Welcome, Brawlers! BenchBrawl is a peer-to-peer, tournament-style pick'em competition. Each round, Brawlers make picks against the odds to earn points. The Brawler with the highest cumulative point total at the end of the competition wins. Questions or feedback? Reach out at [email protected] — we'd love to hear from you.
Quick Start
- Enter a Brawl from the feed.
- Make your picks. Each pick's odds determine how many points it's worth.
- Winning picks score points each round; points aggregate into the overall standings.
- When the Brawl ends, the Brawlers with the most total points win the prize pool.
Aura and Cash
BenchBrawl has two currencies, and every Brawl is played in one of them:
- Aura is our play-for-fun coin. It has no monetary value and can never be redeemed. Aura Brawls pay Aura prizes.
- Cash is our promotional sweepstakes coin. It can't be bought — you get it free as a bonus with Aura purchases, through quests and rewards, or by mail-in request (see the Terms of Use — no purchase necessary). Cash Brawls pay Cash prizes, and Cash winnings can be redeemed from your wallet after identity verification.
Entering a Brawl
- The feed lists open Brawls across sports — from single-day dailies to season-long competitions.
- Each Brawl shows its entry fee (Aura or Cash; some Brawls are free), its schedule of rounds, and its prize structure before you join.
- Brawls need a minimum number of participants. If a Brawl doesn't fill, everyone's entry fee is refunded automatically.
- Some Brawls are created by other players — anyone can opt in to become a creator from the creator dashboard and run their own. Some daily Brawls include BenchBrawl-seeded entrants to get the action going. Everyone plays by the same rules.
Making Picks
Each round presents a slate of real games with pick options based on Las Vegas odds. For each game you can pick from six options:
- Over — the combined score of both teams is higher than the listed value.
- Under — the combined score of both teams is lower than the listed value.
- Away moneyline — the away team wins the game.
- Home moneyline — the home team wins the game.
- Away spread — the away team beats the spread. A positive spread (e.g. +10) means the team must win outright or lose by less than the value; a negative spread (e.g. -10) means the team must win by more than the value.
- Home spread — the home team beats the spread, same rules as above.
Pick rules
- You get a set number of picks each round; the number varies by Brawl and sport.
- Mix and match options freely, but you can't pick both sides of the same line (e.g. the over and the under of the same game).
- Picks for a game can be submitted any time after the round opens and before that game starts.
- Picks are final. When you lock a pick, its odds are locked too — even if the real-world line moves afterward. Time your submissions accordingly. Odds refresh roughly every minute, and pending (unlocked) picks highlight when their odds change.
- All picks lock at the start of the round's final game; picks not made by then are forfeited.
Scoring
A pick's locked odds are the sole variable in BenchBrawl's scoring. Each round assigns a base point value per pick (typically 20; a Brawl can configure this per round, e.g. to weight playoff rounds). You earn more for correctly picking underdogs than favorites:
- Favorite (negative odds): points = base × 100 ÷ |odds|. Example at -110 with base 20: 20 × 100 ÷ 110 = 18.18 points.
- Underdog (positive odds): points = base × odds ÷ 100. Example at +110 with base 20: 20 × 110 ÷ 100 = 22 points.
- Push (a tie against the line): half of the pick's winning points.
- Loss: zero points.
If you're familiar with betting odds: the points equal the profit on a $20 bet at those odds. Picks are graded automatically from official final scores shortly after each game ends. If an event is canceled or postponed, affected picks are voided.
Winning and Prize Pools
- Your points accumulate round by round; the leaderboard ranks all Brawlers by total points. Ties share a rank (Olympic-style).
- Each Brawl's prize distribution is fixed and shown before you enter — winner-take-all, 50/30/20, 70/30, or a 7-way split (35/22/15/10/8/6/4%) for daily Brawls.
- The prize pool is funded by entry fees plus any amount BenchBrawl guarantees. For Cash Brawls, a 22% platform fee is retained from entry fees; Aura Brawls have no fee.
- Prizes pay out automatically in the Brawl's currency once the final round is graded.
Eligibility and Fair Play
- You must be 18 or older and located in a permitted state — see the Terms of Use for the current list.
- One account per person. Bots, multi-accounting, collusion, and location spoofing get accounts suspended and winnings voided.
- Play responsibly: deposit limits, time-outs, and self-exclusion live at Responsible Play. Help is available 24/7 at 1-800-522-4700.