Official Contest Rules

PyCap runs free-to-play contests. There is no entry fee, no purchase of any kind is required or advantages an entrant, and prizes are Cap Coins — site currency that can be redeemed only for PyCap API access. Cap Coins cannot be bought, sold, transferred, or exchanged for cash or anything of independent value.

Each contest records which version of these rules governed it. If a rule below changes, contests already open continue under the version they were opened with.

General terms

Eligibility

  • You must be at least 18 years old and hold a PyCap account.
  • One entry per account per contest. Operating multiple accounts to enter more than once forfeits any coins earned by those accounts.
  • Contests are void where prohibited.

No purchase, no consideration

Entry is free. No payment, subscription, wager, or purchase is required to enter, and holding a paid PyCap plan confers no advantage in any contest. Cap Coins are never sold: no payment path in our system is capable of crediting them, and that restriction is enforced in our code rather than by policy alone.

Cap Coins

  • Earned only by free actions: finishing well in a contest, keeping an entry streak, and a one-time bonus when your account is opened.
  • Redeemable at published, fixed prices for a time-limited grant of a PyCap API plan. Redemption is guaranteed at the published price and involves no chance.
  • Not redeemable for cash, gift cards, cryptocurrency, or anything else of independent value. They have no cash value, cannot be transferred between accounts, and are not property.
  • We may adjust prices and earn rates for future contests. Coins already earned keep their balance.

Grading, ties and voids

  • Selections are graded against the official final score of the event.
  • A postponed or cancelled game, or one that has not finished within 48 hours of the slate, is void: it is removed from your card and counts neither for nor against you.
  • If every selection on your card voids, the card is not scored.
  • Entrants on the same score share a rank, and each is awarded that rank's prize in full. The rank immediately below a tie is not awarded.
  • Results are final once a contest is graded. A later correction to an official score may update our published dataset but will not change coins already awarded.

Changing your entry

You may replace your entry at any time until the first game on your card starts. Once any game on your card has started, the whole card is locked.

Daily Pick'em pickem-v1

How to play

Pick the winner of any number of games on the day's slate. One selection per game, moneyline only — you are picking who wins, not a margin.

Scoring

  • A correct pick scores 1 point.
  • A tie in regulation scores 0.5 points.
  • An incorrect pick scores nothing.
  • Highest total wins. Prizes are shown on the contest itself before you enter.
  • A perfect card of at least three live selections earns an additional bonus.

Where it is offered

Daily Pick'em is a free pool with no point spread involved and is open to eligible entrants in all fifty states and the District of Columbia.

Beat the Close beat-close-v1

How to play

Choose up to five selections from the day's slate. The price showing when you submit is locked to your entry and recorded permanently.

Scoring

  • Each selection is scored on closing-line value: the difference, in implied probability, between the price the market closed at and the price you locked.
  • Positive value means you took a longer price than the market closed at. This is a measure of timing and judgement, and is independent of whether the bet would have won.
  • Your score is the sum across your selections. Highest total wins.
  • Any entry finishing with positive total value earns a participation bonus.
  • A selection for which no closing price was captured contributes nothing and is not counted against you.
  • If closing prices are still outstanding 36 hours after the slate, the contest is graded on what is available rather than left open indefinitely.

Where it is offered

Beat the Close involves selecting sides against a posted line. Entry remains free, but a small number of jurisdictions treat contests of this style as regulated activity regardless of entry price. It is therefore not offered to entrants in Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Washington, New York, California, or Florida.

Entering requires you to declare the state you are playing from. That declaration is a condition of entry and is recorded with your entry. Declaring a state you are not located in is a breach of these rules and forfeits any coins earned from the entry. Daily Pick'em remains available everywhere.

Operator and contact

These contests are operated by PyCap. Questions about a contest, a grade, or a coin balance can be sent to support@pycap.app.

Nothing in these contests is a wager, and nothing PyCap publishes is betting advice. Our own published benchmark finds the closing market efficient — which is precisely why Beat the Close scores timing against that market rather than pretending to beat it.