In part three of our football betting contest series, I'd like to introduce The Bochner Pool — an NFL-specific pool I've enjoyed participating in for years.
I highly recommend you give it a shot whether you want to try it with two or three friends or a large group of people. It may seem a little complicated at first, but I promise you'll catch right on and really enjoy the variety.
The Objective
Score the most points. Easy enough, right?
The Rules
Pick five sides (must be five different teams) every week. All picks are straight up except for the Monday Night Football required selection.
- One road team (straight up)
- One moneyline upset (+3 or greater )
- User Choice (any team just to win)
- Suicide pick* (outright winners)
- Monday Night Football (against the spread)
*For the suicide pick, you can't use any team more than once throughout the season. Everybody is allowed one loss, but after the second, participants get only four picks each subsequent week.
Points System
You can customize these to your liking, but here is what we have used in the past.
- 2 points: any team favored by more than 3
- 3 points: any team favored by 3 or fewer
- 4 points: any underdog of 3 or fewer
- 5 points: any underdog of more than 3
*2 points are also awarded for every MNF selection.
Playoff Scoring
Once the postseason arrives, the format actually changes. It's up to you whether or not you want to have only certain participants qualify or have everyone still participate through the Super Bowl.
In the playoffs, every eligible participant simply picks the straight-up winner of every postseason NFL game. There are different point scales for each round:
Wild card
- 3 points: any team favored by more than 3
- 4 points: any team favored by 3 or fewer
- 5 points: any underdog of 3 or fewer
- 6 points: any underdog of more than 3
Divisional
- 4 points: any team favored by more than 3
- 5 points: any team favored by 3 or fewer
- 6 points: any underdog of 3 or fewer
- 7 points: any underdog of more than 3
Conference Championship
- 5 points: any team favored by more than 3
- 6 points: any team favored by 3 or fewer
- 7 points: any underdog of 3 or fewer
- 8 points: any underdog of more than 3
Super Bowl
- 12 points : for picking the correct winner
Payouts
Regular-season winner gets 30% of total pot, while full season winner gets 70%. However, you can change the payout structure to whatever you think works best for your group.
Get some Bochner in your life, trust me.
