FAQ
Getting Started
Q: What is NFL Big Pick'em?
A pick'em game for you and your friends. Every week, pick a winner for every NFL game — plus stack optional boosters to boost your score. Whoever has the most points at the end of the season wins.
Q: How do I join a room?
Someone (your Commissioner) creates a room and sends you an invite link. Click it, create your own account, and you're in.
Q: Do I need my own account, even if my friend already has one?
Yep — every player needs their own individual account. That's how the app tracks your picks separately from everyone else's.
Q: Can I be in more than one room?
Yes. Your picks and points in one room have nothing to do with any other room you're in.
Gameplay & Rules
Q: How does scoring work?
Pick a winner for every game each week. Correct pick = +1 point. Incorrect pick (or no pick at all before kickoff) = 0 points. That's the plain base score — adding a Booster changes this, see below.
Q: What are Boosters?
Boosters are optional — add one to any pick to raise the stakes. A booster replaces your standard +1: nail it and it’s worth more, miss it and it costs you. New to it? Here’s the rundown.
| Booster | How to use it | Hit | Miss |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lock (X) | Your most confident pick — max 3 per week. | +2 | −2 |
| Battle (O) | Call a close one — your team wins by 7 or less. | +2 | −2 |
| Blowout (Y) | Call a rout — your team wins by 8 or more. | +3 | −3 |
| Thriller (Z) | Call a nail-biter — a win by 3 or less. | +3 | −3 |
| Predict Tie (T) | Feeling gutsy? Call an outright tie for a big swing. | +10 | −10 |
Q: Can I stack multiple Boosters on one pick?
You can combine Lock with ONE margin booster (Battle, Blowout, Thriller) — their points add together (e.g. Lock + Blowout, both hitting, is +2+3 = +5 total), but you still never get the base +1/0 on top. You can't combine two margin boosters on the same pick.
Q: What's the TIE option?
Instead of picking a team, you can predict the game itself ends in a tie. Correct call: +10. Miss: −10. High risk, high reward — no boosters can be added to a TIE pick.
Q: What happens if I miss a game's kickoff?
Each game locks individually at its own kickoff time — not the whole week at once. So if you forget the Thursday night game, you're locked out of that pick only; every other game that week is still open until its own kickoff. Once a game starts, there's no getting back in — even mid-first-quarter, even if you never made a pick at all (an unmade pick counts as a miss: -1).
Q: How are season ties broken?
First by total points, then by total correct picks, then by number of correct Thriller calls. In the rare case a tie survives all three, your Commissioner can set a manual tiebreaker.
Rooms & Commissioners
Q: What's a Commissioner?
Whoever creates the room. Creating is free — they pay their own $5 seat when they first submit picks, same as everyone else.
Q: Can I join a room mid-season?
Yes — rooms are open enrollment all season long. Just know you'll start from whatever week you join, with no scoring head start and no discount on your one-time seat.
Q: Can a Commissioner run more than one room?
As many as they want. Each room is completely independent — its own players, its own fee, its own standings.
Money
Q: How does the money work? Does NFL Big Pick'em handle payouts?
Nope — and that's by design. NFL Big Pick'em is a tool for running your game, not a betting site. As Commissioner, it's up to you and your players to decide what's on the line and how winnings get split. All money — entry fees, payouts, everything — is handled privately between you and your players, off the app. The fee you pay us is just for hosting and running the room itself.
Q: How much does it cost?
$5 per player, one-time, per room — the same price for everyone, the Commissioner included. There's no separate room-creation fee: whoever creates a room pays their own $5 and becomes the Commissioner, and every other player pays their own $5 too. Flat pricing, no room-size tiers — see our Pricing page.
Q: When does each player pay their $5?
Joining a room is free — you can register, land in the room, and browse before paying. Your one-time $5 is collected the first time you submit your picks in that room, and covers you for the whole season. Do it before kickoff, though: picks for games that have already started won't count.
Q: Is there a limit on how many players a room can have?
No — invite as many players as you like. Each pays their own $5 one-time seat.
Q: Does the fee cover future seasons too?
No — it's a per-season fee tied to that specific room. Running it back next year means creating a new room.
Account & Technical
Q: I forgot my password. What do I do?
Click Forgot password? on the login page and enter your email. We'll send you a reset link that's valid for 24 hours.
Q: Does this work on my phone?
Yes — built to work on both desktop and mobile.