Frequently Asked Questions

What is OFP? - Office Football Pool.com is the leader in office pool hosting. We do football, basketball, golf and baseball.

When was OFP launched? - OFP started in July 1999. 2007 will be our 9th season hosting football pools.

What can I do on OFP? - You can run or participate in private or public sports pools and fantasy leagues (no, it doesn't have to be for an office), or do all of the above. We have Pickem Pools, Survivor Pools (aka Survival, Eliminator, Suicide), Fantasy Golf, Fantasy Football and 13 Run Baseball and other fun formats.

I forgot my password. What should I do? - To retrieve your password, go to the HELP>Retrieve Password screen and we'll send you an email for changing your password.

How do I change my username, email address, and/or password? - You can change all of your personal information under HOME>My Account. Remember, usernames and email addresses have to be unique to the site.

I forgot my username. What should I do? - To retrieve your username, HELP>Retrieve Password and enter your registered email address in the form. The email you get will include your username (screen name).

My email address has changed, and I forgot my password. How can I retreive my password? - If you were in a pool, your pool manager can change your email address using the pool roster page. When he/she does that, the computer will change your password and email it to your old and new email addresses. If you weren't in a pool, you can write us and we'll change your email address for you.

I know my username and password, but I still can't log in. - If your username and password are correct and you still can't log in, it's probably because your browser is set to not accept cookies. Cookies are harmless, and are necessary for you to use the site. Set your browser to accept cookies, and you'll be able to log in. To check your browser, try our cookie test.

What should I do if I want more than one account under the same email address? - Simply use the "alias" feature. Aliases are designed to let you create as many accounts as you want, all under the same email address and password. This feature allows you to enter more than one set of picks for yourself, or it can be used to enter picks for someone else. Our site allows you to easily switch between aliases with a single click. Click here for more information on aliases.

How can I convert an alias to a full account? - To convert your alias to a full account, do the following:

• Log in under your main account.
• Go to HOME > My Aliases.
• Click the link to "Convert"
• Enter an email address and password for your new full account.
• Click Submit and you're done.

How much does it cost? - The cost for 2007 Pick'em Pool hosting is $30 for the first 10 pool members, plus $3 per member above 10. If you have 20 people in your pool, for instance, the cost is $60 ($30 base fee + 10 additional members, at $3 each). If we hosted your pool last year, the cost will be the same as before.

The cost for Survivor Pool hosting is $20 for the first 20 members, plus $1 per member above 20, plus $0.50 per member above 100. The cost for a 50 person survivor pool, for instance, is $50 ($20 base fee + 30 additional members, at $1 each). The cost for a 200 member survivor pool is $150 ($20 base fee + 80 additional members at $1.00 each + 100 additional members at $0.50 each).

The cost for fantasy league hosting is $50 per league or free if you're participating in paid pool on our site.

The cost for Share Pools is about $4 per member.

The cost for Baseball 13-Run Pools is $30.

I don't know how many people will be in my pool. Can I wait to pay until everyone has joined? - Yes. We encourage you to get your pool going, and pay after you know exactly how many people will be participaing. For Pick'em, we give you 3-4 weeks into the regular season before you need to pay. For Survivor pools, we ask for the hosting fee as soon as your first pick deadline passes.

How do I pay for my pool? - You can pay for your pool online by clicking here. We accept Visa, Mastercard and PayPal. You can pay over the phone with your credit card too.

Can I test out the website before I pay? - Absolutely. We encourage you to test out the site before you pay. You can set up your pool or league with no obligation to pay, so feel free to start one now.

What is the pick deadline? - The pick deadline is the day and time by which all pool members must finalize their picks for the week. This deadline is set by the pool manager and is clearly shown on the picksheet and in score emails and reminder notices. The pool manager can change the pick deadline at anytime.

How do I set the pick deadline for my pool? - Only the pool manager can set the pick deadline for their pool. The pool manager can set the pick deadline to whatever time he/she wants using the POOL ADMIN>Custom Setup page. The default pick deadline for football is Sunday at 10AM, Pacific Time, and the site is set up so you can leave the deadline set on Sunday all year long. Even when there's a Thursday game, you can leave the deadline set for Sunday because of our built-in safeguards which prevent people from entering or changing picks for games that have already started. Once a game starts, all picks for that game are locked.

Some managers like to set their pick deadline for Friday so everyone can print out the poolwide picks at work, and then take the picksheets home knowing that all the picks are locked.

Fantasy Football Leagues and Share Pools do not have pick deadlines. It is all based on the individual game times.

When there's an early game (e.g. Thursday), can I enter a pick for the early game only and then come back later to do my Sunday picks? - No and yes. You have to complete the full picksheet before you can submit it. Otherwise, you'll get a picksheet error. But, if you want to focus on the early games first, you can return to the picksheet later to change your Sunday picks, up until your set deadline.

The season starts with a Thursday game, as pool manager do I need to change my pick deadline for Thursday? - You can change the deadline, but it's unnecessary. The pick deadline for the Thursday game is always kickoff time, regardless of the overall pick deadline for your pool. If you haven't selected a pick for the Thursday game by then, you will be unable to make a pick for that game.

What happens if the Thursday game starts before I enter my picks? - If you miss picking a Thursday game, you get a "no pick" for that game, which is neither a win nor a loss. You can still enter your picks for the Sunday games, provided it is before your deadline. If your pool uses Autopicks, the computer will pick for you when you forget. If you don't use the Autopicker, you'll get a "no pick" for every game that you don't enter picks for.

For missed entries in a confidence pool, you lose your highest ranks first. For example, if your top rank is 16, you lose your 16 pointer when you miss entering the Thursday game.

Can I change my picks? - Yes, you can change your picks as often as you like, but only up until the pick deadline. After that time, no picks can be made or changed. Also, you can never change a pick for a game that has already started.

What do I do if I miss the pick deadline? - If you have made use of the Autopicks feature, the website will make your picks for you. Check with your pool manager to see if Autopicks is enabled for your pool.

If you are not using Autopicks, we recommend that you immediately post your picks on your pool's trash talk message board (which is time stamped) and then try to contact your pool manager who may take pity on you and accept your late picks.

What if someone forgets to enter picks? Can we give him all the Home Teams? - Yes. OFP has a feature called "Autopicks" that lets your pool members choose which default picks they want. They can choose from All Home, All Road, All Dogs, All Favorites, or All Random. The pool manager has the option of allowing or not allowing Autopicks.

Do Autopicks include predictions for the Monday night tiebreaker? - Yes, the Autopicker picks a random tiebreaker total between 20 and 50 points. This is for Pick'em pools only.

Can I change picks made by the Autopicker? - Yes, if it's before your pick deadline and before gametime, you can change your picks.

Can the Autopicker change the picks that I already entered? - Absolutely not. The Autopicker will never change your picks. The way we have it coded, it's impossible for the Autopicker to change anything.

How do the ranks for Autopicks work? - It depends on your pool setup. If you are NOT using spreads, the Autopicker assigns the higest rank to the biggest favorite that you picked. If you ARE using spreads, the Autopicker assigns the highest rank to the MNF game, or last game on your picksheet for college, and works backwards from there.

How do Autopicks work for Survivor Pools? - In Survivor Pools, the Autopicker gives you the biggest favorite, based on the point spread, that you haven't picked already.

I have a Best Bets pool (we pick 5 teams each week). Why does the autopicker only choose the last 5 games of the week? - With Best Bets, our autopicker functions in two different ways depending on which autopick option is selected by the pool member. a. If the Autopick option is set to "Random", it will assign truly random picks regardless of the game startime (i.e. a team from the first game of the week is just as likely to get picked as a team from the last Monday night game). b. If the Autopick option is set to anything other than Random, then teams from only the last 5 games (if you have a pick 5 Best Bets) will be picked according to the autopick setting (favorites, dogs, etc.). This is so that if you miss getting your picks in and are assigned autpicks, then if the pool manager is willing to shift the deadline for you, you still might be able to change some of the remaining picks if the games have not been played yet.

I have Autopicks turned ON, yet some people still don't have picks this week. Why? - The most common reason people aren't getting Autopicks is because they haven't visited the site this year. We programmed the new Autopicker that way intentionally. If you want to assign autopicks to everyone, use the link under POOL ADMIN > Autopick Options.

How do I exclude pre-season results from the season standings for Pick'em Pools? - The pool manager can change the weeks that get included in the season standings by using the POOL ADMIN>Custom Setup page. You can start and stop your season standings in any week, including the pre-season, the regular season, and the playoffs.

Using this feature, you can practice during the preseason and do separate standings for the playoffs.

Is the MNF tiebreaker the closest to the total without going over? - No. Our program takes the absolute difference between your prediction and the total combined score on Monday night. You can be over or under the actual total. The person closest to the actual total is the winner. However, if you want to use the "closest without going over" method, you can add that statement to your text rules and it's easily implemented manually.

What if my Survivor pick ends in a tie? Do I get a win or a loss? - Our program counts a tie as a loss in Survivor pools. If your pool wants a tie to count as a win, you can specify that in your text rules. Then, if there's ever a tie, the pool manager can revive the people that were scored with a loss by our program.

What are "Best Weeks?" - Using "Best Weeks," you can have your season standings based on a number of best weekly results. This way, if someone misses a week or has a really bad week, they still have a shot at winning the season prize (or bragging rights). We use your 5 Best Weeks in our free public pool, the OFP Mega Pool. A lot of private pools use 15 Best Weeks, which is the same as throwing out your worst 2 weeks in a 17-week season.

What is the difference between "Poolwide Picks" and "Poolwide Picks - 2"? - There are several differences between the Poolwide Picks and Poolwide Picks - 2 pages. The Poolwide Picks page is ordered by the weekly standings, and Poolwide Picks - 2 is ordered by the season standings. Also, Poolwide Picks only shows people who have entered picks this week, when Poolwide Picks - 2 shows everybody, regardless of whether they have entered picks for this week. Lastly, Poolwide Picks - 2 shows your Autopick option if you haven't entered picks yet.

How do point spreads work? - Point spreads on officefootballpool.com are always shown relative to the home team. A negative number means the home team is favored and a positive number means the road team is favored. Add the point spread to the home team's final score to see who covered the spread.

Who sets the point spreads? - We set the default point spreads on Tuesday mornings based on the current odds from a list of different sportsbooks. We always set the spread to end with 1/2 point to avoid ties. In 2007, we are rounding UP. If the line is even everywhere, say -3, we'll make it -3.5. If it's +7 everywhere we'll make it +7.5.

Can my pool use custom point spreads? - Yes. If you prefer, you can enter your own custom point spreads.

When do the point spreads get set? - We set the lines on Tuesday mornings at 9:30AM Pacific. Generally, the college lines go in sooner, like on Monday nights.

Do the point spreads change during the week? - No. Once we set a line, we try not to change it.

There are a few rare instances when a line might need to be changed during the week. If this happens to your pool, you will receive an email notification that the line has changed if you picked that game.

Can other people see my picks? - It depends. The pool manager can opt to hide everyone's picks until after the pick deadline, or he can leave all the picks open for viewing. The pool manager can hide and unhide the picks at will, but the picks will always be viewable once the games start or once the pick deadline passes.

Can the pool manager enter someone's picks after the week is over? - For Pickem and Survivor pools, yes, the pool manager can enter/change picks after the fact. Picks that get changed by the manager are flagged in the standings and poolwide picks pages so that everyone can see that a change has been made. The pool manager can also change someone's score without modifying their picks.

How do the confidence rankings work? - In pro pools where there are up to 16 games each week, you value your picks 16 (highest) through 1 (lowest) receiving points for each win corresponding to your rating. Your 16 point team is the team you are most sure will win. If they win, or cover the spread, you receive 16 points. Your 1 point team earns you 1 point for a win. If a game ends in a tie, you get half the confidence rank (rounded down to the nearest integer).

Standings in a confidence pool are determined by total points.

In weeks where there are only 14 games, the values go from 16 to 3. In college pools, the values start with the number of games you have and go down to 1. For example, if there are 10 games, the values go from 10 (highest) to 1 (lowest) and so on.

How many people can join my pool? - There is no limit to the number of people who can join your pool. We have hosted pools with thousands of members.

What is the best way to invite people into my pool? - We have an invitation form that contains all the information people need to register with the website and join your pool. The pool manager can find this form under POOL ADMIN>Pool Invite. Another option is to forward the email you received after you set up your pool. That email contains a link and all the directions necessary to join your pool. Finally, if people are already familiar with OFP, you can give them the pool ID and Password and send them to POOLS > Join a Pool.

I'm planning to reuse my pool from last year. How do I remove players who won't be participating this year? - You can boot people out of your pool using the roster page. Find it at POOL ADMIN>Pool Roster.

I'm planning to start a new pool this year and don't want to confuse people with last year's pool. How do I get rid of my old pool(s)? - Pool managers can delete their old pools at POOLS>My Pools.

Once I boot someone, how do I prevent them from rejoining? - To prevent someone from rejoining your pool after you boot them, simply change the password of your pool. The other people in your pool won't be affected by the password change.

How do I change the pool password? - To change the pool password, go to POOL ADMIN>Basic Setup.

Can I change the name of my pool and keep everything else the same? - Yes. To change your pool name, go to POOL ADMIN>Basic Setup.

How can I change the pool manager? - If you are the pool manager, you can give that role to someone else in your pool. Log in and go to this page: Change Manager.

Can I use a college game for the Tiebreaker instead of the Monday Night Football game? - Yes. To set your own custom tiebreaker game go to POOL ADMIN > Set Tiebreaker Game.

Can I divide the season into 2 parts and have winners for the 1st half, 2nd half, and full season? (Pick'em only) - Yes. On the Custom Setup page, we have a feature to change the start and end weeks of your pool. A normal pool will start in week 1, and end in week 17. The first part of your pool would start in week 1 and end in week 8, and the second part would start in week 9 and end in week 17. You can use the week feature to do separate standings for preseason and playoffs, too.

What if my pool members have forgotten their username and/or password. - If they haven't changed email addresses, you can send them their passwords using the poolwide email tool. The poolwide email screen has a checkbox for including people's passwords in the mail you send. If they have changed email, you can change their email for them and the system will automatically change and send them their new password.

I want out of a pool. How do I remove myself? - Go to HOME > My Pools and click on the link to "Request Boot". If the season has NOT started yet, you will be removed from the pool as soon as you click on "Request Boot". If the season HAS started, you need to request to be removed from the pool by your pool manager.

The picks shown on the web site are not the same picks I entered. I should have 3 more wins in the standings. Can you fix it for me? - Absolutely not. You are responsible for confirming that your own picks are accepted by the web site, and we never change anyone's picks.

I entered my picks earlier in the week, but now it says that I didn't enter them. Can you enter my picks for me now? - Sorry, but no. You are responsible for confirming that your own picks are accepted by the web site, and we never change or enter anyone's picks. The best way to confirm your picks is to return to the picksheet page and see that your picks are prefilled on the form. When you do this, don't use the "Back" button on your browser. Instead, click on the "PICKS" link. This will ensure you are looking at a fresh page.

I have to log in again each time I click on a new link within the website. Can this be changed? - Yes. If you have to log in every time you click a new link in our website your browser is probably configured to not accept cookies (Safari on Mac was notorious for this in years past). You might need to change your security settings to allow cookies from all sites.

I used to have a bar at the top of my screen with drop-down menus and a big officefootballpool.com logo, and now all I see are plain links at the top of the page. What happened? - You may have inadvertently changed your display to PDA mode. To correct this display and restore your menu bar and graphic logo, scroll down to the bottom of any page and click the link that says Non-PDA. The page will reload, this time with your menu bar and graphic logo visible along the top of the webpage.

When I click the "back" button to fix my picks, the picksheet is blank. - This is a common error with the Internet Explorer browser. There is a nice fix that is described here. It will help you on OFP and other websites.

My company firewall prevents me from accessing officefootballpool.com at work. What can I do? - You can use the IP address instead of the domain name. Here's the link: http://206.81.67.50/. Write us for other options.

When I log into OFP, it is showing somebody else's username instead of mine. What is the deal? - If you are in an office with a proxy server, the chances are high that you are looking at a cached page. To see a fresh page, hold down the Ctrl button and click "refresh".

I have a pool on another site. Can I transfer that pool to OFP? - Yes, it's relatively easy to transfer your pool from another site to OFP. People do it every year and we can help you do it.

I restarted my computer, and when I returned to OFP I was still logged in. How can that be? - Your OFP "session" lasts for 2 hours from the time you last loaded an OFP page in your browser. That way, if you leave the site, close your browser, or even shut down your computer, your session will remain alive for 2 hours. When you are done using OFP, we recommend that you click the "log out" link. This will end your session.

What if I still have some questions? - You can write to us at admin@officefootballpool.com directly, or you can visit our help message board by clicking here.

Can I do an NCAA Basketball tournament pool on OFP? - We do basketball pools on our other website, and it's called Tournament Pools.com. Your OFP username and password work there, and you can access it by clicking here: Tournament Pools.com.