How to run an office pool without gambling
Take out the entry fee and the prize. What's left is a prediction game with a leaderboard: people pick winners, the standings keep score, and nobody has put anything at risk. That's the whole idea behind Breakroom Pick'em.
What makes a pool a bet
Gambling is usually described as three things together: something of value goes in, the result is out of your hands, and something of value comes out. In an office pool those are the entry fee, the games and the prize. ARAG describes the typical office pool the same way, and says that in many cases it's considered gambling.
You can't remove the games. You can remove the other two. An SHRM article for employers makes the same point from the other side: most of the legal issues with office pools can be avoided by keeping money out of them.
What to cut and what to keep
| Cut | Keep |
|---|---|
| Entry fees and buy-ins | Picking winners every week |
| Cash prizes, gift cards and payouts | A leaderboard and a weekly winner |
| Side bets between players | A tiebreaker, so a week always has one winner |
| Odds and point spreads | Awards, such as a Perfect Card and a Wooden Spoon |
| Anything that tracks who owes what | The Monday recap and the trash talk |
What replaces the money
I don't think the money was ever the fun part. The fun part is being right when the loudest person in the office was wrong. So the trick is to make sure everybody can see who was right.
- A weekly winner. Top of the Sheet goes to the best card of the week.
- A Perfect Card. For getting every decided game right.
- The Lone Wolf. A bonus of 2 points for being right when 25% of the league or fewer made the same pick.
- The Biggest Climb. For the largest jump in the standings.
- The Wooden Spoon. Last place for the week. It's the award people remember.
- A recap. A short Monday memo that names names.
Five rules for a no-money pool
- It's free to enter, for everyone, every week.
- Nothing of value is paid out. Not cash, not a gift card, not a day off.
- Joining is voluntary, and saying no costs nothing.
- The talk stays friendly. The normal workplace rules still apply.
- It follows the workplace policy on time and equipment.
If you want that written down for HR, here's a sample policy you can copy.
How Breakroom Pick'em keeps money out
- There's no feature that tracks, holds or moves money between players.
- There are no odds or point spreads anywhere. You pick who wins.
- Betting and prize language is filtered out of league names, questions and memos.
- The Terms forbid using a league to wager, and I close leagues that are used that way.
- The only payment is the organizer buying the software, and its price never depends on who wins.
I build software. I'm not a lawyer and this page isn't legal advice. Laws differ by state and they change. If your workplace has its own policy on office pools, follow that policy, and ask your own counsel about anything that matters.
Sources
- ARAG Legal, "Are Office Pools Legal? What to Know"
- SHRM, "How Employers Can Approach March Madness Office Betting Pools," March 15, 2022
I read each of these on November 11, 2026.
Questions
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.
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.
Written by the person who builds Breakroom Pick'em at Lind-Sac AI Solutions LLC, Omaha, Nebraska. Last reviewed .