WNBA Pick'em: The Summer Hoops Pool to Run While the League Heats Up
The WNBA plays all summer with tight, well-balanced games, and hardly anyone runs a pool on it. Set up a WNBA Pick'em with your crew, pick sides against the spread each slate, play for chips, and you've got hoops to sweat every week of the offseason.
Summer's the dead zone for most sports fans — no NFL, no college hoops, the NBA's wrapped up. But the WNBA is right there in the middle of its season, the games are close, and basically nobody in your group is paying attention to it. That's the whole pitch: a pool everyone can play and nobody has a real edge in yet.
Why WNBA games are good for a pool
The league is tight. The talent gap between the top and bottom isn't huge, the spreads are usually small, and games come down to the wire more often than you'd guess. That's exactly what you want in a Pick'em — close lines mean it stays a real contest all season instead of everyone fading the same bad team every week.
Nobody's the expert (which is the fun part)
In an NBA pool everybody thinks they know ball. In a WNBA pool it's wide open. The person who actually watches a few games a week — knows who's hot, who's hurt, who's on a back-to-back — has a real edge over the crew picking on logos. Pick a few games, watch a few games, and you're already ahead of the group.
→ Hosting your first one? Here's how to keep a Pick'em group engaged all the way to the finish.What to actually look for
A few things move WNBA games more than people expect, and they're easy to check. Rest is the big one — teams on the back end of a back-to-back, or coming off a long road trip, tend to fade late. Pace matters too: a couple of teams play fast and put up points, so their games sail over the total, while the grind-it-out matchups stay under. And always glance at who's actually suiting up — one star sitting can swing a spread by a bunch. You don't have to be a film junkie. Just check who's rested and who's hot before you lock your picks and you're ahead of most of your group.
Setting it up takes a couple minutes
Make a free club, set it to Pick'em, and send the invite code to your group. Each slate, everyone picks sides against the spread, the points stack into a leaderboard, and the winner takes the chip pot at the end. It runs on chips, not cash — so there's nothing to collect, nobody to chase, and no reason for the one guy who always forgets to pay to wreck the whole thing.
→ Want a summer football pool to go with it? The CFL's playing right now too.Bridge it into football season
The smart play is to use the summer to get your crew used to the pool. Run WNBA now, keep the same club and the same people, and when football rolls around you flip it to an NFL Pick'em with everyone already in. No dead weeks, no re-recruiting your group in September.
Spin up a free WNBA Pick'em club on ValueBet, drop the invite code in the chat, and give your crew some summer hoops to sweat.
Create your free club →FAQ
Why run a WNBA pool instead of waiting for the NFL?
Because there's nothing else on, the games are close, and nobody's an expert yet. It's the easiest pool to get into and one of the most wide-open ones to win.
Do I need to follow the WNBA closely to play?
No. Most casual groups don't, which is exactly why it's fun. If you watch a couple games a week you'll have a real edge, but anyone who can read a spread can play.
How does the Pick'em format work?
Each slate you pick a side against the spread for the games you want. Right picks earn points, points build a leaderboard, and the leader at the end takes the chip pot. Same format as an NFL or CFL pool.
Is there real money involved?
No. It's all chips — nothing to deposit, nothing to cash out. You're playing for the standings and the bragging rights.
Can I switch the club to another sport later?
Yes. Keep the same club and crew and roll it into an NFL or NBA Pick'em when those seasons start, so nobody has to re-join.