Pickology

Dominating Office Pools

Ultimate Loser Pool Fundraiser

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Over the last couple seasons we’ve been hosting a number of pools set up by people that have used the now defunct Ultimate Loser Pool (or Ultimate Sports Fundraiser) website, so we wanted to highlight some differences to hopefully make things a little clearer and/or easier for people that want to set up Loser Pool fundraisers with us.  Our site wasn’t set up specifically for fundraisers, but we’ve made some changes the past couple seasons in order to accommodate those looking for a new home. Here are a few similarities and differences we’ve noticed when talking to past ULP users:

Similarities

  • Same Saturday Loser Hockey Pool format
  • Entrants make their selections online
  • Entrants can choose whether or not to receive pick reminders (we also have SMS/Text reminders!)
  • Selections can be made weeks in advance
  • We do have rules sheets and sellers sheets available on a Google Drive that you can copy and update with your own pool information
  • We don’t handle entry fee payments or paying out winners

Differences

  • Entrants create their own accounts on the website – instead of the pool manager entering everything initially themselves
  • Entrants make their week own 1st week selections online
  • Sellers can be tracked on the website – so seller sheets aren’t required
  • Deadlines – picks can be made up until 7pm Eastern on Saturday instead of Friday at midnight
  • Managers can choose not to count a shootout loss as an elimination
  • Managers can choose to allow more than 1 incorrect pick before elimination
  • Managers can choose to allow you to select a team more than one time
  • When all remaining entrants are eliminated in a week – the pool will continue – you won’t have to track on your own
  • On top of the Loser Pool, we have a number of other pool formats in Hockey and Football
  • Our fee is on a per entry basis, so there’s less risk in not having as large a pool as expected  (Minimum is $25 vs. $199)
  • If you run multiple pools in a season – we offer discounts for any pools after the first (message us for details)

If you’re coming to us from the Ultimate Loser Pool website, use the ULP10 coupon code for a 10 percent discount on your first pool with us!

10 Steps for Setting up Your Fundraiser Pool

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We have been getting lots of messages this season regarding running Hockey Pool Fundraisers on HostedPools.  A  number of these people coming to us from a site that does things quite differently.  HostedPools wasn’t initially set up as a fundraiser option and only a small percentage of the pools managed on our site fit into that category.  That said, we’re working to help those teams and organizations that want to use our service for their fundraising needs.  Here’s how you would set up and manage your pool on HostedPools:

Steps to Managing Your Fundraiser Office Pool

  1. Register or Sign In to your own personal HostedPools account.
  2. Create your pool with an easy to remember pool Id and password which people can use to find your pool on the site.
  3. Set up your list of players (or teams) with the ‘Import Fundraisers’ option in Manager tools if you want to track entrants by player/team.
  4. Send out the Join Link from the Rules/Settings page in the pool menu.  Alternatively, you can send out invites from the site, but they will sometimes get blocked by spam filters, so initially you’re better off contacting people directly with the information you’ve set up.  You can send yourself an invite to see what would be included in the message.
  5. Your entrants use the join link to access your pool.  It will prompt them to register or login to their own account in order to do so.
  6. Your entrants set up their entries, choosing the player/team they are supporting.
  7. Your fundraisers/players collect for the entries they’ve brought in.  You can track payments via the Entries page.
  8. Close the pool to new entrants once the deadline has passed and no new teams will be entered.  This will calculate the fee for your pool according to the type and size of the pool.  Payments are due 10 days after the pool has started.
  9. Entrants log in to their own account to make their selections each week prior to the deadline (7 pm Eastern for Hockey Pools).  We handle updating all results/standings.
  10. Once the pool is complete, you handle the payout based upon your pre-determined rules.

If you want to run multiple pools in the same season, let us know, and we can automate the setup, as well as offer a discount, on the 2nd pool.

We have been asked a number of times about seller sheets as well, so we have set some of those up to assist you.

 

 

Playoff Football Pools – New for 2016!

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Due to a number of requests, HostedPools has added a pair of popular playoff football pool options for the 2016 NFL playoffs.  We have been running pools of these types off-site for a number of years, and finally were able to add them to the site, thanks to some of the background changes made last off-season.  Both formats will be available 2 weeks prior to the NFL playoffs each season, although picks won’t be available until all 12 playoff teams have been seeded.

Survivor Playoff Football Pool

Each week of the NFL playoff schedule, you pick a team to win their game.  You may only pick a team one time for the duration of the playoff tournament.  If they win their game, you move on.  If they lose, or you run out of teams available to select, you’re eliminated.  The last entry remaining is the winner.  If multiple teams survive through the final, split the prize pool between them.

Bracket/Pick’Em Playoff Football Pool

Pick the entire playoff tournament bracket (remembering to reseed the teams for the Divisional round) prior to the first game.  For each correct pick, you earn points, with correct picks in later rounds being more valuable.  The entry with the most points at the end of the playoffs is the winner.  If multiple teams are tied, you may split the pot.  You may also use a tiebreaker to determine the ultimate winner.

More Information/Create Pool

Pricing

Playoff football pools will start at the same base price as regular season pools, but you’ll be able to have twice as many entries included, with the first tier being up to 50 entries.  If you managed a regular season football pool in the same season, you may be eligible for further discounts on your playoff pool.  Contact us for details.

Note: We’re also planning on adding similar playoff hockey options for the 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs.

2016 NFL Survivor Pool Picks

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NFL training camps kick off this week, so it’s a good time to start looking at the regular season schedule and planning out your picks to win your Survivor Pool in 2016.  Doing so will give you a leg up on many of your competitors, many of whom don’t think beyond the next week, often leaving themselves in tough situations with limited options, as a result. I’ve used this exercise to help me win multiple Survivor Pools over the past 5 seasons.  I don’t always stick with my original picks, but it’s good to have a plan, not just to survive the first few weeks, but to at least get to a point where you can cash in via a split or by taking the whole pot.

We have managed to find a solid line up of picks for the entire season, without a single road game or an opposing team coming off a bye, and with the closest spread being 5 points.  Weeks 8 and 12 appear to be the toughest at first glance, so we are picking those, then working outwards from there.  We are purposely leaving out Seattle and Green Bay, so you can use them as a replacement team in any of a number of weeks.  Both teams have 5 weeks as favourites of 7 or more points, with another 2 or 3 where they are by at least 5.

Note: All spreads are the initial offerings from sports books, and are subject to change. 

The Survivor Pool Picks

Week 1 – Philadelphia (-7.5) vs Cleveland – While we generally avoid new coaching staffs, it’s tough not to pick against Cleveland early on as well.  It’s the only game all season Philly is a heavy favourite.  If you don’t use them here, you likely won’t use them.

Week 2 – Arizona (-9) vs Tampa Bay – Arizona has several pickable games on the schedule, but we like them in this Week 2 match up with Tampa heading West for their 2nd straight road game to start the season.

Week 3 – Indianapolis (-5.5) vs San Diego – Week 3 is probably the best week on the schedule for large spreads.  Four teams are favoured by at least a touchdown, and another 3 are at least 5 points.  I went down the board a bit for this one, in hopes that a large portion of teams get knocked out following a huge favourite.

Week 4 – Washington (-7.5) vs Cleveland – Another NFC East team with Cleveland at home being their only game worth picking.

Week 5 – Carolina (-10) vs Tampa Bay – After Week 1, Carolina is going to be a popular team in the early going.  I wouldn’t be surprised if close to 75% of entries have used them by this game.

Week 6 – Buffalo (-7) vs San Francisco – This may be a good week to drop Seattle in as well, to save Buffalo for late season home games against the Browns and Fins.

Week 7 – Cincinnati (-11.5) vs Cleveland – Another division game, and Hue knows the Bengals, but there is too much talent in Cinci.

Week 8 – Denver (-7) vs San Diego – The only other decent options in Week 8 are road games.  Denver is as close to a must start as there is at this point.

Week 9 – Minnesota (-6.5) vs Detroit – Detroit outdoors is generally not a good thing.   Throw in some potentially poor November weather and it gets worse.

Week 10 – Baltimore (-8.5) vs Cleveland – The Browns may be playing for the #1 pick by this point.

Week 11 – Kansas City (-7) vs Tampa Bay – I am surprised how many times odds makers list KC as 7+ point favourites.  Alex Smith as your QB isn’t usually conducive to a number of big wins.

Week 12 – Miami (-5) vs San Francisco – This is going to be the toughest week to pick of the season (if you had to pick now).  Five points is the largest spread, and looking long term, this is probably the game I have the most confidence in right now.  San Fran heading east after 5 straight weeks where they only go as far as Arizona.

Week 13 – Pittsburgh (-7.5) vs NY Giants – This could be where you use Green Bay (home to Houston) as well.  Will greatly depend on how the 4 teams involved are playing at the time.

Week 14 – New England (-9) vs Baltimore – Some of the early season New England spreads will obviously change with Jimmy Garappollo under center, so you are better of to leave them for one of their later match ups.

Week 15 – Atlanta (-5) vs San Francisco or Dallas (-6) vs Tampa Bay – Late in the year, it’s good to have options.  Obviously, things can and will change throughout the season, so there may be other games worth picking.

Week 16 – Dallas (-5) vs Detroit or Los Angeles (-5.5) vs San Francisco – It could be a real dog-fight between Cleveland and San Fran for the most picks against this season.

Week 17 – TBD – Most survivor pools will be long over by Week 17, but if yours gets to that point, you’ll have to take a look at what you have available as well as who still has something to play for and pick accordingly.

One thing I still want to do before the season, is to look at the full impact that Thursday games have on teams on and after the short weeks, and incorporate that into my own selections.

There you have it.  Hopefully this helps some of you in planning your 2016 Survivor Pool picks.

Hockey Pool Fundraiser

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Operating a minor hockey team or organization is becoming increasingly expensive at all levels, and companies aren’t throwing around sponsorship dollars as readily as they have in the past, so teams have to come up with other ways to help ease the financial burden on the players families.  There are a whole host of different fundraising opportunities available out there, and we offer one that is both fun for all involved, and ties in nicely, since you’re already dealing with a group of people that are into hockey.

Why Run a Hockey Pool Fundraiser?

Hockey Pools are both easy to manage, and fun for everyone involved.  You’re a hockey team or organization, and your fundraiser is centered around hockey, so it’s a natural fit.  Our Loser Hockey Pool is the most popular, but we do have other options.  Almost all of the legwork is prior to the pool starting, sending out invites and collecting entry fees (which you can track on the site).  Once the pool has started, there really isn’t much to do until the pool is over and you have to make the payout.

It can increase interest in the on ice performance of the team/organization, which can also help at the gate, for those that charge admission.  Post a link to the pool and sign up information on your team website, and a link to your team website on your pool home page.

Things to Consider

What type of prize structure will you use?  A fixed pot or a split pot?  A fixed pot is a set amount that isn’t dependent on the number of entries.  For example, you set your prize at $1000, and it doesn’t matter how many entries you have, the winner earns $1000.  The funds raised will be anything above that $1000.  A split pot (usually set at 50/50) is a little different as the prize is set based on the number of entries, with half going to the team or organization and half going to the winner of the pool.

Some teams will set minimum entry numbers for each player to ensure a minimum number of entries, so you can advertise a minimum prize, if you’re using the split pot structure.

Is it legal in your area?  Will you need a gaming licence to run your pool?  If you’re running a large hockey pool for an entire organization, we suggest you explore the options to find out the details of what is and isn’t allowed.  There can be very specific rules about prize structure involved.  I know some areas specify you must have a fixed prize pool, so your prize is a set amount, and is not dependent on the number of entries.

Ideas for Success

Offer some sort incentive to team/player that ‘sells’ the most entries.  You’re dealing with competitive people, and an incentive can really drive up numbers.  If there’s a major junior hockey team in your area, tickets to a game can be a great options.

Set your pool to allow for multiple incorrect selections before elimination to keep people in and engaged for a longer period of time.  Hockey is much more ‘random’ game to game than football, so Survivor/Eliminator style hockey pools tend to be shorter than football ones.

An alternative to multiple lives/strikes is to run multiple pools per season – one beginning in October, and another beginning in January.  If you advertise this when setting up the 1st pool, you’ll already have people expecting it.  You can even set up both at the same time, and collect for both at the same time if you wish.  We offer a discount on your 2nd pool in a season, which is more money for your team or organization.

While this isn’t really anything you can do or encourage, occasionally people that win will donate a portion of winnings back to the organization.  If it ever does happen, be sure to publicly thank the person that did so.

 

Send us a message if you’d like to know more about setting up a hockey pool fundraiser on HostedPools.com!  Ask us about a discount on multiple pools in the same season.

About Pickology

Pickology is the official blog of HostedPools.
Our mission is to make your office pool the best it can be. We provide the management tools and information for organizing office football and hockey pools. Our goal is to be the ultimate one stop destination for anyone with an interest in or questions about office pools.
We also aim to share strategies and analysis to help you win your office pool.

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