Not all NFL pick'em pools are created equal. The format you choose determines who wins, how much strategy is involved, and how much time everyone has to spend each week. Pick the wrong format and your league feels like luck. Pick the right one and it becomes an 18-week competition that actually rewards football knowledge.
thepickempool.com supports six distinct formats. Here's a complete breakdown of each one, who it's best for, and what makes it different.
1. ATS + Confidence — The Full Skill Game
Best for: Serious football fans who want the most skill-based format available.
This is the flagship format and the most popular pick'em pool structure for a reason. Every week, you pick the winner of every NFL game against the spread (ATS) — meaning you're not just picking winners, you're picking who covers the point spread. The Bears might be +10.5 underdogs against the Chiefs. If you take Chicago and they lose by 9, you win that pick.
But here's where it gets interesting: you also assign a unique confidence number from 1 to the number of games that week (typically 14-16) to each pick. Your most confident pick gets your highest number. Your least confident gets 1. If you're right, you earn those points. If you're wrong, you earn zero.
Over a 16-game week, there are 136 total points on the board (1+2+3...+16). The player who best allocates their conviction to the right games wins the week.
Why it works: The confidence layer separates players who genuinely studied the lines from players who got lucky on a random pick. Someone who puts 16 on the right game and 1 on the wrong game beats someone who put 1 on the right game and 16 on the wrong game — even if they both went 8-8.
What you need to know:
- Picks and spreads lock individually at each game's kickoff time
- A Monday Night Football game doesn't lock until Monday night
- Spreads on thepickempool come from live market data (DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM) and update throughout the week
- MNF tiebreaker: predict the total combined score, used only to break ties
2. Straight Up + Confidence — All the Strategy, No Spread Knowledge Required
Best for: Mixed groups where some people follow betting lines and some don't.
This format keeps the confidence scoring system intact — you still assign 1–16 to each pick — but instead of picking against the spread, you're just picking the outright winner. Who wins the game, period.
The skill ceiling is surprisingly high because the confidence distribution still matters enormously. Picking correctly is only half the battle. Stacking your highest confidence on games where you're actually right separates the sharp players from the lucky ones over time.
Why it works: A lot of office pools and friend groups have some people who obsessively check lines and some who barely watch football. Straight Up + Confidence lets everyone play meaningfully without requiring spread knowledge. The confident football fan still has an edge without the casual player feeling lost.
3. ATS Only — Fast and Simple
Best for: Leagues that want the ATS pick'em experience without the added complexity of confidence scoring.
You still pick every game against the spread, but every correct pick is worth exactly 1 point. No confidence numbers, no allocation decisions — just pick your sides and submit.
This is a faster format (a typical week takes about 5 minutes), and because every game is worth the same, there's more weekly variance. Any single game can swing the week, which creates more dramatic late-Sunday comebacks and Thursday night swings.
Why it works: It's a cleaner, simpler version of ATS that still requires you to beat the spread. You don't need to think about confidence allocation — just whether you like the number.
4. Straight Up Winners — Pick the Winner, That's It
Best for: Casual groups, family pools, or as a secondary game within a larger league.
The simplest format available. Pick who wins each game outright, 1 point per correct pick. No spreads, no confidence. The casual fan who watches games but doesn't follow betting markets has the same shot as anyone else.
This format has the lowest skill ceiling of the six — over a full season, the standings will be tighter and there's more luck involved. But that's sometimes exactly what you want. A family pool where Grandma and the 12-year-old can compete seriously alongside the sports bettor works best with Straight Up.
Why it works: Accessibility. Anyone can do it. The games are more interesting to watch because you have a rooting interest in every matchup regardless of the score margin.
5. Pick 5 — ATS — Strategic Conviction Plays
Best for: Sharp bettors, people who follow the lines closely, and leagues that want a quicker weekly commitment with a high skill ceiling.
Pick 5 is fundamentally different from the other formats. Instead of picking every game on the slate, you choose any 5 games you want and pick those against the spread. The game selection is itself a skill — you're deciding which 5 matchups you actually have conviction on, and ignoring the other 11.
Scoring:
- Win: 1 point
- Push (spread lands exactly on the number): ½ point
- Loss: 0 points
Lock time: All picks lock Friday night before the Thursday night game kicks off. Everyone's working from the same information window.
Why it works: This format forces you to put your money where your mouth is. Instead of padding your slate with "safe" ATS favorites that you're not really sure about, you have to commit to 5 actual conviction plays. Players who try to pick 5 random games get exposed fast. Players who identify true edges in the market — where the line is mispriced, where a key injury hasn't been fully factored in — win consistently.
The push scoring also adds a layer that's missing from other formats. ATS pools typically treat pushes as a loss or refund picks. Pick 5 rewards you with half a point, which over a season can meaningfully separate players.
Max points per week: 5.0 (5 picks × 1 pt)
6. Pick 5 — Straight Up — Low Commitment, Still Fun
Best for: Groups that want a quick, casual format — but with the game-selection strategy layer.
Same as Pick 5 ATS but without the spread. Pick any 5 games, pick the outright winner of each. All picks lock Friday. Same push scoring (½ pt for a tie game).
The game selection still matters — picking which 5 games you want to engage with is its own decision. Do you take the obvious heavy favorites and compete for safe points? Or do you target games where you think the underdog has a shot?
Why it works: Accessible (no spread knowledge needed), fast (2–3 minutes per week), and still produces a real weekly leaderboard because not everyone picks the same 5 games. It's the lowest-friction format on the platform while still having genuine strategy.
How to Choose the Right Format for Your Group
The two biggest factors are how much time players want to spend each week and how much of your group follows the betting market.
| If your group... | Try this format | |---|---| | Follows lines, wants the deepest format | ATS + Confidence | | Mixed levels, wants skill but no spreads | Straight Up + Confidence | | Wants ATS but simpler | ATS Only | | Mostly casual fans | Straight Up Winners | | Wants quick conviction-play pools | Pick 5 — ATS | | Wants the fastest possible format | Pick 5 — Straight Up |
A few practical notes:
You can start with one format and see how it feels. The commissioner can change the format in league settings before the season starts. Once the season kicks off, changing formats mid-season will affect how picks are graded, so pick your format before Week 1.
Confidence formats have the steepest learning curve but the most sustained engagement. Players get invested in their confidence allocation over time. When you put 15 on a game and it loses, you feel it. When you put 14 on a Monday night game that covers on the last play, the entire group is in the chat.
Pick 5 is the easiest format to get casual players to commit to weekly. Five picks is a lower barrier than 16. If you have players who drop off mid-season because they forget to submit or feel overwhelmed, Pick 5 formats dramatically improve completion rates.
Ready to Start?
Every format runs on the same platform — same commissioner tools, same The Grid, same live standings. You pick your format when you create your league and can adjust it any time before the season.
Questions? Hit us at admin@thepickempool.com or DM @thepickempool on X.