Rules for the 4th Format – the Playoffs
This format is called “The Playoffs”. It’s a 4 week competition consisting of all of the NFL playoff games up through the Super Bowl.
Players will pick the “winner” of each game based on point spreads, i.e. the prediction that the team will beat the spread. In the first week of the playoffs (Wild Card Weekend), each of the six games is worth 2 points - meaning you get 2 points if you win the game, and zero points if you lose. You can lock one game, if you want, and if you win your lock, you get an extra two points, but if you lose, you get a negative 2 points.
In the second week of the playoffs (Divisional Championships), each of the four games is worth 4 points - meaning you get 4 points if you win the game, and zero points if you lose. You can lock one game, if you want, and if you win your lock, you get an extra 4 points, but if you lose, you get a negative 4 points.
In the third week of the playoffs (Conference Championships), each of the two games is worth 8 points. If you win a game, you get 8 points. If you lose you get zero points. You are not allowed to make a lock pick.
In the fourth week (The Super Bowl) there is one game worth 12 points. You get 12 points for picking the winner and zero if you pick the loser.
When players make their pick for the Super Bowl, they must also predict the sum of the final score of the Super Bowl. This prediction is used to break ties for 1st, 2nd or 3rd place. So, for example, if a player A predicts 46 points and player B predicts 52 points, and where players A and B tie for 1st place, and where the final score of the Super Bowl is 27-21 (equals a total of 48), then player A, who predicted 46 points is closer to the final score of 48 than player B who predicted 52. In this case, Player A would receive the 1st place money and player B would receive the 2nd place money.
The player with the most points at the end of the 4 week competition is the winner.
The pot is split between the top 3 finishers as follows (assuming 35 total players):
1st place – 70% = $490
2nd place – 20% = $140
3rd place – 10% = $70
Rules for Last Man Standing:
Duration of competition is the entire regular season – or until only one (or zero) player is left – whichever is soonest.
Each player begins Week #1 with 3 picks. The player must pick winners of games – the point spread does not determine anything. If a game ends in a tie, it is treated as a win for both teams.
The player chooses which teams (games) to pick for his first 3 picks. He is free to choose any team, but he does so knowing that he will not be allowed to pick that team to win in the future unless he has finished picking all 32 teams and he’s still alive.
If the 3 picks he makes in Week #1 are all winners, then he had 3 picks to make in Week #2. If, for example, one of his picks loses, then he had only 2 picks to make in Week #2. If two of his picks are losers, then he had only one pick to make in Week #2.
As long as a player has at least one winning pick, he proceeds to the next week and continues with that number of winning picks that he had in the previous week.
When a player has all of his picks in any given week end up as losers, then he is out of the competition. The last player with at least one entry in the competition wins the pool. If some number of players all have their last picks lose in the same week, and they are the last players in the pool, it will be deemed a tie. A tie also would exist if 2 or more players reached the last week of the regular season and made winning picks in that last week. In the case of a tie, the tie-breaking rule will be used, i.e. the player who had more live picks for more weeks in the competition, shall be deemed the winner. So, for example, if Spud and Surf each have one pick left in the 12th week of the regular season, and if both of their picks lose, then we have a tie. But if Surf had carried two picks into the 8th week, but Spud had carried two picks only into the 3rd week, then Surf would be the winner.
Pot is split 70% for first place, 20% for second place and 10% for third place.
Top 5 Rules - all 18 weeks of the regular season:
Prior to the start of the regular season - generally one week in advance of the first game - the Commissioner’s office will post the Vegas projected win totals for each of the 32 NFL teams. At that point the win total predictions will become final for the purposes of our Top 5 competition.
The win total prediction is divided into 100 in order to create a ‘points per win’ value for any given team. So, for example, if the Bengals have a win total prediction of 5 wins, we divide 5 into 100 to give the Bengals ‘20’ for their points-per-win value. Whereas, the Colts have a win total prediction of 10 wins which, when divided into 100, gives a points-per-win value of ‘10’. Ultimately, whether a player chooses the Bengals or the Colts, if the team hits its expected win total exactly, the result for the player is the same.
Each player, prior to the beginning of the season, and no later than the deadline for the regular pick of the season’s opening game, will choose any five of the NFL teams. Those five teams will represent the player throughout the 18-week regular season. Each time that one of the player’s five teams records a win (this does not involve the point spread), the player is credited with the ‘points per win’ value that is associated with that team. Ties do not count as a win and provide no points.
The points-per-win value will be calculated out to three (3) decimal places - not beyond.
At the conclusion of the regular season, aggregate point totals will be calculated for each player and the players with the most points will be deemed the winners. The payout will be 70% of the pot to the player with the highest point total, 20% to second place, and 10% to third place.
Administrative and Rule Qualifications Related to COVID / Unforeseen Contingencies
Putting the Last Man Standing and Top 5 competitions aside, the other 4 competitions consist of a sequence of weeks / games that represent a subset of the total NFL season. In our first competition - “Everyone’s A Winner” - because monetary winnings are defined on a weekly basis, for each week where NFL games are played, we will calculate winnings and pay them out even in the case that the NFL season is suspended before the conclusion of week 6.
For the other 3 formats which comprise weeks 7-12, weeks 13-18, and the playoffs, in a case where all of the weeks designated for a specific competition include active NFL games, then we will declare a winner and pay out what is due to the successful players.
If the NFL plays any games in a particular week, then that week will be considered an active week for the benefit of defining the duration of any of the Tournament of Masters competitions even in the case where one or more of the NFL games originally scheduled for that week are postponed or canceled. If a game is postponed into a week associated with a different competition, then it will be part of that other competition.
If the NFL season is terminated and we are not able to complete all the weeks for a specific competition, then that competition will be declared void. In the contingency where the NFL season is prematurely terminated, the $20/player associated with any unfinished competition will be returned to each player.
For Last Man Standing, we will void the competition if the NFL season terminates prematurely when there are still at least 3 players with all three of their original picks remaining. However, beyond that point, we will declare winners using the tie-breaker methodology that we’ve used in the past, i.e. which players carry multiple picks the longest.
For the Top 5 competition, we will consider the competition complete if there are at least 16 weeks of NFL games. Ideally, and according to Top 5 rules, player scores are based on the results from all 18 weeks of the NFL regular season. But if, for some reason, one or two weeks gets suspended and are not played, we’ll calculate a winner based on the results from 16 or 17 weeks. If 16 weeks are not completed, then we’ll void the competition and return $20 to each player.
Ultimately, the Commissioner’s office may not correctly anticipate all the things that may happen this season. If you choose to play, understand that rules and procedures could be modified in an attempt to deal with whatever happens. If this becomes necessary, the Commissioner’s office would consult with the Governing Council prior to imposing any changes to an ongoing competition. Remember, the primary objective of the Tournament of Masters is entertainment. That is always the overriding priority.