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How-to guide · Playbook

Run an NFL Power Points pool

Each week, everyone picks one game and one team. Win and you score the margin of victory; lose and you score the negative. No team twice all season — the highest cumulative margin wins, and nobody is ever eliminated.

Get started →About Power Points
Free on every plan · Offices, booster clubs & commissioners · 6 min read

An NFL Power Points pool — sometimes called a margin-of-victory pool or a “pick one team a week” pool — is the season-long format for people who want more thinking than a survivor pool and more staying power than knockout formats. Each week you pick one team and score its margin of victory; lose and you score the negative. Because you can’t reuse a team all season, every big favorite is a resource to spend wisely. Run it for bragging rights, or attach an entry fee and turn the whole NFL season into a fundraiser.

Why it works

The thinking person’s season pool

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A real decision every week

One team, one shot, no repeats all season — burn a big favorite now, or save them for a blowout later? Every pick is strategy, not a coin flip.

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Nobody is ever eliminated

Unlike survivor, a bad week just dents your total instead of ending your season. Everyone stays alive to the final whistle, so the pool keeps everyone engaged.

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Turns into a fundraiser in one tap

Add an entry fee, set your cut, and the pot goes to the winner — or to your program. Always free to run, and you keep 100% of what you collect.

Set it up

Four steps to kickoff

1

Create the pool & load the schedule

Pick the season, choose straight or against-the-spread margins, and set your missed-week rule. Load the NFL schedule with one click and set each week’s lock time.

2

Players pick one team a week

Every week each player picks one game and one team — but no team can be used twice all season, so the best matchups are a resource to spend.

3

Margins score automatically

Win and you score the margin of victory; lose and you score the negative of the margin. Miss a week and take the week’s worst losing margin (or zero) — all scored from live results.

4

Highest cumulative total wins

Margins add up all season on a live leaderboard. When the season ends, the biggest total takes the pot — settled automatically.

FAQ

Power Points, answered

What is an NFL Power Points (margin) pool?
It’s a season-long NFL pool where, each week, every player picks one game and one team. If that team wins, the player scores its margin of victory; if it loses, they score the negative of that margin. Teams can’t be reused across the season, and the highest cumulative margin at the end wins. Unlike a survivor pool, nobody is ever eliminated.
How does scoring work?
Your weekly score is your chosen team’s margin of victory — points scored minus points allowed. A 27–10 win is +17; a 20–24 loss is −4. Those weekly numbers add up all season. You can score straight margins or against-the-spread margins, and ChooseASquare auto-scores every week from live results.
What happens if I forget to pick?
You choose the missed-week rule when you set the pool up: take that week’s worst losing margin among all games, or take zero. Either way a missed week hurts, but it doesn’t knock you out — you can still climb back.
Why can’t I reuse a team?
No team reuse is what makes it strategic. Every favorite is a one-time resource, so you have to decide whether to spend a great matchup early for guaranteed points or hold it for a potential blowout later. It keeps the whole season interesting.
Can I run it as a fundraiser?
Yes — set an entry fee and add the Fundraising module. Players pay by Venmo, PayPal, CashApp, check or cash, you mark them paid, and the pot (less any cut you set) goes to the winner or your cause. You keep 100% of what you collect; players never pay a platform fee.
How much does it cost?
Power Points is free to run on every plan. Custom branding, auto-reconciled payments and other extras come with the paid plans, but you can run a full season-long pool for free with one shareable link.

Comparing pool platforms?

The same account runs your NFL Pick’Em, Confidence and Survivor pools too — with fundraising built in and no real-money betting. See how ChooseASquare stacks up: vs OfficeFootballPool and vs RunYourPool.

Run your Power Points this season

Pick straight or against-the-spread margins, share one link — the leaderboard does the rest.

Get started →