FANTASY GAMBLING Join the pool

The leak

Ten friends. $1,000 each. They bet at a sportsbook.

Each week they put $400 on a coin flip at standard −110 — or whatever they have left. Win, you profit $364. Lose, the $400 is gone. Either way, the pile is going through the house.

NFL week 0
Still in their pockets $10,000
House has taken $0
Total wagered $0
The house
$0
−110
−110. Hit Run the sim. It runs until they’re bust.

−110 is the usual sportsbook price: bet $110 to win $100. That’s the leak. It does not stop at the end of the season.

The scale

That was $10,000. The country did $166 billion.

That was −110 on ten friends. Last year the country put about $166 billion through the same leak. Books kept about $17 billion.

Ten friends
On the table$10,000
Paid back to winners Kept by books
$17B kept

That’s the tax on watching football.

Same leak. Just more dollars.

Source: American Gaming Association / RG.org, 2025. About ten cents of every dollar bet never comes back.

The loop

Unplug the house. Money stays in the group.

Same tickets. Same Sunday. Nobody takes a cut. Keep score as weekly skins or one season board — the house stays at $0.

Group net $0
House $0
Week Rewiring
House · idle
$0
Pot
$0
Closing the loop…

Same tickets either way. Skins: weekly matchups, then a short playoff. Season board: one leaderboard, badges, 1st and 2nd. The dollars keep cycling. The house stays at $0.

A friend offers you a coin flip.

You risk a dollar. Heads, they pay 91 cents profit. Tails, they keep the dollar. Would you take that from a friend? A sportsbook charges the same price on a coin-flip NFL game.

Heads × +0.91 0
Tails × −1.00 0

You — win pays +91¢ $0 Fair coin — win pays +$1 $0 This price, over time $0

Same flips. A win here pays 91¢ profit. A fair coin would pay a dollar.

Profit
$0 Flips

The issue

What if there was no house?

Keep the game. Drop the book. The dollars have nowhere to leak.

Exclude the books. Close the loop.

The loop

The group keeps the hundred.

Leave the sportsbook out. Same games. Same Sunday. Money cycles among friends — it does not leave.

$100 through a book

$90 back to players $10 to the house

$100 in a friends pot

$100 still in the group Monday $0 to a book

You can still lose to a friend. The leak is gone. Same kind of numbers — not better odds.

Money is optional. Credits and a board are enough.

The scoreboard

The app never holds cash. The loop stays among friends.

Credits on real games. An open book. A season board. Join is the open board — free.

Open board

This is what Join does

Everyone ranked. Credits only. No money. Badges stack. The house is not invited.

Friends pot

Optional, like fantasy

Treasurer, buy-in, Venmo — only if the group wants it. The app is the scoreboard. Cash stays in the chat.

  1. Tue Credits drop
  2. Tue–Mon Bet this week’s games
  3. Kickoff That game locks
  4. Final Ticket settles

The ritual

Same Sunday. Here’s locking a ticket.

Phone and desktop, one parlay. Credits, not cash. This is the ritual. The house still gets nothing.

The ask

Join the open board. Free. No house.

Credits on real games. An open book. A season board. The app never takes a deposit and never holds cash. Money, if any, keeps cycling among friends.

Open board

Join first

Everyone ranked. Badges stack. No money. This is the default — what Join the pool does.

Friends pot

Optional, like fantasy

A separate yes, if you want one. Treasurer, buy-in, Venmo. The app is the scoreboard. The loop stays in the chat.

  1. Tue Credits drop
  2. Tue–Mon Bet this week’s games
  3. Kickoff That game locks
  4. Final Ticket settles

Unused credits mostly expire, so sitting out is a bad week — not a dead season. Fresh stack next Tuesday.

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