Commissioner setup guide
Blind Draw — Commissioner Setup Guide
Our own postseason game: players pick a numbered box in every round before the bracket exists, and the teams are dealt in at random when each round starts. Unlimited players per box, nobody ever eliminated, deals and scoring automatic.
Blind Draw is our own game, and it is the only postseason pool where nobody picks a team. Every round of the tournament gets one numbered box per team — eight for the wild card round, eight for the division series, four for the championship series, two for the World Series. Your players pick one box in every round before anyone knows who is in the bracket, and the teams are dealt into those boxes at random when each round begins.
That single decision is what makes it work as a fundraiser. Nobody can take the favourite, so a casual fan has the same chance as the person who watches every game; unlimited people can share a box, so the pool never sells out and you can keep selling entries right up to the deadline; and because the teams are re-dealt every round, nobody is ever knocked out — every entry holds a live team through the final.
This guide covers the whole thing: choosing the tournament, setting the scoring, when the boxes lock, how the deals run, and what you can and cannot change once it starts.
Setting it up
Four steps in the wizard, and no schedule to load — the rounds and dates come from the real tournament calendar.
- Tournament
- Pick a shape. The MLB postseason ships first: wild card through the World Series, with the right number of boxes in each round already set.
- Points per run
- What a run is worth in a game your team WINS. Default 1.
- Bonus per win
- A flat bonus on top of the runs, default 5. This is what keeps the team that actually won a series ahead of the one that lost it while scoring more — which happened in the 2025 World Series.
- Round multipliers
- A run counts for more as October goes on: ×1 wild card, ×2 division, ×3 championship, ×4 World Series. Kept gentle deliberately — the last round only tells two boxes apart, so a big multiplier there turns the whole pool into a coin flip.
- Elimination-game bonus
- Optional. Extra points for a win when your team was one loss from going home. Set it to 0 to turn it off.
- Sweep bonus
- Optional. Extra points for winning a series without losing a game. Set it to 0 to turn it off.
- Entry fee
- Any price, or free. Players pay you directly by Venmo, PayPal, check or cash — there is no platform fee, ever.
How your players join
One link, four taps.
- Pick a box in every round
- They see one grid per round and tap a number in each. The head count under each box shows how many people are already on it — which costs nothing, because everyone on a box gets the same team and the pool is still decided by the whole four-box combination.
- As many entries as they like
- Buying more entries buys more combinations and nothing else. Covering all eight wild-card boxes only guarantees one of their entries has the best wild-card team; that entry still needs the other three rounds to cooperate. Covering every possible path would take 512 entries.
- Changing their mind
- They can move their boxes any time until the boxes lock.
The lock and the deals
The one rule the whole format rests on: boxes close BEFORE the teams are dealt.
- Boxes lock
- At the first game of the opening round, taken from the real schedule. Deal before the lock and someone could buy a box already holding the best team in the tournament, so the system refuses to.
- Automatic deals
- On by default. Each round deals itself the moment its first game starts, and everyone gets an email telling them which team they just got. You do not have to be there.
- Deal it now
- On the Overview tab. Use it if you want the moment — pressing it at the team dinner with everyone watching is the best version of this contest. It is not required for the pool to run.
- No re-deals
- Once a round is dealt it is final, and there is deliberately no button to undo it. A re-deal is indistinguishable from rigging it, and the accusation alone would cost you the pool.
- Locked scoring
- Once the boxes close, the scoring numbers go read-only. Changing what a run is worth after people can see their teams is the same as re-dealing.
Scoring and standings
Nothing to enter. Everything grades from the real schedule.
- What scores
- Your team’s runs in every game they win, plus the win bonus, times the round multiplier. Runs in games they lose count for nothing.
- Why only wins
- Every series winner takes exactly the same number of games whether they sweep or go the distance — four in a best-of-seven either way. Counting only wins means a sweep is never punished and a long series is never rewarded just for being long.
- Ties
- Broken on run differential across all four of an entry’s teams, so a team that loses seven close games ranks above one that gets blown out.
- Standings
- Update on their own as each game finals — no spreadsheet, no entering scores.
Paying out
- Payouts
- Set them on the Fundraising tab like any other pool — most groups run 50 / 30 / 20 across the top three. You keep 100% of what you collect.
- Chasing money
- The Payments tab shows who still owes, and payment reminders can chase them on a schedule you set.
FAQ
Can two people end up with the same team?
Yes, and that is by design. Any number of people can share a box, so they get the same team and the same points for that round. The pool is still decided by the whole four-box combination — there are 8 × 8 × 4 × 2 of them — and it means you never have to tell someone the pool is full.
What if someone buys ten entries?
They get ten combinations and no edge. Owning every box in one round only means one of their entries holds the best team in that round; it still needs the other three rounds to cooperate. To guarantee holding the champion’s whole path you would need 512 entries.
What happens when my player’s team is eliminated?
They get a brand new team next round. Nobody is ever out, which is the whole reason this works for a month-long fundraiser — a player knocked out on wild card Tuesday would ignore your emails for three weeks.
Do I have to do anything on deal night?
No. Each round deals itself when its first game starts and everyone is emailed their team. The "Deal it now" button exists only if you want to do it in front of a room.
Can I change the scoring mid-tournament?
No — it locks when the boxes close. Moving the numbers once people can see their teams is the same as re-dealing, so the system refuses it.
What if a series ends in a sweep?
Nothing to handle. Scoring counts only the games your team won, and a series winner takes the same number of games whether they sweep or go seven — so a sweep is never punished.
Set it up in a few minutes — every option here is right there in the wizard.
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