Free Sports Betting Contests Pick'em Games, Props + More

Affiliate Disclosure
This page contains affiliate links. If you make a deposit through one of these links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. These commissions support content creation and ensure we can continue to provide up-to-date information.
For sports betting fans, there’s nothing better than an opportunity to win big with zero buy-in. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of the best sports betting contests that are free to play online. From March Madness brackets to pick’em pools, these contests are beloved by casual and diehard fans alike. Covering multiple sports and leagues, our top online betting contests give you an opportunity to test your knowledge, making winning picks, and compete for prizes. Find your new favorite pick’em, bracket challenge, and try to Beat the Geek in our free NFL contest.

Current Contests

March Madness Big Hoops Daily NHL Goal Scorer Bingo NBA Double Double Bingo MLB NRFI Fridays

Play a Daily March Madness Contest for Free!

If you don’t want to miss out on daily March Madness action at your sportsbook, try our free Big Hoops contest for repeat chances at scoring big! Each day, we’ll have a selection of lines for you to choose from, with prizes going to the keenest of bettors. This can be anything from the moneyline, spread, props, and other March Madness bets that will keep you on your toes. We’ll be updating the contest each day of the NCAAB tournament, so be sure to bookmark this link and try your luck every day.

Play Now

Free MLB No Runs First Inning Contest Every Friday

Play a free MLB contest every Friday of the MLB season by predicting no run first inning (NRFI) results and win a $250 Amazon gift card. Select the games from the slate that won’t have any runs in the first inning. A perfect score could win you up to $250 – go head-to-head against other MLB bettors and test your NRFI expertise, all for free.
Play Now

Predict NHL Goal Scorers and Win Prizes!

Another free contest, our NHL Goal Scorer Bingo asks hockey fans to predict six different goalscorers during any night there are 6+ regular season NHL matches ongoing.

With multiple busy nights over the course of the hockey season, you can try your hand at guessing who’s going to light the lamp many times! Give it a (slap)shot and see how well you know professional hockey.

Play Now

Pick Tonight’s NBA Double-Double Players

Rounding out our contest offerings, we’ve created a double-double NBA bingo that asks fans to predict who’s going to end the night with a double-double statline (10+ stats in 2 categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks).

It’s absolutely free to enter and choose winning players, and you can win prizes for correct predictions. Next time there’s a stellar line of NBA games, give this contest from The Sports Geek a shot.

Play Now

If you’re unfamiliar with sports betting contest offerings, don’t sweat it. There’s plenty of ways to get involved, no matter your skill level. Here’s a quick list of the most popular options online.

Pick 'Em Contest

Pick'em Contests

Pick’em contests have their players picking the winner of head-to-head matchups during the NFL or college football season. Every winning pick earns a point.The goal is to accumulate the most points by the end of the season or contest period, which means you have to make the most winning picks.These contests often feature weekly, monthly, or season-long prizes. Beat the Geek is one example of a free NFL pick’em, which you can play now (and maybe even win an NFL trip for two).
Survivor Pools

Survivor Pools

Survivor pools typically run the length of a full season. Each week, players pick one team with the best chance of winning their matchup. If that team wins, the player will advance to the next round of the pool. If their team loses, the player is eliminated.The catch is that if your team wins, you can’t select them again from the pool for the rest of the contest. Survivor pools require players to make strategic choices to ensure there are still strong teams left to pick late in the season — and there can only be one winner.NFL survivor pools are the most common type of this pick’em contests, thanks to their once-a-week matchup schedule.
Fantasy Sports contests

Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS)

DFS is a faster-paced version of traditional fantasy sports, usually requiring you to draft a team for just a single day. This contrasts with typical fantasy leagues, where players usually draft for a whole season’s worth of competition.DFS players earn points based on the real in-game performance of the athletes they draft. There is also a salary cap while drafting, offering layers of depth and strategy to selecting the best possible team. At the end of the contest period, the highest-scoring players’ teams win cash prizes, typically split among the top-performing teams.
Bracket Contest

Bracket Contests

Bracket contests ask their players to predict the outcome of each game in a tournament, typically from the opening round-robin games right to the final game. Players fill out their brackets before the tournament begins by selecting the team they think will win each scheduled game, earning points if they are correct.Points for correct predictions will usually increase after each round, which means accurate, long-term predictions will score big. The contestant with the most points at the end of the tournament wins.Brackets are popular for large-scale tournaments, such as the NCAA’s March Madness Bracket Challenge.
Prop Sheets

Props Sheets

Prop sheets are used to predict in-game events — like the number of touchdowns a player will score or which team will win a coin toss. Participants make picks before a game starts and earn points for correct predictions. The player with the most points at the end of the game wins.Prop Sheets are popular for adding extra excitement to big games, especially the Super Bowl.
Squares Contest

Squares

Squares are a contest in which players buy specific cells (squares!) in a grid, where each cell corresponds to possible last digits for each team in the Home–Away score. Players attempt to guess the correct score at the end of each quarter, half, or period. If you buy a square and the last digits match the last digits of both teams’ score, you win a prize or share of a cash pool.A popular version of squares is Super Bowl Squares, where a player buys squares in a 10 × 10 grid labelled 0–9.

Our Favorite Sports Betting Contests Right Now

If you’re looking to jump into the action, consider playing some of the best sports betting contests available. We’ve compiled a short list of our favorite contests, offering a mix of free and buy-in options depending on your preference.

  1. BetUS Survivor Pool

    BetUS is currently running a series of NFL survivor pools, all with different buy-in amounts ranging from $10 to $500. It’s a winner take all format, so the payday for the winner of every pool is substantial.

    If you think you’ve got the chops to predict a perfect NFL season, visit our friends at BetUS and sign up for a BetUS account today. From there, you can find contest offerings under the “More” tab at the top of their page.

  2. BetOnline’s NFL MegaContest

    While BetOnline offers survivor pool options as well, the most eye-catching opportunity for sports bettors is their $200,000 NFL MegaContest. This is a pick’em handicapping contest where you’ll choose five against the spread picks for every week of the NFL season.

    BetOnline’s contest options go far beyond pick’ems and survivor pools, too. They offer free contests for score predictions, props, and more. To explore the full list, sign up with BetOnline and explore their “Contests” tab.

Tips for Winning Your Sports Betting Contests

Trusting your gut is a good place to start when entering a contest, but with the wealth of info at your disposal, consider doing a bit of research before jumping in. Here are a few ways to get started.

Take Advantage of Betting Lines for Pick’em Contests

Lines change all the time before the start of a matchup, so why not do a little research before submitting your weekly picks? You could find some juicy tidbits, like a team moving back two or three points based on public money movement. Sportsbooks are always trying to be as accurate as possible, which means their research can also be your research, in a sense. Supplement yourself with key information like points spread strategies, but don’t forget about other betting lines when placing your selections.

Use Player Props for DFS Contests

Sportsbooks are in the business of making money, so they’ll always try to find the most accurate lines for player props. Considering these lines while creating your DFS team can pay dividends if you take the time to compare their salary value versus expected performance. If there’s a low-value player that the books think will have a decent game, that’s an excellent start to crafting the perfect DFS roster.

Hedge Your Survivor Pool Bets

No one ever said you have to do just one survivor pool! Hedge your bets by entering a few different contests, selecting different teams at pivotal points in the season. Maybe you’d like to take a massive favorite like the Kansas City Chiefs early in the season as opposed to later on. Or, perhaps you’re so confident in your picks that you just want to make a few tweaks and hope for multiple payouts. Either way, using multiple NFL survivor pools to hedge your bets could be a smart play.

Casinos Bovada BetUS BetOnline Betwhale Everygame
Bonus 100% up to $1,000 125% up to $2,625 50% up to $250 125% up to $1,250 100% up to $500
Number of Withdrawal Methods 9 7 20 6 5
Live Betting Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Read Review Full Review Full Review Full Review Full Review Full Review
Sign Up Play Now Play Now Play Now Play Now Play Now

Get Exclusive Access to Winning Sports Betting Picks for Free

Click on the button below to get free picks delivered to your email daily...

Get Picks Today!
We're sorry, residents of your region are not accepted by this gambling site! OK
arrowArtboard 1baseball-batArtboard 1baseballArtboard 1basketballArtboard 1billiardsArtboard 1bowlingArtboard 1clipboardArtboard 1closeArtboard 1facebookArtboard 1footballArtboard 1golfArtboard 1google-plusArtboard 1hockyArtboard 1PolygonmagnifyArtboard 1magnifyArtboard 1ping-pongArtboard 1plusArtboard 1return-to-topArtboard 1soccer-courtArtboard 1soccerArtboard 1trophyArtboard 1twitterArtboard 1vollyballArtboard 1youtubeArtboard 1
arrow up