How do I play em-Bowl?

Every week during the regular season you get to pick the spread winners of NFL football games. One point will be awarded for each correct pick. Whoever finishes the REGULAR season with the most points is the em-Bowl winner.

Picks are due by noon the day of the first game of the week, which will usually be a Sunday, but some weeks will be Thursday, Friday or Saturday. If you miss an early game you can still submit your picks for the Sunday, provided you do so by noon. You will not, however, be awarded any points for early games you missed.

Please note: only your first pick submission will be considered. If you enter more than once (except to make a quick correction in the event you missed a pick), all subsequent entries will not be registered.

Why should I play em-Bowl?

Because you enjoy suffering and and worrying about whether the Buccanneers can get a late field goal to cover the 21.5 point spread deficit against the Pats.

Duh, what's a spread?

Spreads are set by Vegas bookies to reflect the relative strengths of each team. For the purposes of EM-Bow, I usually go with the spreads posted on FanDuel. Spreads will usually be posted Tuesday or Wednesday evenings.

Please note that spreads will be INCREASED to the nearest 1/2 point - there can be no ties in em-Bowl (eg. a 7 point spread will be increased to 7-1/2).

The team with the negative number is the favored team. This point spread is what the team that is favored must win by. For example, if the line was -3 for Chicago then Chicago would have to win by more than 3 points to cover the spread. Otherwise, if Chicago won by 3 or less points or lost, then the underdog would have covered the spread.

How much to get in?

The entry fee is $25. $20 will go to the pot. The remaining five bucks will go to the charity noted in the Week 1 message.

What can I win?

The pot will be split 50% to the winner, 20% to second place, 15% to third place, 10% to 4th place, and 5% to 5th place.   

Like you, Commish, I'm a very lazy person. I just can't be bothered making my picks every single week.

Then take half an hour & do your picks for the whole season all at once. You will not, however, be allowed to change your picks. Again, only your first pick submission will be considered. If you enter more than once, all subsequent entries will not be registered.

What is the Pick of the Week?

This is a "bonus" pick. If you are correct, you score an additional point. Spreads apply to the Pick of the Week.

Note, you can use your Pick of the Week to hedge your bet if you can't make up your mind on a particular game. For example, if Buffalo is playing Dallas and you can't decide who to pick, you can take Dallas as the game winner and Buffalo as your Pick of the Week - you'll be assured of one point. Of course, if you pick Dallas as both the game winner and the Pick of the Week, and Dallas wins, you score two points.

What's a Standing Order?

It's basically a "Get Out of Jail Free card". Select your Standing Order when you first register, and if you happen to forget to make your regular picks one given week, your Standing Order comes into play (e.g. "all home teams)", so you won't end up with a big zero. Note that you can only rely on your Standing Order for one missed week. If you forget to make your picks a second time, then a zero ye shall receive.

Please note a new Covid rule

In the event the NFL season is cancelled mid-stream (for covid, or boycott, or whatever else 2020 dares though at us), the pool standings will be considered final if 50%of the season is complete. This means 128 games of the 256 game season need to be played. If not, I'll give refunds or push the entry fees towards EM-Bowl 2021.

I'm in. How do I join?

Complete the registration form in the Week 1 picks page or click here.