Gambling Pool for the World Cup

I love gambling on sporting events.  In particular, I love betting pools – like the NCAA Tournament, NFL pick-em pools, NBA playoffs, etc.  Three of my friends and I have sports pools going all the time – even if its just the four of us playing against each other.  When the World Cup was approaching, I knew we would have to do something – in addition to our World Cup Fantasy game, of course.  I couldn’t find much good info about doing a pool for the World Cup, so here are the rules of the pool that I made up for this year’s World Cup:

There are 4 participants drafting all 32 teams (8 each).  We picked out of a hat for draft order, using a snake draft to make the picks.  Here is how the scoring will go…

Group Stage

win = 3 points
tie = 1 point
(game bonus) win by more than 2 goals = 1 point
(round bonus) win group = 2 points
(round bonus) group 2nd place = 1 point
(round bonus) most goals scored in round = 2 points (1 point if there are multiple teams tied)
(round bonus) least goals allowed in round = 2 points (1 point if there are multiple teams tied)

First 2 Knockout Rounds

outright win = 4 points
shootout win = 3 points
shootout loss = 1 point
(game bonus) win by more than 2 goals = 1 point

Semifinals

outright win = 5 points
shootout in = 4 points
shootout loss = 1 point
(game bonus) win by more than 2 goals = 1 point

Finals

win = 6 points
shootout loss = 1 point
(game bonus) win by more than 2 goals = 1 point

So there is my pool for the World Cup.  We will see how it goes!