Official player guide
Build one five-pick card each week, rank every selection by confidence, and earn points when your teams cover. This guide explains the verified scoring, bonuses, kickoff locks, Auto Pick tools, standings, and result corrections used by GridironFive.
The weekly card
Each completed weekly card contains exactly five picks from five different eligible games. Instead of choosing every game on the NFL schedule, you choose the five teams you want to back against the spread and decide how much confidence to place on each one.
A card may be incomplete while you are building it, but it is not a valid completed card until all five selections are present. The same game cannot occupy two places on one card.
Every pick represents one selected team in an eligible game. The card becomes a strategy exercise because you must choose both the team and the confidence value assigned to that team.
Every completed card uses each of these values exactly once:
The values cannot be duplicated. Put 10 on your strongest selection, then use 6, 4, 2, and 1 on the other four picks. Together they create a maximum possible base score of 23 points.
Base scoring
A winning pick earns the confidence value assigned to it. A loss earns zero base points. A pending or unresolved pick also contributes no points until an authoritative result is available and the card can be recalculated.
| Pick | Weight | Result | Base points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pick A | 10 | WIN | 10 |
| Pick B | 6 | WIN | 6 |
| Pick C | 4 | LOSS | 0 |
| Pick D | 2 | WIN | 2 |
| Pick E | 1 | WIN | 1 |
| Base score | 19 | ||
The four winning picks earn 10 + 6 + 2 + 1 points. The 4-point loss earns zero, producing a base score of 19.
The 19-point result is the base score only. If the league season has configured bonuses and this card qualifies for one, those bonus points are calculated separately and then included in the final points total.
Wins, losses, pushes, and pending outcomes also build the card's record. That record is tracked independently from the points total.
Pushes
A push is a resolved outcome of its own. It is recorded as a push—not a loss—and the pick earns zero base points. A push also prevents the card from qualifying as a Perfect Week because all five selections must be wins.
If the 10-point Best Bet finishes as a PUSH, that pick earns 0 base points, one push is added to the record, the Best Bet bonus is 0, and the card does not qualify for a Perfect Week. The pick is not counted as a loss.
Best Bet, Perfect Week, and bonuses
Bonus amounts are configured for each league season. Either amount may be zero. The fixed 10/6/4/2/1 base system stays the same; league settings determine whether qualifying cards receive additional points.
The Best Bet is always the 10-point selection. A Best Bet win earns 10 base points and qualifies for the league season's configured Best Bet Win Bonus.
A Best Bet loss, push, or pending result does not qualify for that bonus. The standings field “10pt Wins” counts winning 10-point selections; it does not count bonus points.
A Perfect Week requires a valid, complete five-pick card in which all five picks win: a 5-0-0 card with nothing pending. It must also contain the complete 10, 6, 4, 2, and 1 weight set.
Any loss, push, pending result, incomplete card, or malformed weight set prevents Perfect Week qualification.
Best Bet and Perfect Week bonuses are independent. When a complete 5-0 card includes a winning 10-point pick, both configured bonuses may apply and stack on top of the 23-point base score.
Changing a league season's bonus settings recalculates that league season's affected entries. Other leagues and seasons remain separate.
Example only — not universal
Suppose one league season sets a Best Bet Win Bonus of +2 and a Perfect Week Bonus of +2. For a valid 5-0 card:
This +2 / +2 setup is only an example. Actual bonus amounts are configured by each league and season and may be zero.
Pick locking
GridironFive uses game-level locking. When a selected game's scheduled kickoff arrives, that pick is locked. You cannot change its team, move it to another game, remove it, or reassign its confidence weight.
An early kickoff does not automatically lock the whole card. Picks connected to later eligible games can remain editable while the week's lifecycle still permits editing. Each later selection locks when its own game reaches kickoff.
If your Thursday pick carries 6 points, that team and its 6-point weight lock at Thursday kickoff. Your Sunday selections may still be edited before their kickoffs if the week remains in an editable state. You cannot take the locked 6-point value from Thursday and move it to Sunday.
Card-completion tools
Both tools respect locked selections and the unique confidence values still available on the card. Neither tool predicts winners, improves the odds of a win, or guarantees a successful result.
Player Auto Pick is a player-confirmed tool. You choose an available strategy—such as random selections, favorites, underdogs, home favorites, or home underdogs—and confirm before the tool fills or replaces editable picks.
Any locked picks and their confidence weights stay protected. The tool works only with eligible games and the unused weights needed to complete the card.
Safety Auto Pick is deadline-driven protection for an incomplete card belonging to an active league member. Its deadline is ten minutes before the first kickoff in the main kickoff wave.
When eligible, it preserves valid existing picks, protects locked picks, and fills remaining spaces with eligible games, selections, and unused unique confidence weights. Canceled or postponed games are not candidates. The standings identify Safety Auto Pick use for league visibility.
Standings
Weekly standings show the current competition for a specific week. Season standings carry those results forward so members can follow the cumulative race.
Pending picks can remain visible while results are unresolved. Safety Auto Pick status may also be shown so the league can see when that protection was used.
As completed weeks are scored, season standings aggregate each active member's weekly points, record, pending results, 10pt Wins, and Safety Auto Pick count across the season.
If a league uses an Auto Pick prize limit, exceeding that limit can mark a member as prize-ineligible. That status does not rewrite the member's points or move the member to a different rank.
Result corrections
If an authoritative NFL result changes after it was finalized, GridironFive can recalculate affected pick results, records, base points, bonuses, and standings. The recalculation uses the scoring line captured for that game, so a later market-line revision does not change the original scoring basis.
Reprocessing the same final result does not keep adding points or bonuses. Corrected values replace the prior calculated values. The system supports recalculation when authoritative information changes, but this guide does not promise an instant correction time.
Quick Rules Reference
Use this compact reference when you need the core rules without the examples.
| Weekly Picks | 5 |
|---|---|
| Weights | 10 / 6 / 4 / 2 / 1 |
| Maximum Base | 23 |
| Best Bet | 10-point pick |
| Perfect Week | Valid 5-0-0 card |
| Push | 0 base points; prevents Perfect Week |
| Locking | Each game's kickoff |
| Bonuses | League- and season-configurable; may be zero |
| Standings | Points / Record / 10pt Wins |
Want the broader league overview? Learn more about GridironFive NFL Pick'em leagues.
Frequently asked questions
A valid completed weekly card contains exactly five picks from five different eligible games.
Use each confidence value once. A winning pick earns its assigned value; a loss or push earns zero base points. All five wins produce the maximum 23-point base score.
The pick earns zero base points and is recorded as a push, not a loss. It earns no Best Bet bonus and prevents Perfect Week qualification.
Your 10-point selection is the Best Bet. Only a winning 10-point pick qualifies for the league season's configured Best Bet Win Bonus.
A valid, complete card with exactly five wins, no losses, no pushes, and nothing pending—a 5-0-0 card using every required confidence value once.
Each selection locks at that game's kickoff. Started-game picks and their weights cannot change, while later eligible games can remain editable when the week lifecycle permits.
It is deadline-driven protection that can complete an eligible active member's unfinished card while preserving valid and locked selections and using the remaining unique weights.
GridironFive can recalculate affected pick results, records, base points, bonuses, and standings from the authoritative corrected result.