The weekly ritual is small. The season-long second guessing is the whole point.
That is the front door. No public lobby, no discovery page, and nothing for people outside your group to browse.
A favorite giving points, an underdog taking them, and a team total — one team’s own scoring, over or under. That is the whole card.
1, 2, and 3 — 6 points, each number used once. Loading up on one pick means going light on another. It is three decisions pretending to be one.
Not at a weekly deadline. Thursday’s game locks Thursday; Sunday is still yours on Sunday morning. The moment a game starts, everyone sees what everyone took.
Once per season, per slot. A team burned as a favorite is still there as an underdog, but only once. This is the part everyone underestimates in September and complains about in December.
A worked week
Three on San Francisco, because a two-touchdown favorite feels boring in the best possible way. Two on Cleveland taking points in a division game. One on a low total nobody expects to be pretty.
Whether that was the right split is what your group tells you on Monday.
The stuff people learn quickly
Take a team’s over and that team is spent on the total slot both ways. You do not get a second chance by flipping sides later.
From week 19 every team is back. Saving all the good names for January just makes your regular season harder than it needed to be.
Never played means voided: no points, no mark against you, and the team returns to your board. A game nobody played should not cost you one.
Holidays
Every holiday game carries a bonus pick — the combined total, over or under, worth 1 point. Costs nothing from your budget. Spends no team.
One per holiday game, no cap. It counts toward your total but not your accuracy. A free swing, not a referendum on your season.
Lines are captured once a week and frozen. The spread you see is the spread you are graded against. Nobody gets a better number for picking later.
Or spend them loudly. Your group will remember either way.