Rules

These Rules are the authoritative reference for how The Pundit works. The short version: read the game, read the crowd, pick your moments — and outsmart the crowd. Everything below sets out the exact mechanics.

What is The Pundit?

The Pundit is a free-to-play football prediction game where predicting the result is only part of the challenge. You compete against the other players in your competition.

There are no fixed odds. Correct picks share the match pot, so what a pick is worth depends on how the rest of the field picked.

Is The Pundit real money?

The Pundit is free to play. Players do not deposit, wager or withdraw real money.

• No deposits
• No withdrawals
• No real-money wagering
• Chips, stakes, profit and ROI are virtual competition metrics
• Virtual match payouts cannot be withdrawn or exchanged for money

Some competitions may separately offer prizes based on the final leaderboard. Where this applies, the prize details and competition-specific conditions will be published separately.

How to Play

The flow of a pick

1. Make your pick. Choose 1 for a home win, X for a draw or 2 for an away win.
2. The pot. Every match starts with a pot of 500. Each player pick adds 50.
3. Your stake. Every pick starts at 50. Your stake determines your share if your outcome wins.
4. Picks stay hidden. Nobody sees anyone else’s picks before kick-off.
5. Win your share. Correct picks share the pot. The bigger your share of the winning stake, the bigger your share of the pot.

Hidden picks

Nobody sees anyone else's picks while a match is open. Picks lock 15 minutes before kick-off, and every pick on that match is revealed at that same moment.

This is why the game is as much about reading the crowd as reading the match: you commit without seeing what anyone else has done.

Selective picking

You do not need to predict every match. Picking your moments means choosing where you think you have an edge; where you do not see one, skipping the match is a legitimate tactic. A No Pick is neutral — no stake, no profit or loss, and no contribution to the pot.

Cancelling picks

You may cancel a pick at any time until a match locks (15 minutes before kick-off).

When a pick is cancelled:

• Your stake is returned immediately.
• Your prediction is removed.
• You may place a new prediction before the match locks.
• If the cancelled pick had chips applied, those chips are automatically released and become available to use again before the match locks.

If you do not place another prediction before lock, the match will count as a No Pick.

Once a match has locked, picks can no longer be changed, cancelled or withdrawn.

How payouts work

Every match has a single match pot. All stakes go into it. When the match settles, only the players who picked the correct result share the pot — proportionally to how much they staked.

There are no fixed odds. Your return depends entirely on how many players were correct and how much stake was on the winning outcome.

• The pot = 500 base + 50 per pick + any chip-boosted stakes.
• If you're wrong, your stake stays in the pot.
• If you're right, you take a share of the pot equal to your stake ÷ the total winning stake.
• Profit = what you receive − what you staked.

Underdog payouts

Not every correct pick pays the same. The fewer players who back the winning side, the bigger each winner's share of the pot.

• A correct pick on the favourite is shared across many winners — modest profit.
• A correct pick on an underdog is shared across few winners — outsized profit.
• Accuracy alone doesn't win the leaderboard. A single bold, correct call can move you more than ten safe picks.

Example round

A worked round to show why accuracy ≠ profit.

You make 5 picks. 3 land. One of the correct calls is an underdog that most players missed.

Three correct picks earned modest returns. The single underdog read carried the round — and the leaderboard move. That's the game.

Chips

Chips are a tactical tool: they let you back your strongest reads with a bigger stake. This section sets out how they behave; the exact unlock ladder, availability window and expiry are competition-specific and are published on that competition's chip rules page.

• Bronze — stake 100 instead of 50 (2× stake)
• Silver — stake 150 instead of 50 (3× stake)
• Gold — stake 250 instead of 50 (5× stake)
• Double Chance — stake 100 split 50 + 50 across two outcomes

Bronze, Silver and Gold are stake boosts — your share of the pot scales with your stake. Double Chance is protection, not a multiplier: only the winning 50 enters the payout, the losing 50 is lost.

• Chips are earned by completing settled picks.
• One chip per round.
• Limited per competition — chips don't carry between competitions or seasons.
• Each chip expires after a limited number of rounds if unused. Any remaining chips expire when the competition ends.

Unlock your account

New accounts can browse and place picks, but to compete fully you need to unlock your account. Unlocking is a one-time verification step that enables everything that makes The Pundit competitive:

• Account verification — confirms you're a real player, not a duplicate.
• Leaderboard participation — your name appears on the global and country leaderboards.
• Profit tracking — your settled picks count towards your profit and ROI.
• Chips — you start earning and spending Bronze, Silver, Gold and Double Chance chips.
• Private leaderboard creation — spin up an invite-only leaderboard for your circle.
• Private leaderboard participation — join leaderboards friends invite you to.

Go to account settings →

Rankings

• Profit = total share of pots won − total staked.
• ROI = profit ÷ total staked.
• Rank = your position vs every other player in the same competition.

Leaderboards are competition-specific. Results, profit and ranking do not carry from one competition into another.

Excluded admin, test, demo and internal accounts do not appear in rankings or prize standings.

Players must have at least 3 settled picks before becoming eligible for public rankings.

Tie-breaks

When two players finish on equal profit, rankings are ordered by:

1. Profit — highest first.
2. ROI — profit divided by total staked, highest first.
3. Correct picks — most correct picks first.

Rankings use standard SQL RANK() ordering: if two players are level on all three, they share the same rank and the next rank is skipped accordingly.

Prizes

Prizes are awarded only after the relevant competition has concluded, final standings have been verified and any necessary integrity review has been completed.

Where a competition offers prizes, its competition-specific Prize Terms set out the prize pool, winner determination, treatment of tied prize positions, claim period and payment arrangements.

The Pundit may withhold, revoke or reallocate a prize where a winning account involves fraud, duplicate accounts, automation, manipulation, abuse or another breach of the Terms or Rules.

Match rules

Match settlement

• Official match results determine settlement.
• Live results shown during a match are provisional — final settlement happens at full time using the official result.
• Extra time and penalties never affect 1/X/2 settlement — only the 90-minute result counts.
• If a result is corrected or amended by competition organizers, The Pundit may update settlements and rankings accordingly.
• Voided matches result in no profit and no loss; stakes are returned.

Timing & edge cases

• Picks lock 15 minutes before kick-off.
• If a player deletes their account their picks remain in the game, anonymised as "Deleted player", and still affect the pot.

Service disruptions

The Pundit relies on third-party infrastructure and live data providers. We strive to keep The Pundit available at all times, but outages, scheduled maintenance and technical issues can occasionally occur.

• Picks already submitted before a disruption remain valid.
• Picks cannot be submitted, changed or cancelled after the normal lock time, even if an outage prevented access.
• Locked matches will not be reopened once picks are hidden or the match has started.
• Allowing late predictions or reopening locked matches would create an unfair advantage for players who had already submitted their picks.
• We may void a match only if we determine that doing so is the fairest solution for the competition as a whole.
• If no fair correction exists, the match will stand as played.

Our goal is always to treat all players fairly. Where a technical issue affects some, but not all, players, we will make the decision that best protects the integrity of the competition as a whole.

Private leaderboards

Private leaderboards let you compete against friends, colleagues or communities inside a competition using the same profit and ranking system as the global leaderboard. Private standings don't affect the global leaderboard.

• Only predictions from the configured start round onwards count towards that leaderboard.
• Membership approval and access settings are determined by the leaderboard owner.
• Only verified accounts may create or join private leaderboards.
• Admins may approve or reject requests to join.
• Auto-accept depends on the leaderboard's settings — when on, verified joiners are added instantly; when off, applicants land in Pending until an admin approves them.
• Invite links and invite codes are intended for private sharing — treat them as you would any password.
• Admins may remove members with a reason (10–500 characters); members may leave at any time. Abuse may result in moderation actions by The Pundit, including restricting or removing a private leaderboard.

Game glossary

Pick

Your prediction for a match result: home win, draw, or away win.

Stake

The amount committed to a pick. Standard picks use a stake of 50. Chips can increase the amount staked.

Pot

The total pool available for a match. Built from the base match pot, player stakes, and any chip-boosted stakes.

Profit

Profit = total share of pots won − total staked.

ROI

ROI = profit ÷ total staked. ROI measures how efficiently your stakes generate profit.

Rank

Your position on a leaderboard compared with other players in the same competition.

Settled Pick

A pick on a match that has completed and been officially settled.

Locked Pick

A pick that can no longer be changed because the lock deadline has passed.

Chip

A gameplay booster that modifies how much stake enters a match pot.

Private Leaderboard

An invite-only leaderboard within a competition.

Read the game. Read your rivals. Become the #1 pundit.

Questions?

If you have questions about the game, your account, or these rules, contact [email protected].

The Pundit — Operated by ThePundit.io, trading as The Pundit. Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Last updated: July 2026.