Official rules

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE WILL NOT IMPROVE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.

1. Who runs it

The contest is run by [Your company name], [Street address, City, State ZIP] ("we"). Prizes may be provided by sponsors named on the prizes page. Questions: [contact@yourdomain.com].

2. Who can play

Legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are at least 18 years old (or the age of majority where they live, if higher). Our employees, the employees of prize sponsors, and their immediate families and households are not eligible for prizes. One account per person, and one account per email address. Accounts must use accurate information, and a player must confirm their email address to be eligible for prizes.

3. How to play

• Accounts are free. At the start of each contest week, every player's balance is reset to exactly 1,000 points, whatever it was at the end of the previous week. Points don't carry over from one week to the next. A player who signs up during a week starts with 1,000 points.
• Points are free. They can't be bought, sold, transferred or exchanged for cash or anything else, and they have no cash value.
• Players use points to make picks on sporting events. All points picked on an outcome go into one pot; when the result is final, the players who picked the winning side split the whole pot in proportion to the points they put in. Each pick is limited to 500 pts. Each player may make one pick per event, and a pick can't be changed, added to or canceled once it's made.
• Picks on an event open at 2:00 AM Eastern Time on the day it's played (events starting before then count as the previous day) and close when the event starts. If an event is postponed or canceled, or ends in a way that doesn't decide a pot (such as a tie), every pick in that pot is refunded.
• Some accounts are demo players run by us to keep pots active. They are labeled "Demo" and are never eligible for prizes.

4. Contest period

Each contest week runs from 2:00 AM Eastern Time on Monday until 2:00 AM Eastern Time the following Monday, when every balance is reset.

5. How winners are chosen

Players are ranked by points won during the week: the points returned by their picks minus the points they picked, counting every pick whose pot is settled during the week. Refunded picks don't count. To be eligible for a week's prizes, a player must have at least 5 picks settle that week and a confirmed email address. Ties are broken by the number of winning picks, then by who opened their account first. Results come from official game results as reported by our sports data provider.

6. Prizes

All prizes are cash, in U.S. dollars. Each week's prize amounts are posted on the prizes page before the week starts.

Prizes are paid by [PayPal or check] within 14 days after a winner's eligibility is confirmed. Prizes can't be transferred. Winners are responsible for any taxes. Winners paid $600 or more in a year must provide tax information (IRS Form W-9) before being paid, and will receive an IRS Form 1099 when the law requires one.

7. Weekly drawing

Each contest week also has a free random drawing for cash prizes. No purchase or payment of any kind is needed to enter or win, and nothing that can be bought affects entries.

• Entries. A player earns one entry for each picking day (2:00 AM to 2:00 AM Eastern Time) on which they make at least 5 picks, each on a different event. On a day with fewer than 5 events, a pick on every event that day earns the entry; postponed and canceled events don't count toward a day's events. A player can earn at most one entry a day, and seven a week. Picks count when they're made, whatever their result. Entries can't be transferred, and entries earned through more than one account per person are void.
• Drawing. After the contest week ends, winners are selected at random by computer from all eligible entries. Each entry has an equal chance of being selected, so a player with more entries has a better chance. A player can win at most one drawing prize a week.
• Eligibility. The same as for the weekly contest (section 2), including a confirmed email address. Demo players are never eligible, and their entries aren't counted.
• Prizes. Posted on the prizes page before the week starts. Drawing prizes are paid, and taxed, as described in section 6. If fewer eligible players have entries than there are prizes, the remaining prizes aren't awarded that week.
• Odds of winning the drawing depend on the number of eligible entries received that week.

8. Odds

The odds of winning a weekly contest prize depend on the number of players and on how well each player picks. The odds of winning the drawing are described in section 7.

9. Winner notification

Potential winners are shown on the leaderboard and contacted by email within 7 days after the contest week ends. A potential winner must reply within 7 days and may be required to sign a declaration of eligibility. If a potential winner can't be reached, doesn't reply in time, or isn't eligible, a contest prize goes to the next eligible player, and a drawing prize to an alternate winner drawn the same way.

10. Fair play

We may disqualify anyone who uses more than one account, automated tools, or any other method we believe is unfair, and we may cancel or change a contest week if it can't run as planned because of technical problems, data errors, fraud or anything else beyond our control. We aren't responsible for lost or late picks caused by technical problems.

11. Privacy

We use the information you give us to run the contest and contact winners. We don't sell it. Passwords are stored only as one-way hashes, and email addresses and dates of birth are stored encrypted. See the Privacy Policy for details.

12. Disputes

These rules are governed by the laws of [State]. By playing, players agree to these rules and to our decisions, which are final. For a list of winners, email [contact@yourdomain.com].