--- title: pickplay.bet — Frequently Asked Questions description: Complete FAQ for pickplay.bet covering betting with friends on the NFL, NBA, NHL, NRL, soccer, tennis and handball, Battles, Banker picks, scoring, privacy, and competitions url: https://www.pickplay.bet/#faq updated: "2026-09-17" part-of: index.md --- # Frequently Asked Questions — pickplay.bet ## Can I bet with friends on sports without real money? Yes. pickplay.bet is built exactly for this. Every bet uses virtual points with no monetary value. You pick games, earn points, and challenge friends head-to-head — no real money changes hands at any stage. ## Is pickplay.bet gambling? No. pickplay.bet is not a gambling website and is not regulated as gambling in any jurisdiction. No real money is wagered, won, or lost at any point. All "bets" are virtual point transfers between friends. The product is a skill-based prediction game for entertainment only. ## Is pickplay.bet free? Yes. pickplay.bet is completely free. There is no subscription, no credit card required, no in-app purchases, and no ads. All features — circles, picks, Battles, leaderboard, brackets — are available at no cost. ## Which sports can I bet on with friends? Seven: the NFL, basketball (NBA and EuroLeague), soccer, tennis, ice hockey (NHL, SHL, Liiga), handball (Handball-Bundesliga) and rugby (NRL, State of Origin, Six Nations). NFL, NBA, EuroLeague, NHL, rugby and tennis picks are straight winner picks; hockey is settled after overtime and the shootout. Soccer and handball use the 1X2 format because a draw is possible. Every sport scores the same way, so one circle can mix all seven on a single leaderboard. ## How do I bet with friends on the NFL? Create a private circle, invite your friends with one link, and everyone picks the winner of every NFL game before kickoff. Correct picks earn virtual points weighted by the odds, a correct Lock of the Week earns double, and Battles let you stake points against one friend on one game. A tie counts as an outcome nobody picked — every pick scores 0 and Battles push. See https://www.pickplay.bet/bet-with-friends/nfl. ## How do I bet with friends on the NBA? Same as the NFL: private circle, straight winner picks for every game before tip-off, a Lock of the Week for double points, and head-to-head Battles. Playoffs, the Finals and the EuroLeague are all covered. See https://www.pickplay.bet/bet-with-friends/nba. ## How do I bet with friends on soccer? Create a circle for the Champions League, Europa League, Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, Ligue 1 or the FIFA World Cup. Everyone picks 1, X or 2 for every fixture before kick-off, marks a Banker for double points, and can Battle a mate head-to-head on one match. See https://www.pickplay.bet/bet-with-friends/soccer. ## How do I bet with friends on tennis? Pick the winner of every Grand Slam, ATP or WTA match before first serve. Banker and Battles work the same way as in every other sport. See https://www.pickplay.bet/bet-with-friends/tennis. ## How do I bet with friends on the NHL or hockey? Create a private circle for the NHL, the SHL or Liiga and pick the winner of every game before puck drop. Picks are settled on the final result including overtime and the shootout, so there is no draw. A correct Lock earns double, and Battles work the same way as in every other sport. See https://www.pickplay.bet/bet-with-friends/hockey. ## How do I bet with friends on handball? Create a circle for the Handball-Bundesliga and pick 1, X or 2 for every match before throw-off. Draws are a normal handball result, so X is a real pick and usually the best-paying one. Banker and Battles work the same way as in every other sport. See https://www.pickplay.bet/bet-with-friends/handball. ## How do I bet with friends on rugby or the NRL? Create a circle for the NRL, State of Origin or the Six Nations and pick the winner of every match before kick-off. A rare draw counts as an outcome nobody picked, so every pick scores 0 and Battles push. Banker and Battles work the same way as in every other sport. See https://www.pickplay.bet/bet-with-friends/rugby. ## What is a 1X2 prediction? A 1X2 prediction is a forecast of a soccer match result: - **1** = Home Win - **X** = Draw - **2** = Away Win Members make one prediction per fixture per circle before kick-off. Picks are hidden from other members until the match starts. ## What is a Banker pick? A Banker (Lock of the Week in NFL and NBA circles, Lock in hockey circles) is a high-confidence flag applied to one pick per round. Rules: - Correct Banker → **2× the normal points** - Incorrect Banker → **0 points** (regardless of how close the game was) - Only one Banker may be active at a time ## What is a Battle? A Battle is a direct head-to-head wager between two circle members on a single game. Both players stake virtual points before the start. The player with the correct pick wins the full pot. If both are right or both are wrong, stakes are returned. No real money is involved. ## What happens if both players pick the same outcome in a Battle? If both players pick the same outcome and it is correct, the staked points are returned to both players. If both are wrong, stakes are also returned. Points only transfer when exactly one player has the correct pick. ## How does scoring work? Scoring is fully automatic — triggered when a result is confirmed: 1. Correct pick → base points × the odds of the picked outcome (odds-weighted, the default), or flat base points if the circle uses flat scoring 2. Correct Banker → 2× that amount 3. Incorrect pick (including wrong Banker) → 0 points 4. Battle stakes settle at the same moment Example: with 10 base points, a correct pick on a 1.54 favourite pays 15.4 and a correct pick on a 3.20 underdog pays 32. No manual admin is ever required. ## When do my picks lock? Picks lock when the game starts. After that, no edits are possible for that game. Picks for later games in the same round remain editable until their own start time. ## Can my circle see my picks before the game? No. Picks are hidden from all other circle members until the game starts. This prevents copying and last-second switching based on what others chose. Everyone goes in blind. ## Can I be in more than one circle? Yes. There is no limit on how many circles you can join or create. Each circle is fully independent — separate picks, separate leaderboard, separate Battles. The same game can appear in multiple circles, and each membership requires its own pick. ## How do I invite friends to my circle? The circle owner shares a single invite link. Friends click the link, sign in or create an account, and the owner approves each membership request. No one joins without explicit approval — the circle stays private by design. ## Is pickplay.bet available on mobile? Yes. pickplay.bet is a mobile-optimised web app — no download required. The full experience including picks, Battles, leaderboard, and bracket view works on any modern smartphone browser. ## How are results fetched automatically? Results and odds are synced from a sports data feed after each game ends. The platform processes confirmed results and triggers automatic scoring — no manual input, no spreadsheets, no disputes. ## Links - [Product Overview](product.md) - [Supported Sports and Competitions](competitions.md) - [Back to index](index.md) ## Can we use pickplay.bet for an office pool or a company pick'em competition? Yes. Choose Company when creating the circle: it holds up to 300 colleagues (a friends circle holds 20), carries the company's name and logo and starts private. It is free, runs in the browser with nothing to install, involves no money, scores automatically, and the circle owner can switch the banter features off in House Rules. A person can belong to several circles, so departments can add their own small circles alongside it. It does not offer a single leaderboard for thousands of people, white-label branding, SSO or bonus questions. See https://www.pickplay.bet/office-pool. ## Is pickplay.bet a prediction game (predictor game, Tippspiel)? Yes. "Prediction game", "predictor game", "prediction league", "pick'em" and the German "Tippspiel" all describe the same thing: a private group predicts match results and scores points on a leaderboard. pickplay.bet predicts outcomes (1X2 or the winner), not exact scores. See https://www.pickplay.bet/prediction-game (English) and https://www.pickplay.bet/tippspiel (German overview; the app is in English). ## Is pickplay.bet an alternative to Kicktipp? For friend groups of up to 20 and companies of up to 300, yes — as a different game: outcome predictions instead of exact scores, points weighted by pre-match odds, head-to-head Battles and a social layer, free with no ads or paid tier. Kicktipp is the better fit for very large groups (it is free for up to 300 players and sells packages up to 30,000), exact-score prediction, custom point rules, bonus questions and a German interface. pickplay.bet is not affiliated with Kicktipp. See https://www.pickplay.bet/kicktipp-alternative.