The Weekly Pool Settings is accessible through Pool Menu: Change Pool Settings: New Settings or :A Previous Week's Settings.
Both New Settings and A Previous Week's Settings bring up the same window. New Settings indicates the range of weeks for the setting changes. The range is always for the next week (the week following the last week with scores entered) through week 25.
For A Previous Week's Settings, the Week # and the week you have chosen will be used instead of a range of weeks. Changes will affect only that week.
Mac QB treats each week's pool as a separate pool and, using the settings you've entered for that week, archives (that is, closes the book on) each week's pool when all the scores have been entered for that week. You can still view or print the Master Sheet or view the Week's Pool Results for any archived week.
You could have different settings for each week for a total of 25 different pool types. However, in practice you will probably stay with the same settings throughout the season.
When you choose New Settings, the settings you enter will apply for the full range of remaining weeks. This is done so the settings carry over from one week to the next without your having to reset them each week. However, you can change them again at any time during the season.
Pool Type:
There are 2 basic pool types, the pick winners and the confidence pools. However, with other options the total number of pool types exceeds 800! (Is that impressive or what?)
Pick Winners : Each player picks the teams in the required number of games that he/she thinks is going to win. The player with the most winning picks wins the pool, if his total number of winning picks equals or exceeds the Winning Picks Needed to win.
Confidence Pool: Not only must each player pick the teams in the required number of games that he/she thinks is going to win, but must assign to each team a different confidence number from 1 to the number of games he/must pick. The higher the number the higher the confidence.
For example: In a pool with 10 games to be picked, the player assigns the number 10 to the team that he/she thinks is most likely to win. Then 9 to the next team, 8 to the next, etc., all the way to number 1, the team he/she has the least confidence in.
For each winning pick, the player gets the confidence points he/she assigned to that team. The player with the most points wins.
Pool Title and Sub-Title:
Both the Pool Title and Sub-Title are used for headings on the Entry Form and the Master Sheets, first the Pool Title and then below that the Sub-Title. Your choice for a Pool Title does not affect the name of your Pool File.
Games Each Player Must Pick:
You may set this to any number. However, since a maximum of 15 games are possible, if you enter 15 or higher, Mac QB will change your entry to “All.” You can also enter “All” if the players are to pick a winner for all the games on the Entry Form.
If the number of games for a particular week is less than the number you set, Mac QB automatically sets the Must Pick number for that week to the actual number of games. You DO NOT have to change the number for shortened schedules.
Winning Picks Needed to Win:
You may set this to any number. However, if the number exceeds the number of games each player must or can pick, Mac QB will reset the Winning Picks number to the Must Pick number.
If the winner of the pool is the one with the most winning picks or the most confidence points, then set this to 0 or 1. For the winning picks type pool, you could stipulate in your rules that the person with the most wins must have at least 5 or 6 winning picks. Then if no one has at least that number of winning picks, the pool would parlay over to the next week.
It you set the Winning Picks number to the same number as the Must Pick number, you have a parlay pool. It is called a parlay pool because there is the likelihood of no one winning and the pool will continue to carry over (parlay) to the next week until someone has the required number of Winning Picks for that week. The optimum numbers for a parlay pool seem to be 4, for a small group (under 20), or 5, for larger groups. Any number below 4 is too easy and you'll have several people win each week, forcing a tie-breaker or dividing the pool. Any number over 5, is too difficult and may lead to an entire season without a winner.
Must Win Against the Spread
If this box is check, then Mac QB adds the spread for each game to the underdog before determing the winner of the game. For example, Cincinnati at Dallas -17. Dallas is the favorite by 17 points. The final score is Dallas 30, Cincinnati 14. Mac QB adds the 17 point spread to Cincinnati's score, making it 31. The adjusted score is Cincinnati 31, Dallas 30. Players who picked Cincinnati win the pick. Those who picked Dallas lose.
If the adjusted score ends in a tie, neither pick wins. In the above example, if Dallas were favored by 16, the adjusted score would be Dallas 30, Cincinnati 30. Any player who had picked either Dallas or Cininnati would lose that pick.
This option adds to every game a degree of difficulty that otherwise would not necessarily exist. In a pool where the spread is not used, almost all the players would pick Dallas, making it, in effect, a "non-game."
Include Tie-Breaker
(Option: Cannot Exceed Total Score)
If this box is checked, then each player must include with his/her picks what he believes will be the total score of the tie-breaker game. The tie-breaker game is always the last game on the Entry Form and is outlined in a bold box on the Master Sheets. In the event two or more players have the necessary winning picks to win the pot, the winning player is the one whose tie-breaker score comes closest to the total score.
With the Cannot Exceed Total Score option checked, if the tie-breaker has to be invoked, any player whose tie-breaker score is greater than the total score of the tie-breaker game is automatically eliminated. For example, if the total score is 42 and player A has a tie-breaker score of 40 and player B has a tie-breaker score of 43, player A wins because player B's score is greater than the total score.
Includes Monday Night Game
In essence, this option is a formatting option. If this box is checked, Mac QB assumes the last game in the schedule is the Monday night game. On the Master Sheets, the Monday night game will be set off from the others with a Monday Night Game heading. If the tie-breaker option is on, the Monday night game becomes the tie-breaker game.
Uncheck this option if your schedule of games may not include the Monday night game or if you wish to have a game other than the Monday night game as the tie-breaker.
