Office Pool · World Cup 2026

How it works

Pick Win, Draw or Loss for every match. Stakes from everyone pool together. Winners split the pot. Simple, social, and fun from kickoff to final whistle.

Step 1

Everyone starts with R400

When you join the pool, you're given a play-money wallet of R400 to bet with across the whole tournament. That balance is yours to spread across all matches — group stage through to the final.

Real money you put into the kitty is tracked separately on the Kitty page.

Step 2

Pick Win, Draw or Loss for every game

For each fixture you choose one of three outcomes from the home team's point of view:

  • Home win
    Home team wins in 90 min
  • Draw
    Level after 90 min
  • Away win
    Away team wins in 90 min

Knockout matches that go to extra time or penalties are settled on the final result that decides who progresses. No need to predict the score — just the outcome.

Step 3

Stake what you like — bets lock at kickoff

Choose how much of your wallet to risk on each match. You can change your pick or stake any time until kickoff (Johannesburg time). Once the referee blows the whistle, your bet is locked in.

Step 4

Pari-mutuel payouts: winners split the pot

Every match has its own pot. Everyone's stake on that match goes in — Win, Draw and Loss combined. When the result comes in, the whole pot is shared between the players who picked correctly, in proportion to how much they staked.

Quick example

Six of us bet on a match. Total pot = R300.

  • 3 players picked Home, staking R50 each (R150 total)
  • 2 players picked Draw, staking R50 each (R100 total)
  • 1 player picked Away, staking R50

The home team wins. The full R300 pot is split between the 3 Home backers, pro-rata to their stake. Each staked the same, so each receives R100 — a R50 profit on their R50 stake. Everyone who picked Draw or Away loses their stake into the pot.

Stake more = win a bigger slice. Pick the same outcome as everyone else = thinner slice. Pick a less popular outcome that comes in = a much bigger one.

If nobody picks the correct outcome, all stakes on that match are forfeited and roll forward — keeping the wallets honest.

Step 5

Through the tournament

Your wallet rises and falls with each result. The Leaderboard shows where everyone stands in real time. The more matches you back well, the bigger your wallet grows for the knockout rounds — where pots tend to be bigger because the games matter more.

Step 6

After the final whistle: real-money payout

When the World Cup final ends, we rank everyone by their final wallet balance. The real-money kitty (everything contributed by players) is paid out by the configured split:

1st
60%
2nd
30%
3rd
10%

The Kitty page shows every contribution and a live projection of what each place would take home today.