Questions and answers
Breakroom Pick'em is a free office pick'em with an AI helper that does the weekly work. The organizer pays $40, $80 or $150 one time, players never pay, and there's no betting of any kind. The rest of the answers are below.
The no-betting part
Is this gambling?
No. Nobody pays to play and nobody can win anything of value, so nothing is being wagered. It's a free game where you pick winners and see who's ahead. The only payment is the organizer buying the software, and that price is the same no matter who wins.
Can we put money on it ourselves?
Please don't. The Terms don't allow betting on a league, the site has no way to track money, and I'll close a league that's being used that way. If your group wants a cash pool, this isn't the right tool.
Can the winner get a prize?
No. Nobody pays to play and nothing of value gets paid out, and that includes a gift card from the boss. The winner gets the top spot on the board. There are weekly awards too, like the Perfect Card and the Wooden Spoon, but those are just titles.
Does the Commish give betting tips?
No. There are no odds, point spreads or betting advice anywhere on the site. The Commish answers questions about your league, like how the tiebreaker works or who's in first.
What do I tell HR?
Send them the no-betting promise page. The short version: players give a display name and their picks, nobody pays anything, and nobody wins anything of value. There's also a sample office pool policy on this site that HR can copy.
Price
How much does it cost?
$40, $80 or $150, paid one time by the organizer. Huddle is $40 for up to 40 players. Varsity is $80 for up to 100 players in each of 3 leagues. Franchise is $150 for up to 250 players in each of 10 leagues. Players never pay.
Is it a subscription?
No. You pay once and nothing renews by itself. The league is yours to keep. The Commish, the AI helper, is included for the first year. After that you can pay to keep it ($20, $40 or $75 for another year, depending on your plan) or run the league by hand for free.
Who pays? Do players ever pay?
One person pays: the organizer, who's called the Captain. It's a software purchase, like buying any other tool for the office. Players never pay anything, to me or to each other.
What happens after the first year?
Your league keeps going. The players, the picks, the standings and the history all stay, and that costs nothing. The part with a time limit is the Commish, the AI helper. It comes with every plan for the first year. After that you can pay to keep it for another year ($20, $40 or $75, depending on your plan), or run the league by hand for free. By hand means you paste the schedule and tap the winners yourself. You're never charged unless you press the button.
What if our league outgrows its plan?
Go to the Captain sign-in page and move up. You only pay the difference between the two plans. Huddle to Varsity is $40. Everyone's picks, the standings and the league link stay the same.
Can I get a refund?
Yes. Tell me within 30 days of buying, before your first week is graded, and I'll refund all of it. Write to help@breakroompickem.com from the email you paid with. Once a week has been graded, the purchase is final. When a plan is refunded, its leagues are turned off.
How it works
Can I try it before paying?
Yes. The demo is a made-up league that runs in your browser. You can make picks, look at the standings, read the memo and try the Captain's desk. There's nothing to install.
Do players need an account or an app?
No. The league link opens in any browser. A player types a name, picks a jersey number, and they're in. Their phone remembers them after that.
How many players can join?
Up to 40 on Huddle, 100 per league on Varsity and 250 per league on Franchise. There's no minimum, but the Lone Wolf bonus needs at least 4 players picking a game.
Which sports can we pick?
Anything with a winner. The Commish can look up schedules for the NFL, college football, the NBA, college basketball, the NHL and Major League Baseball, soccer in England, Spain, Italy and Germany (the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A and the Bundesliga), and the week's golf tournament, tennis tournament, car race or fight card. A golf week is a question on who wins the tournament, plus head-to-heads between players. Anything else you can type or paste in: another league, an awards night, the office chili cook-off.
When do picks lock?
Each game locks at its own kickoff, so a Thursday game doesn't lock the Sunday games. A golf tournament or a race locks when it starts. Your picks are hidden until that game kicks off. After that, everyone in the league can see them.
What's the difference between classic and confidence?
Classic is one point for each right pick. In confidence, each player ranks their picks, and a right pick is worth the number they put on it. So the pick you're surest about is worth the most. The Captain chooses one for the league.
What are the Star Pick and the Lone Wolf?
The Star Pick is one game a week that a player marks for double points. If it misses, it costs a point. The Lone Wolf is a 2-point bonus for being right when a quarter of the league or fewer made the same pick. It needs at least 4 cards on that game.
What about people who don't follow sports?
They can play, and sometimes they win. A pick is one tap, the Lone Wolf bonus rewards picking against the crowd, and the Captain can add questions that have nothing to do with sports.
Does it work for remote and hybrid teams?
Yes. It's one link that opens in any browser, and kickoff times show in each player's own time zone. The league can also post to Slack, Microsoft Teams, Discord or Google Chat when the sheet is up, when picks are about to lock and when the week is final.
The Commish
What if the AI gets a score wrong?
You can fix it. Every score the Commish enters shows the pages it read, and the Captain can change any result with one tap. The Captain's log shows who changed what and when. If you'd rather check everything yourself, leave autopilot off.
What AI is the Commish?
It runs on Claude, made by Anthropic. When a league uses the AI features, league details like names, picks and standings are sent to it so it can write the memo or answer the question. It isn't used for ads, and I don't sell data.
Can I run the league without the AI?
Yes. Paste or type the schedule and the sheet gets built from it. Tap the winners when the games end. The standings, the awards and a basic Monday memo still happen on their own. That's how a league runs for free after the first year.
Practical things
Will it work on our office network?
It should. It's a regular website with no betting content, no odds and no ads, so there's nothing on it for a web filter to object to. If the office network does block it, every player's link also works on a phone.
What if I lose my captain link?
Go to the Captain sign-in page. If it offers to email you a sign-in link, enter the email you paid with. If it doesn't, write to me from that email and I'll send you a new captain link.
What do you know about the players?
A display name, a jersey number, two colors and their picks. No email address and no phone number. There are no ads and no trackers, and I don't sell data.
Is this connected to the NFL or any league?
No. Breakroom Pick'em isn't affiliated with or endorsed by the NFL, the NCAA, the NBA, the NHL, Major League Baseball, the PGA Tour, the ATP, the WTA, NASCAR, Formula 1, the UFC, the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, the Bundesliga, or any other league, tour, team or event. Team and player names are only used to identify games.
Who is behind this?
I am. I run Lind-Sac AI Solutions LLC, a one-person software shop in Omaha, Nebraska. I built Breakroom Pick'em so an office can run a pool with no money in it.
Written by the person who builds Breakroom Pick'em at Lind-Sac AI Solutions LLC, Omaha, Nebraska. Last reviewed .