Pool Tips | Office Pool Guy

Office Pool Season Starts Up – 5 things to think about

July 23, 2011 By Office Pool Guy

The best office pools begin in August as the NFL and College football crank up and continues through the fall with the NHL, NBA (maybe) and the ultimate office pool – March Madness. This is what I call the “Official Office Pool Season”. If you have thought about putting together an office pool or have interest in joining an office pool you will want to start to think about it right now.

Here are a few things to think about:

1. “Do I want to run my own pool?”

If you plan on running your own pool then you will want to look through the articles and post on this site to help you manage your pool. You will be spending a lot of time communicating and setting things up so clear some space in your schedule.

2. “Do I want to have a hosting service?”

There are many services out there that can track your pool for you and help you manage it. I try to include many of those pools in my link section. CBS sports and ESPN have free sites that are very easy to use but limited in flexibility.

3. “How much do I want the entry fee to be?”

I always try to set a side my office pool and fantasy league funds. I like to do a few different pools for a variety of fees but I think $20-50 a person is a good starting point for any office pool entry. Also get the entry fee up front to avoid those that skip out on paying.

4. “What format do I want to implement?”

There are so many format that you will want to spend some time looking through them on this site. For football, I think Survivor, Pick em or Confidence pools work best. If you do an NFL office pool I suggest you DO NOT use the spread. I feel that using a spread in an NFL pool takes away the skill of picking underdogs.

5. “Who do I want to invite to play?”

This is the easy part. Stick with people that are not going to lose interest and quit.

Check back in August for the OFFICE POOL GUY’S NFL PICK EM CONTEST

If you have any questions about creating or managing your office pool please feel free to contact me at Dean@officepoolguy.com

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NFL Office Pools – Tips For Getting Ready

August 4, 2010 By Office Pool Guy

So you have decided you want to play in a football office pool and try to better than the guy that picked all the home teams. Well if you are serious about doing better and trying to win this year, you had better start by getting prepared EARLY.

Here is how I would go about preparing for your NFL office pool:

One Month Before Season

1) Buy a football magazine

There are many good NFL magazines out there, just be careful you don’t pick up a fantasy football magazine as it will give you a different focus.

Here a couple of ones that I would recommend:

2) Go online

Find sites that can help you find the sleepers and prepare you for the season. You can find many great resources right here on the officepoolguy.com but there are many others out there. Here are a few of my favorites:

3) Mark out some time

You are going to need some time to research the games each so I set aside some time in the mornings before work. Cup of coffee and football is not a bad way to spend a day.

4) Find the sleeper

Start thinking about the teams that are going to make a move in 2010. Read, read and read some more.

One Week Before Season

5) Order the NFL Red Zone

This is a must for any football fan or office pool player. It will show you every team that has the ball inside the 20. You will not miss any action and it will help you make decisions on which teams are good and which are bad.

6) Look over the schedule

Especially if you are in a Survivor Pool, you should take a look at the NFL schedule and pencil in your potential picks. Focus on the mismatches and make sure to only pick a team twice. You can always change them but it will help you get in the right mindset.

7) Create your power rankings

I would create your own power rankings if you have time, otherwise you can find many sites that provide good power rankings. Download my NFL Office Pool Strategy Guide for many of the best power ranking sites.

Sign up for my NFL Newsletter

This will give you tips and picks to help you win your office pool. I give you the best Survivor pick for the week and by signing up you also can download my Free NFL Office Pool Strategy Guide. Sign up for it here: NFL Newsletter.

9) Download my FREE E-book

This book gives you many resources, tips and strategies that are proven to win. Historical trends, stats and psychology will give you the edge you need to win your pool

10) Get into the right mindset

Be confident and go with your gut instinct. Be ready to put in some time researching and most of all watch a lot of football.

Weekly Before the Game

Check the injury report
Read my NFL Newsletter
Adjust your power rankings
Look at next weeks games
Predict the point spread for each game without looking
Find games that don’t match up to your predictions
Pick your games

Have fun with your office pool and if you put in the time you will be at the top of the standings in no time.

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World Cup Quarterfinals Newsletter Gives Tips And Picks

June 29, 2010 By Office Pool Guy

Just sent out the World Cup Quarterfinals newsletter. The newsletter has picks, tips and power rankings to help you win your World Cup office pool. By signing up you will also receive my July edition that will help you win your NFL office pool.

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Filed Under: Pool Tips Tagged With: World Cup quarterfinal picks, World Cup quarterfinal preview, World Cup quarterfinals

5 Ways Relieve Your Stress After A Bad Office Pool

June 20, 2010 By Office Pool Guy

Are you stressed out when your office pool picks falter or when your brackets are busted? This year’s World Cup can be really frustrating with all the draws and upsets. Some give up, others take it out on the wall or water cooler. Don’t let Spain losing get you down, just follow one of these 5 tips to relieve your stress after a bad office pool”.

1) Trash talk

Nothing makes me feel better than to make fun of others. Find someone who has done worse than you or just as bad and make fun of them. Point out where they went wrong with their picks, what they should have done instead. Best if done in the presence of others. Stress Relief Ranking: 8

2) Donate your winning to an honorable cause

Most likely there will be no winnings to donate so it becomes the thought that counts. Go to the winner and say, “well if I had of won, I was going to donate to __________________ (insert charity here). This should make you feel instantly better about yourself and make the winner feel like crap. Stress Relief Ranking: 7

3) Join another office pool

Get right back on that horse by joining the next available pool (I lost the Kentucky Derby but came back with big wins in the Preakness and Belmont). Here are a few you could join:

Sportsco.com has contests starting every week. Check out my review of their site.
Covers Contest has different contests and office pool going everyday. Try their Streak Survivor and a chance at $100,000.

Also sign up for my Newsletter “How to win your office pool”. This will give you the edge you need to get back to the top of the pool.

If none are going, then start one yourself. It’s important to not dwell on the past and winning cures all. Stress Relief Ranking: 9

4) Root against a hated team.

Find a game on t.v. involving the Yankees, Lakers, Cowboys, or Brazil and boo them every chance you get. If you can’t be a winner at least you can hate those that are. You could also choose an individual like Tiger Woods, Diego Maradona or Brett Farve. Stress Relief Ranking: 5

5) Go to Bodog Sportsbook and make a $1 bet on sure thing

If you can’t beat them then you might as well join them and win back some of your hard earned office pool losses. I know there are no sure things in sports but I would have to say Brazil beating North Korea could be as close as you get. I am sure you look closely you can find others. Stress Relief Ranking: 5

I am sure one of these great strategies will help you feel better about your troubles in your office pool.

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Filed Under: Pool Tips Tagged With: donate, office pool tips, stress, trash talk

World Cup Office Pool Tips – Make The Proper Adjustments

June 9, 2010 By Office Pool Guy

The World Cup office pool brackets provide poolies with a much different experience then most office pool brackets. Because of the nature of how the brackets are set up, office pool participants have to change the way they go about making their predictions. The World Cup poses an interesting problem by breaking up the tournament into two stages.

The Problem: You don’t know the match-ups for Stage 2 until the day you have to make your picks. This means that we have to make the following adjustments depending on the actual pool format:

Be ready with our picks
Do our research ahead of time
Figure out who you think will be the winners and runner ups of each group
Figure out who you think will win it all and who will finish 2nd
Work backwards filling out your brackets

Here is how I would go about preparing for the World Cup Stage 2:

1) I would do my research well ahead of time. There are many World Cup preview websites and World Cup books out there that can help you figure out which teams are going to win their group. If in doubt you could always sign up for my FREE Win Your Office Pool Newsletter for my picks.

2) Next, I would download some brackets

3) Then, I would plug in my winner and work backwards noticing which teams my winner is going to have to beat to get to the final. For example, I like Argentina to win it all so by looking at the brackets I notice that they can not play Spain in the finals (if Spain won its group).

4) I would then do the same with my finals runner up.

5)I would continue to work backwards until I have the brackets complete.

6) Be sure to note the scenario if your finals winner actually finishes 2nd in their group. This could change things radically.

If the top teams win their group here are the possible scenarios for the finals:

France, England, Brazil or Netherlands

Argentina, Spain, Germany or Italy

Remember: If one of the top teams does not win their group then they switch to the other side of the bracket

Hope this helps. If you have any questions feel free to ask me.

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Filed Under: Pool Tips, World Cup Pools Tagged With: adjustments, World cup brackets, World cup office pool problems

Beware Of World Cup Pick’em Office Pool

June 8, 2010 By Office Pool Guy

I had mentioned this World Cup office pool issue in a previous post called “Group Winners” and just wanted to remind everyone before you get decide on a World Cup office pool format. If you choose to create a World Cup pick’em pool (like ESPN’s) and plan to pick all the games as you go, you need to be aware of the set up of the World Cup. The format allows only one day between the end of the Group Round and the Stage 2 brackets. If you look closely, the Group Round ends on June 25th with game 48 being played between Switzerland and Hondurus and then the next day (June 26th) games 49 and 50 of Stage 2 are played.

This leaves only ONE day to get every participant to get their picks in for games 49 and 50. This can be very difficult as people sometimes forget and get busy. So here are some helpful hints if you do decide to do a World Cup pick’em pool:

Make sure everyone has a schedule of the games
Notify everyone of this issue BEFORE the games begin
Notify each participant by email to remind them as June 25th approaches.
Have a build in auto pick (they get the higher seed) if they forget.

You can get a printable schedule here

Don’t miss out on my FREE “How To Win Your Office Pool Newsletter” with helpful tips, picks and analysis for the World Cup.

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Filed Under: Pool Tips, World Cup Pools Tagged With: World Cup pick'em pool, World Cup Pickem issue

Win Your World Cup Office Pool By Using A Simulator

May 26, 2010 By Office Pool Guy

Winning a World Cup pool is always challenging and very difficult to master. Should I take a a long shot or should I stick with the favorite? What about those games that are too close to call, who should I pick? These decisions are not only important but can make or break our pool. That is why if we truly want to be successful in our office pool we need to do some research and try out some World Cup simulators.

After inputting some data, one can get the probabilities of advancing to the next round or even winning it all. Simulators can help us make that tough choice or help us avoid a undeserving favorite. Combine this with your own predictions, throw in The Office Pool Guy’s picks and you have yourself a winning office pool.

Here are a few simulators that I found that might help you get over the hump and win your office pool. Use them at your own risk.

Tournament Simulator

World Cup Simulator 2010

Probability Simulator

World Cup Ratings Simulator

World Cup Advancement Probabilities

Goldman Sachs World Cup Probabilities

World Cup Simulator .50

Let me know which ones you like and dislike by adding a comment below. If you have created a World Cup simulator, let me know and I will add to The OfficePoolGuy.com.

Also Check out Sportsco.com for some FREE office pools

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Filed Under: Pool Tips, World Cup Pools Tagged With: World cup predictions, World Cup probabilities, world cup simulators

World Cup Office Pool Spreadsheet – A Way To Score Your Pool

May 22, 2010 By Office Pool Guy

Weekend Office Pool Review

Every weekend I would like to review an office pool, website or tool from around the web. I will be giving an in-depth review of the quality, simplicity and creativity of the pool, tool or website so that we make informed decisions when starting out.

This week I began searching for World Cup office pools when I came across an EXCELLENT office pool tool. It is an office pool spreadsheet for the 2010 World Cup. The excel spreadsheet will score your office pool with ease and is a must if you are not using a website to track your scores. The creator continues to work hard on improving it and has made it so this tool can be downloaded for FREE:

World Cup Scoring Spreadsheet

Features:

Every World Cup team already programed in.
Adjustable scoring system
Easy input, just type in the participants names and set the scoring
Automatically enters the teams for Stage 2
Will show a leader board

PROs:

Very easy to use
Free
Adjustable scoring
Video How To Tutorial
Leader board capabilities

CONs:

Takes a lot of manual input
Only comes in excel

If you are putting together a World Cup office pool for 2010 then this tool will make your life much easier.

Another great office pool tool is League Safe which is a FREE automated entry fee and payout site.

For FREE World Cup office pools with prizes check out Sportsco.com

Also check out my “OFFICE POOLS FOR CHARITY” contest featuring the 2010 World Cup. Its FREE to play and $25 goes to the winner’s charity.

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Filed Under: Office Pool Reviews, Pool Tips Tagged With: office pool spreadsheet, office pool tracker, World cup office pool spreadsheet, world cup spreadsheet

7 Keys To A Quality Office Pool

May 18, 2010 By Office Pool Guy

Creating a quality office pool does not just happen over night. It takes effort and know how. An office pool thrown together will surely crumble causing heart ache and bad feelings for everyone involved. So if you run an office pool, make sure to keep in mind the following keys:

1) Event

A quality office pool starts with the event. Pick an event that people like to watch such as football, NASCAR or college basketball. Also think about events that happen only a few times a year (Masters or Kentucky Derby) or that happen only once every couple years (World Cup or Olympics). The more people interested in the event the more fun you can have.

2) Participants

Getting quality participants is important to keeping interest up. The more trash talkin’ and the more discussions the better. Find ACTIVE participants, ones that want to trash talk or make trades in a fantasy pool or ones that don’t forget to make their picks. The more sports oriented the better. Also make sure to have a place for participants to communicate such as a forum or message board.

3) Scoring System and Rules

Be creative with your scoring system and rules. Make them simple enough to understand but challenging enough to keep people interested. Incorporate some strategy into the scoring system to really make people excited about the pool. Give bonus points or points for unusual things such as finishing last or getting a red card (See Tips for scoring your office pool).

4) Keeping Interest

Make sure that you people feel like they have a chance to win or get back into it if they are not doing well. Keep their interest by redrafting halfway through or giving bonus points or adding more payouts. This year’s NCAA tournament pool made many people (including myself) lose interest after our brackets were messed up by all the upsets. I got frustrated and stopped following the pool. Avoid this by finding ways to keep people interested.

5) Entry Fee/Payout

Make your entry fee reasonable but not too cheap that you get too many participants that don’t really care. My rule is to reward 1st place heavily and then payout to no more than 3rd or 4th (remember to never take a cut). The last place you payout should just get their entry fee back. $20 has always been a good entry and I usually pay out 60% for 1st, 20% for 2nd and 10% for 3rd.

6) Time Commitment

My rule is “EASY TO DO BUT DIFFICULT TO MASTER”. Making picks should be easy so that participants can fit it into their busy schedule but make it difficult to master and win the pool. If you don’t do your research you my struggle in my pools. Having some knowledge should be rewarded. Make them at least have to check out “My Pool Picks“.

7) Website and Communication

Use a website or spreadsheet that automatically tracks the points for people (see my office pool links). Provide an updated leader board so that everyone knows where they stand. Live scoring is also a plus. Their are many websites that will do this for free. Also communicate with people regularly. I use to print a newsletter out for my pools in which I rated everyone and gave some analysis on their picks and standing. This was fun and entertaining for my participants.

Check some of my other tips.

If you have any other tips that can help make our office pool experience better feel free to post a comment or idea.

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Filed Under: Pool Tips Tagged With: creating office pools, office pool rules, office pool scoring system, quality office pools