Join with no money
One public board. Everyone ranked. Badges stack through the season. Credits only. This is what Join the pool does.
How it works
Bet your friends. Stop feeding the house.
A sportsbook takes a cut of every bet. Last year U.S. books kept about $17 billion of $166 billion wagered. This is a private NFL league with sportsbook rules and no house: credits, an open book, a season board.
Free first
The app never holds cash.
Optional, like fantasy
A separate group if you want skin. Pick a treasurer, agree a buy-in, settle in Venmo. The app is the scoreboard. Nobody takes a cut.
Free to play. If a friend group wants money on it, they run it like fantasy football — outside the app. House rules stay in the chat.
The week
This is the product. If this is boring, nothing else matters.
1
Tuesday — credits drop
Everyone in the pool gets the same stack. Default is 1,000. Last week is over.
↓
2
Tuesday to Monday — bet this week’s games
Moneylines, spreads, totals. Singles and parlays. You cannot park a bet on next week.
↓
3
Kickoff locks it
That game is done taking bets. A parlay locks when its earliest game kicks.
↓
4
When the game ends — the ticket settles
Not a Monday batch. Kickoff locks it; the result posts when that game is final. Unused credits mostly expire when the week rolls Tuesday. Fresh stack then.
OverviewGamesMy betsStandings
How the group competes
Two ways to keep score. Same tickets.
You always bet the week’s slate. What changes is the season race.
Win–loss, then a playoff
One matchup a week. Wins and losses stack. After the season, the top 3 by record make the playoffs. If the highest profit isn’t already in that group, they take the last spot. Four-team bracket. One winner, one 2nd-place consolation.
One board, badges, 1st and 2nd
Everyone on the same leaderboard. Each week people move up and down, and badges stack (week 1st / 2nd / 3rd). At the end of the season, 1st and 2nd take the titles — and the pot, if the group put one up.
Rules that change how you play
A short cheat sheet
| Rule | What it does |
|---|---|
| Fresh credits every week | A bad Sunday does not knock you out of the season. |
| This week’s games only | The ritual stays about the slate in front of you. |
| You own the number you clicked | Odds lock when you place. Sportsbook feel, without the house. |
| Cancel costs 10% | 90% back. Stops fake leans yanked when a friend fades you. |
| Open book | Pending and settled tickets are visible in the pool. That’s the product. |
Sitting on the stack is a bad week. Going broke on one parlay can lose a skins matchup to someone who barely played — you have to cash something.
Getting in
Email login. Two minutes.
1
Hit Join the pool
That puts you on the open board. No buy-in.
↓
2
Your email, your name
Magic-link login. Check spam once. No new password.
↓
3
Bet this week’s slate
Phone browser. Add it to the home screen if you want it to feel like an app.
Late join: you get this week’s credits only. Profit from join forward. A friends-pool buy-in is a separate yes — joining the app does not enroll you in Venmo.
Join the open pool
Credits, badges, one board. No money.
Join the poolQuestions? FAQ. Friend groups who want a side pot do that like fantasy — treasurer, Venmo, outside the app.