all functionality within a pool. This includes updating settings, adding/removing members, assigning roles, editing picks, etc. There can only be one commissioner per pool.
Manager: Managers can access additional functionality such as editing picks, selecting squares, moderating messages, etc. but cannot update pool settings, add/remove members, or assign roles. A commissioner can assign as many managers as they like.
Player: By default, all members who join a pool are given the Player role. This role provides access to basic functionality to allow the member to participate in the pool.

Pickem,Survivor,Maxout,Squares

How can I tell which Display Name belongs to which person?

As commissioner you can view a list of all pool members from the Members page of your pool. This list will contain everyone's Display Name, Email Address, and potentially First Name, Last Name, and Phone Number if the member has configured those fields from their Account Settings. Using this information you should be able to tell who is who within your pool and manage members accordingly.

Pickem,Survivor,Maxout,Squares

Can I change my pool's settings?

Of course! Once you've created your pool you can change the settings (i.e. format, scoring, tiebreakers, pick deadline, etc.) at any time from the Settings page.

Pickem,Survivor,Maxout,Squares

How do I email players in my pool?

As commissioner you have the ability to email players individually or all at once from the Members page of your pool. To email a player individually simply click the green email icon next to their name. To email everyone, click the white email icon in the header at the top of the table.

Pickem,Survivor,Maxout,Squares

How do I remove players from my pool?

We understand there may be a need to remove players from a pool so you can do so at any time from the Members page of your pool.

Pickem,Survivor,Maxout,Squares

How do I leave a pool I belong to?

If you want to leave a pool you belong to, you can do so from the Pools tab of your profile or the Settings page of your pool.

Please note: You cannot leave a pool if you are currently the commissioner. If you would like to leave, you'll need to make another player commissioner first (via your Members page) and then leave the pool afterwards.

Pickem,Survivor,Maxout,Squares

How do I delete my pool?

Only commissioners can delete a pool. If you are commissioner and want to delete your pool, you can do so from your pool's Settings page. Deleting your pool will permanently remove all information from the system including members, picks, results, messages, and settings. If you plan to run a pool for the upcoming season we recommend reusing your existing pool rather than creating a new one in order to maintain pool history from year-to-year.

Pickem,Survivor,Maxout,Squares

I don't know anyone on the site, can I still join a public pool and play?

We unfortunately no longer offer public pools on the site so there isn't a way to look up pool information and join other people's pools if you don't already know the pool name and password. That said, there may be commissioners running a pool that is open to anyone and you may be able to find these people on social networks like Facebook or Twitter in order to ask for an invite to join.

Pickem,Survivor,Maxout,Squares

What are the prizes for winning these pools?

Unfortunately due to varying state laws and how they treat online gambling at the moment we are unable to facilitate any real-money transactions on the site. If your pool decides to play with dues and prizes you'll need to coordinate payment offline with your commissioner through other services such as Venmo or PayPal.

Pickem,Survivor,Maxout,Squares

How do I pay for my picks/squares?

Unfortunately due to varying state laws and how they treat online gambling at the moment we are unable to facilitate any real-money transactions on the site. If your pool decides to play with dues and prizes you'll need to coordinate payment offline with your commissioner through other services such as Venmo or PayPal.

Pickem,Survivor,Maxout,Squares

Is there a way to configure notifications in my pool?

Unfortunately at the moment there aren't any notifications for pool activity (submitting picks, selecting squares, generating numbers, etc.) but we do have plans to build out a comprehensive notification center for pools in the future so commissioners have more control over these types of notifications.

Pickem,Survivor,Maxout,Squares

Can I manually enter an offline player's picks who doesn't have an account on the site?

At the moment, only our NFL Squares pools support manual entry of players without having an account on the site. Our NFL Pick'em, Survivor, and Maxout pools require players to register an account on the site as all of their pick data and pool history is tied to their specific user account.

Pickem,Survivor,Maxout,Squares

Why don't all of my pool members show up within the Results grid?

If some players are displayed on your Members page but not on your Results page, this likely means those players have joined your pool but not yet submitted picks for the current Year/Week. While your Members page lists all members who have joined your pool, your Results page only shows members who have submitted an entry for the selected Year/Week.

Pickem,Survivor,Maxout

When will everyone's picks be displayed on the Results page?

This depends on your pool's Pick Deadline. Picks will remain hidden on the Results page until your pick deadline has passed, at which point all picks will become locked and visible for everyone to view.

Pickem,Survivor,Maxout

When are picks due each week?

This depends on your pool's settings. For NFL Pick'em pools, we offer the following pick deadlines:
Start of Week: All picks are due before the first game of the week.
Start of Day: Daily picks are due before the first game of the day.
Start of Game: Individual picks are due before the start of each game.
Staggered: Thursday picks are due first, than all other picks before the start of the next game (usually Sunday).

For NFL Survivor and NFL Maxout pools, we offer the following pick deadlines:
First: Picks are due before the first game of the week.
Sunday: Picks are due before the first game on Sunday.

Please note: If using the Sunday deadline players can still pick the Thursday game, however their pick will be due on Thursday and will be locked after the game begins.

Pickem,Survivor,Maxout

What if I forget to submit my picks?

If you forget to submit your picks you'll receive an incorrect pick for that game/week. Pool commissioners do have the ability to submit late picks for any player in the pool however, so if you forget to submit your picks we recommend reaching out to your commissioner and they can get your picks submitted after the deadline has passed.

Pickem,Survivor,Maxout

How do I submit late picks?

As commissioner you can submit late picks for any player in your pool from the Results page. To submit a new entry, click the '+' icon located at the top of the Results table and use the dropdowns to select the desired player and teams. To edit picks for an existing entry or to delete an entry entirely, click the 'pencil' icon next to the player's name and use the dropdowns to edit their picks.

Pickem,Survivor,Maxout

How do players submit multiple entries?

If your NFL Survivor or NFL Maxout pool is configured to allow multiple entries you can submit your entries from the Picks page. After submitting your first entry (by selecting a team from any week), a green button will become available at the top of the page that will allow you to submit a NEW entry if needed. Once you have multiple entries submitted there will be a dropdown on that same page that lets you toggle between entries in order to manage them throughout the season.

Pickem,Survivor,Maxout

Does the system automatically pick favorites if I forget?

Not at the moment, but we do have plans to add this as a premium feature for Gridiron Plus subscribers to access in the future.

Pickem,Survivor,Maxout

Why is my pick showing as incorrect when my team won the game?

Please double check your pool's Format setting to verify whether your pool is playing 'Straight Up' or 'Against the Spread'. If picking against the spread, this is likely the reason you're seeing your pick labeled as incorrect despite your team winning the game. If your team wins by less than the point spread they didn't end up covering the spread and the correct pick was actually the other team in this scenario. If you would like to change your pool so you can play picking straight up with no point spread, we recommend changing the Format setting of your pool from 'Against The Spread' to 'Straight Up'.

Pickem,Survivor,Maxout

What happens when there's a tie?

Games that end in a tie are counted as an incorrect pick for all pool types (NFL Pick'em, Survivor, Maxout). Even though your team technically did not lose, the goal is to pick the winner so these are counted as incorrect for everyone, regardless of which side you were on.

Pickem,Survivor,Maxout

What happens if a game is cancelled / postponed to a future week?

If a game is postponed to a later week, picks for that game will be removed and will not count towards pool results for any player that week.

Pickem,Survivor,Maxout

When are results and standings updated?

Pool results are updated shortly after the end of each game, and winners are posted once the last game of the week has finished. Pool standings are updated at midnight once the last game of the week has finished.

Pickem,Survivor,Maxout

Do point spreads change throughout the week?

Spread data is originally set by oddsmakers prior to the start of the season and is based on pre-season projections. During the season, current week spread data is provided by a white label odds source and is an aggregation of multiple oddsmakers. Current week spread data is updated several times per day and locked once the first game of the week has begun.

Pickem,Survivor,Maxout

How do I add colors to the Results grid when printing or saving to PDF?

Including colors on the print page is usually a setting configured from your browser's print settings. For Chrome you'll want to make sure the Color setting is set to 'Color'. For Firefox and Edge you'll want to make sure the 'Print backgrounds' option is checked.

Pickem,Survivor,Maxout

How do I fit all results on one page when printing?

Sizing your weekly results to fit on one page when printing is usually handled via your browser settings after you click the print button. Below are some guidelines on how to adjust print sizing for each of the major browsers:

Chrome:
- On the print screen expand the option for 'More settings'
- Set the 'Scale' dropdown to Custom
- Adjust the scale to a number that eventually gets the schedule to fit on one page
- Uncheck the option for 'Headers and footers'
- Check the option for 'Background graphics'

Firefox:
- On the print screen expand the option for 'More settings'
- Set the 'Scale' option to Scale
- Adjust the scale to a number that eventually gets the schedule to fit on one page
- Uncheck the option for 'Print headers and footers'
- Check the option for 'Print backgrounds'

Safari:
- Adjust the scale to a number that eventually gets the schedule to fit on one page
- Check the option for 'Print backgrounds'
- Uncheck the option for 'Print headers and footers'

Pickem,Survivor,Maxout

How do I export my results/standings to a CSV/Excel file?

We unfortunately do not have this option available for commissioners at the moment, however if you wish to access this data please reach out and we can pull the information for you manually.

Pickem,Survivor,Maxout

I missed the deadline for submitting picks, can you help put my picks in?

We recommend reaching out to your pool commissioner to submit late picks as they typically prefer to handle these scenarios themselves on a case-by-case basis depending on your pool's individual rules and what's been agreed upon by your pool members.

Your pool commissioner can submit late picks at any point throughout the current week as well as after the week has ended so there's plenty of opportunity to get your picks in and pool Results updated!

Pickem,Survivor,Maxout

Is it possible to only pick specific games in my Pick'em pool?

Unfortunately at the moment there isn't a way to configure your NFL Pick'em pool to exclude certain games of the week. All pools must pick against the full slate of games, however we do have plans to implement more flexibility around which games you can choose in future seasons.

Pickem

How can I add/edit/backfill picks for a previous week?

Pool commissioners have the ability to submit new entries for any player in the pool by using the + icon at the top of the Results table or edit picks for existing entries by using the pencil icon next to the players name within the Results table.

Pickem

Where can I see each player's total points & wins for the season?

In addition to showing weekly winners on the Results page, the Standings page of your pool will continually add up weekly results and display cumulative standings for the entire year. From this table you'll be able to determine the season-long winner based on total points, total weeks won, total correct picks, etc. whichever metric makes the most sense for your pool.

Pickem

How are Pick'em tiebreakers calculated?

In the event multiple players finish the week with the same number of points, the following tiebreakers will be applied in order until a single winner is determined (you can configure your pool to play with none or all of the below):

TB1: Total Combined Score (last game of the week)
The lowest point differential between a player's submitted score and the actual score of the game (whether or not you go over) will determine the winner. As an example, if Player A has a tiebreaker score of 45 and Player B has a tiebreaker score of 52 and the actual score of the game is 50, Player B would win the tiebreaker because their point differential is 2 rather than Player A's differential of 5.

TB2: Total Combined Score (second to last game)
Same calculation as TB1

TB3: Highest Scoring Team of the Week
Out of the selected teams, whichever team scores the most points in their game will determine the winner.

TB4: Lowest Scoring Team of the Week
Out of the selected teams, whichever team scores the least points in their game will determine the winner.

Please note: The tiebreaker score only comes into play when determining the winner of the week. After the winner has been determined for a specific week other players with that same number of correct picks are all marked as 2nd place (regardless of their tiebreaker score). Put differently, tiebreakers scores only come into play when determining the winner but aren't used for 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc.

Pickem

How is the overall season winner determined in Pick'em pools?

At the moment the site does not automatically calculate season-long winners as many pools use varying criteria when determining this. It's entirely up to pools how they determine season-long winners, but in the past we've seen pools use criteria such as total correct picks, total points (if playing with confidence scoring), total weeks won, or highest pick accuracy. There's really no one-size fits all answer, just whatever the pool agrees is most fair!

Pickem

How are tiebreakers administered in Survivor/Maxout pools?

At the moment the site does not have any built-in tiebreakers configured for NFL Survivor or NFL Maxout pools as many pools decide to play with varying rules. In the event multiple people finish the season what we've seen pools do in the past is give the tiebreaker to the team that has the least amount of incorrect picks. And if there is still a tie after that you could introduce other variations such as longest correct streak to end the season, etc. It's really up to you how you want to handle tiebreakers, but whichever method you end up choosing be sure to clearly communicate it with your pool members before the season is over!

Survivor,Maxout

What happens if all remaining players are eliminated in the same week?

In the event all remaining players are eliminated from your NFL Survivor or Maxout pool, the system will prompt the commissioner whether they would like to continue to allow players to play. If the commissioner decides no, pool results will be finalized and multiple winners will be crowned. If the commissioner decides yes, the system will mark the remaining player's picks as a 'Mulligan' and allow them to continue playing subsequent weeks. Multiple Mulligans can be applied in the event all remaining players are eliminated again in future weeks.

Please note: Pool commissioners will need to wait until the following week to make a decision, as pool results are calculated at the end of the week once all games are final.

Survivor,Maxout

Why does it say I'm eliminated when I haven't missed any picks?

Please double check you're logged into the correct account when seeing this message. Most often, players report accidentally being logged into a different account when encountering this confusion.

If you confirmed you're logged into the correct account and are still seeing this message incorrectly, please reach out to support and a member of our team will be happy to help.

Survivor,Maxout

Is it possible to copy my squares grid to another game?

Absolutely! To accomplish this follow the steps below:
- Once your first grid is completely filled out, hit the green '+' button above the grid
- This button is used to create a new grid, and that new grid can be populated with an existing grid's information
- Just make sure you check the 'Populate new grid with current grid info' checkbox prior to creating your new grid
- Doing this will create a new grid and pre-populate it with everyone's names in the same squares
- Numbers won't be carried over to the new grid, so you'll be able to generate new numbers again

Squares

When are numbers assigned to my grid?

NFL Squares commissioners have the ability to manually assign or randomly generate team numbers at any time by clicking the pencil icons at the top of the grid. If numbers have not been assigned by the commissioner, the site will automatically generate them for you 5 minutes prior to kickoff of the game!

Squares

How are winning squares marked? Is that done automatically?

It sure is. Winning squares for each quarter will automatically be marked once the game has finished.

Squares

What happens if all of my squares aren't filled?

If you end up with blank squares your grid will still run as normal, however it's important you come up with a plan and communicate it to pool members in the event a blank square does win. While there are no built-in settings for this on the site a few examples we've seen pools apply are no one wins, first to the right wins, all touching squares win, etc.

Squares

What if the game goes into overtime?

Our NFL Squares pools determine winners based on the score at the end of the 1st quarter (Q1), 2nd quarter (Q2), 3rd quarter (Q3), and final game (F), whether that's the 4th quarter or overtime.

Squares

How do I pay for my squares?

Unfortunately due to varying state laws and how they treat online gambling at the moment we are unable facilitate any real-money transactions on the site. If your pool decides to play with dues and prizes, for charity or any other reason, you'll need to facilitate payment offline through other services such as Venmo or PayPal. That being said, our NFL Squares grids automatically handle the administrative work of tracking dues and crowning quarterly winners so settling up is easy!

Squares

Which scoring setting should I use for my squares grid?

There are three scoring settings you can choose from:
Game (most common): Squares are assigned one set of team numbers for all four quarters of the game. Those same set of numbers will be used to determine winners at the end of each quarter.
Half: Squares are assigned a different set of team numbers for each half of the game. The first set of numbers will be used to determine winners at the end of the 1st and 2nd quarters, and the second set of numbers will be used to determine winners at the end of the 3rd and final quarters (4th or overtime).
Quarter: Squares are assigned a different set of team numbers for each quarter of the game. The first set of numbers will be used to determine the winner at the end of the 1st quarter, the second set of numbers will be used to determine the winner at the end of the 2nd quarter, the third set to determine the winner at the end of the third quarter, and the fourth set to determine the winner at the end of the game (4th quarter or overtime).

Squares