1. Pick a Format That Fits Your Group

The format shapes everything else, so start here. If you want something simple that anyone can follow with zero explanation, Last Man Standing is the easiest sell — pick one team a week, lose and you're out. If your group is more into the strategy of ranking picks by confidence, Against The Spread runs all season and rewards consistency over 18 weeks instead of ending the moment someone gets unlucky. For football fans who'd rather predict goalscorers than match winners, Pick 5 is the pick. Unsure? Our glossary covers the terms if any of this is new to you.

2. Decide on Stakes and Prizes

Most office pools run on a small flat entry fee split among the top finishers — but plenty run free, just for bragging rights. Either works. What matters is agreeing on it up front: how much (if anything), who collects it, and how it's split if there are multiple winners or a tie. Settle this before week one; it's a much harder conversation once someone's already lost.

3. Set the Ground Rules

Every format has a few settings worth deciding as a group before you open sign-ups: how many lives in a Last Man Standing pool, whether safety nets are on, what happens if everyone gets knocked out the same week. You don't need to write a legal document — a short rules summary attached to the competition (MyLastMan gives every competition a rules summary field for exactly this) is enough to head off arguments later.

4. Set Up Your Pool in Minutes

Once you know the format, stakes, and rules, creating the actual competition takes a couple of minutes: sign up for free, choose your format and league, and you'll get an invite code and link to share. No spreadsheets, no manually tracking who picked what team already — the app enforces that for you automatically.

5. Invite Your Group

Share the invite link or code however your group already communicates — email, a group chat, a printed sheet on the break room wall. You can also list the competition publicly on MyLastMan so people can find and join it without a direct invite, which is handy for larger or more casual groups.

6. Keep Everyone Engaged All Season

The pools that last all season are the ones where people keep checking in, not just on week one. Post an update when a gameweek finishes, call out a big upset, and keep the leaderboard visible. A pool that goes quiet for a month loses people; a bit of running commentary keeps it alive.

A Quick Note on Money

MyLastMan doesn't process payments or hold funds — entry fees and prize pools are tracked for your own bookkeeping (the admin can mark who's paid), but collecting and paying out money is handled by your group directly, the same way it would be with a paper sign-up sheet.