Frequently Asked Questions

You can't change handles! If you joined a pool and want to change your handle, you'll have to rejoin the pool with a different handle and ask your pool admin to remove the original one. If picks are made, your pool admin will have to re-enter your picks under your new handle (at their discretion of course).

You must have a registered OPJ account to create a pool. To create a pool, click the "Start a Pool" button at the top of the My Pools page. You will be taken to our Pool Configuration Wizard, which will step you through the process of creating your pool.

In most cases, yes you can! You can make your picks in advance by using the "Go to Week" drop-down under Page Settings of the Pool Navigation menu.

Note:
For Survivor pools with optional rebuys, there are restrictions however.

Our spreads are updated daily from the average spreads taken from several reputable lines makers, but lock in weekly at 6AM Eastern each Wednesday morning.

Where applicable, spreads are augmented by -0.5 points to avoid pushes. If no spread is available for a given game, the spread will be entered as a "Pick", where participants are expected to predict the winner of the game.

Once spreads lock in, they will not change! While some may complain due to significant line movements, many more would complain if we changed spreads after their picks were made.

In our pools, an overtime/shootout loss is still a loss, so we just put them into the loss number.

Yes, the Pool Admin does have the ability to enter picks on behalf of any pool participant. Click here for instructions on how to do that.

Note:
If the pool's been configured with Unrestricted Admin Privileges, the Pool Admin can even enter picks past pick deadlines.

To ensure that pools run from Office Pool Junkie have 100% credibility, all save attempts are logged and made available to all participants.

Note:
Pool admins can only change picks after deadlines if the pool was configured with Unrestricted Admin Privileges.

If we're declaring the winner, the weekly prize would be divided equally among the winning participants.

If we're declaring the winner, the weekly prize would be divided equally among the winning participants.

The best way to answer this is through an example. Let say a pool has been configured to pay out the 5 final places, and one participant finished alone in 1st, two participants were tied for 2nd, and three participants were tied for 4th.

The payouts would work out as follows:

• 1st place would get the 1st place prize
• The two participants tied for 2nd would each get the 2nd place prize PLUS the 3rd place prize DIVIDED BY 2
• The three participants tied for 4th would each get the 4th place prize PLUS the 5th place prize DIVIDED BY 3

If the spread is not being used, a tie will be treated as an incorrect pick and no points will be awarded.

In order to reduce the number of bounce-backs we get from emails sent from the site, we now require that your email is verified before we send email to it. The only exception is the password reset emails.

For Hotmail or Outlook emails, please add our domain to your safe senders list:

1. Log in to your inbox on Outlook.com
2. Click the settings gear icon at the top right of your inbox.
3. Click View all Outlook settings at the bottom of the pop-out menu.
4. Go to Mail > Junk email.
5. Under "Safe senders and domains", click "+ Add".
6. Type "officepooljunkie.com" in the box that appears and press Enter.
7. Click Save at the bottom of the page.

For Cogeco emails, please add a filter for us:

1. Visit https://support.cogeco.ca/hc/en-ca/articles/9293421149463-How-do-I-allow-certain-senders-
2. Follow Steps 1 to 4.
3. At step 3 type in "officepooljunkie.com" as the name of the sender you wish to allow (not block).

For other email providers (Yahoo, Gmail, etc) please add support@officepooljunkie and [email protected] to your Contacts or Address Book.

If you still have no luck, please contact us. We may be able to help figure out the problem.

If we receive a bounce-back from your email for any reason, we will mark your email as unverified. Please check that your email is current, your mailbox is not full, officepooljunkie.com is on your whitelist (see here), etc. After that, you can try to verify it again.

If you would like to know the details of the bounce, contact us for details.

Please use our Forgotten Password form to reset your password.

There are two ways you can join a pool:

1. Using a Join Link: a link shared by the pool admin inviting people to join their pool (recommended way seeing it's simplest for users)
2. Using the Pool ID and Pool Password: the unique Pool ID and pool admin defined password

Using either method, you will need an Office Pool Junkie account to join a pool. If you don't have an account, you must register to get one.

Yes, you can! Feel free to browse the list of active public pools from our Join Pool page.

No, you only need to register one email address. Pool handles are then created for entries into pools, which is also how multiple entries can be joined to a given pool.

While you can play in multiple pools with the same handle, you must join different Pool Handles for each entry you want to enter in the same pool. You can create new Pool Handles from the My Handles page, or when joining a pool.

To join another handle to a pool:

From the My Pools page, click the "Join Another Handle" () in the Pool Card's Footer

OR

From any pool page, click "Join 2nd Handle" under the "Pool Functions" section of the Pool Menu.

OR

Click the Join Link, click Yes when prompted to join an additional entry, and repeat the process you did when joining your first entry.

To disable any automated emails, uncheck the appropriate checkbox on the My Account page.

Yes, simply update your email address on the My Account page. Next time you login, use the updated email address.

Use the My Password page to update your password.

To contact your Pool Administrator:

From the My Pools page, click the Contact Pool Administrator icon () in the Pool Card's Footer

OR

From any pool page, click "Contact Admin" under the "Pool Functions" section of the Pool Menu.

Yes, click the "Archived Pools" tab on the My Pools page.

The Paid status on the My Pools page is controlled by the Pool Administrator. Once they record a paid entry fee, the status will update accordingly.

The Pool Message Board is a configurable option for the pool. If your Pool Administrator hasn't enabled it, you will not be able to post to it.

Only Pool Administrators can moderate Pool Message Boards, who can delete individual posts or entire topics.

How Admins choose to moderate their Pool Message Board is completely up to them.

No. We used to allow HTML tags to be used, but due to security and usability issues, that functionality has been removed.

Yes, you can! When creating your pool (except for Squares pools), you have the ability to define a deadline for all picks to be made. Once that deadline has passed, changes to picks will be prohibited.

Note that if a game is being played before a defined weekly deadline (e.g. a Thursday night NFL game), the pick for THAT game must be made before the game time listed on the pick sheet.

Yes, you can do this from the Manage Participants page.

Yes, you can change all options if no picks have been made. However, once picks have been made, you will not be able to change some options. Consequently, we strongly recommend you settle on your options before inviting participants to join your pool.

The best way to invite people is to send them the Join Link via email or social media. Detailed instructions can be found on the Invite participants page.

The Join Link is included in the auto-generated email you should receive after creating a pool.

If you've misplaced the email, it can be obtained from the Pool Summary page:
From the My Pools page, click the View Pool Summary icon () in the Pool Card's Footer or by clicking Pool Summary from the Pool Menu. You can also obtain the Join Link from the Invite Participants page.

Yes, you can post a Pool Notice which will appear at the top of all pool pages.

No. We used to allow HTML tags to be used, but due to security and usability issues, that functionality has been removed.

Click here for our tutorial on how to navigate the My Pools page.

The picks for the entire bracket must be in by the pick deadline, which is typically the start time of the first game. Note that Pool Administrators do have the option to set a custom deadline.

No, picks for the entire bracket are made up front and are "locked in" after the pick deadline.

Yes, participants picks are available on the All Picks page (or Standings page for Survivor pools).

Note that picks will only be displayed once the passed any pick deadlines.

You must assign a weight to a pick for it to be saved.

• NFL: Super Bowl
• CFL: Grey Cup
• NCAA: NCAA National Championship

Yes! You can set a choose to configure a custom game where you set the visiting team, the home team, and the game time (pick deadline). As the quarters are completed, you will enter the scores to highlight the winning squares.

You can check your Pool Summary, but depending on the how the pool admin configured the pool, numbers will be revealed:

• Once all squares are picked
• Once all squares are picked and marked as paid
• At game time

The cut off is generally the start time of the game the pool is playing.

The randomly generated numbers will be displayed at game time. How the prizes get divvied up is at the discretion of the pool administrator.

Click/tap a taken square to see the details.

Contact your pool admin, as they are the only one able to release (or unpick) a square.

Admins, click here for instructions.

You can't delete a handle that is joined in a pools (active or archived), but you can hide handles that are not participating in active pools. You do that from the My Handles page.

Click here for instructions on how to make picks for a participant.

From any pool page, click "Pay What You Want" under the Pool Admin section of the Pool Menu and follow the instructions provided.

We thank you in advance for your support!

Note:
This is in reference to pool admins making payments for running their pools on this site, not to pool entry fees.

Click here to review our procedures for handling games that are cancelled, postponed or rescheduled.

OPJ is not involved in the process of collecting pool entry fees or paying out any pool prizes.

Please contact your pool admin for all entry fee and pool payout details.

OPJ is not involved in the process of collecting entry fees or paying out any pool prizes.

Please contact your pool admin for all entry fee and pool payout details.

From the My Pools page, check your Pick Status in the Pool Card's Body. This will tell you whether your picks are completed or not.

Yes, you can transfer handles to another registered OPJ user from the My Handles page.

Note:
You can only transfer handles that are joined to a pool and are not pool administrators.

You remove participants from the Manage Participants page.

Yes, click the open lock icon () in the Pool Card's Footer and confirm your action when prompted.

No! While you can start a new pool by cloning a previous one, the participants will not come with it.

This is by design, as participants need to acknowledge their entry in any pool created on our site so you'll have to invite them to join your new pool.

Yes, but only if the pool's been configured with "Allow Continuation" option enabled. Otherwise, everyone will be eliminated and the pool will be over.

A spread dictates how much your pick needs to win or lose by.

Example:
If Pittsburgh is favored by a spread of 7.5 (i.e. PIT -7.5) over Cleveland (i.e. CLE +7.5)

Your pick is correct if:

• You pick PIT -7.5, and PIT wins by more than 7.5 points
• You pick CLE +7.5, and CLE either wins, or loses by less than 7.5 points

Tip:
A handy way to tell if your pick is correct is to add the spread of the team you picked to their final score. If that total is greater than the other team's final score, your pick is correct. If that total is less than the other team's final score, your pick is incorrect.

Using the same example above, say the final score was PIT 26 CLE 20.
If you picked PIT, 26 + (-7.5) = 18.5, which is less than CLE's score of 20, so your pick would be incorrect.
If you picked CLE, 20 + (+7.5) = 27.5, which is greater than PIT's score of 26, so your pick would be correct.

We don't support playing against the spread for NBA pools, simply because the lines often come out too late for participants to make their picks in time.

No, we currently do not support this functionality.

In the end, it doesn't matter which team your pick plays. As long as the team you picked wins in a given round, it will be considered a correct pick.

No, bonus points for series length are only awarded if you picked the series winner correctly .

By design, only pool admins have the ability to release (or unpick) squares.

From the pick sheet:

1. Click the square you want to release
2. The Square Details window will show up
3. Click the "Release Square" button and confirm your action

Personalize your OPJ experience by uploading a picture under the My Account page.

Yes, click the clone pool icon () in the Pool Card's Footer.

This will start the Pool Wizard with most of the options copied from that pool. You will only need to step through Pool Wizard, confirm the settings are correct, and Save.

Note:
This is will only create a new pool based on the configuration of the pool being cloned. It will not copy the participants over too!
By design, participants will need to be re-invited to join your new pool.

Our spreads are updated daily from the average spreads taken from several reputable lines makers, but lock in weekly at 6AM Eastern each Wednesday morning.

For NCAAF bowl games, spreads for all games lock in prior to the first game. This allows pools with collapsed weeks to have every spread available at one time.

Due to the advantage it can yield, when a pool is configured with optional strikes (i.e. rebuys), the ability to make picks for future weeks is prohibited for the duration of the rebuy period.

Only once the week rolls over will surviving participants be able to make their picks for the current week.
Once the rebuy period is over, this restriction is eliminated and participants can then make picks for future weeks.

If a game is decided by a shootout, we will use the goals scored in the game plus one as the total for goals scored.

This is illustrated in this example:
Team A and Team B tie in the game, 3-3 and then Team A wins the shootout 3-0.
The score the pools will be 4-3 with a tiebreaker value (total goals scored) of 7.

Because of this, predicting a tie in a Pick 'Em pool (FIFA/UEFA) during a knockout round is a bad idea as it will not happen.

You can enable / disable message board email notifications from the My Account page.

Note that this is a global setting that will apply to all pools you're joined to.

All picks must be in by the pick deadline, which is typically the start time of the first game. Note that Pool Administrators do have the option to set a custom deadline.

Only pool admins with Unrestricted Admin Privileges are able to make/change picks past any pool picks deadlines. Everyone else can not!

If you do not want unrestricted admin privilege, edit your pool config and enable the Restrict Admin Privileges box under Step 2 of the Wizard.

You can not do this yourself! You need to contact the Pool Admin and ask them to remove the entry for you.

Picks can be random or assigned by the Pool Administrator. For Pool Administrator assigned picks, we assume there would be some way of fairly picking the teams, like an offline draft.