How to play
Scoring system
The SportGuru scoring system aims to reward different aspects of prediction with different types of points. You'll see these represented all around the site as WP (Win Point), MP (Margin Point), BP (Bonus Point) and, in some tournaments, GSP (Grand Slam Point) and CP (Challenge Point).
Win Point (WP)
The meat and bread of SportGuru. You'll score a Win Point if you correctly predict the winner of a game (or a draw, where applicable), irrespective of margin. In the case of penalty shootouts, WP will be won by anyone correctly predicting the winner, whether the team wins in regular play or penalties.
Value
The core Win Point value is usually 1 pt, but it does vary through the different stages of a tournament, increasing in value as picking the winner becomes harder.
For World Cup:
| Value | Rounds |
| 1.00 pt | From Round 1 to 8 |
| 1.50 pts | Quarter-finals |
| 2.00 pts | From Round 10 to 11 |
| 3.00 pts | Finals |
Margin Point (MP)
The Margin Point rewards accuracy in margin, and, in the case of soccer, correct score for either team (as long as you got the winner of the game right).
Value
| Value | Vector | Pre-requisites |
| 0.5 pts | Goal difference | Correct winner |
| 0.25 pts | Goals for team #1 | Correct winner |
| 0.25 pts | Goals for team #2 | Correct winner |
Example 1
You predict Honduras 3 - 2 Argentina and the actual score is Honduras 4 - 3 Argentina. You will score 0.5 pts for the correct goal difference, but nothing for the actual team goals.
Example 2
You predict Honduras 3 - 2 Argentina and the actual score is Honduras 4 - 2 Argentina. Your goal difference was wrong, but you will score 0.25 pts for correctly predicting 2 goals for Argentina.
Example 3
You predict Honduras 2 - 1 Argentina and the actual score is Argentina 3 - 2 Honduras. You won't qualify for any Margin Points as even though you got the correct goals for Honduras, you did not get the winner of the game right. Winner first, margin later.
Special case: penalty shootout
This tournament makes use of penalty shootouts in some of its games. In SportGuru, you will pick the score at the end of play, whether play ends in normal or extra time. If you pick a draw, you'll get the chance to pick who wins the penalty shootout.
Margin Point allocation will be based on the score predictions for full time. We do not take the actual penalty score into account at all as it is so unpredictable.
There is one important exception for the Margin Point: if you pick a draw for full time, but you select the wrong winner of the penalty shootout, you will still qualify for MP with your draw score.
Bonus Point (BP)
The Bonus Point rewards the closest pick(s) in a given pool. To qualify, you must have got the winner of the match correct first. It applies inside each pool only and does not count globally. This means whilst you could score the BP in one pool, you might not in another where someone else has made a better pick than you. The BP is also allocated to predictors of the winner of a penalty shootout, where applicable.
Qualification
To qualify for a BP, you must have got the outcome of the game right (i.e. correctly picked a draw or a win for one of the teams). Putting it another way, even if nobody in your pool gets the winner right, the lowest pick for the losing team will not qualify for a Bonus Point.
Value
The BP is worth 1 pt. If two or more players share it, the point is divided up amongst them, down to a minimum split of 0.25.
| Value | Split |
| 1.0 pt | If 1 player alone is closest |
| 0.5 pts | If 2 players are equally close |
| 0.33 pts | If 3 players are equally close |
| 0.25 pts | If 4 or more players are equally close |
How is "closest" defined?
If you predict the exact score, then it's very easy: obviously that's the closest possible pick. However, if no-one in the pool picks the exact score, then the Bonus Index is used to determine the winner(s) of the BP.
Bonus Index (BI)
This is where it gets complicated! Normally we use points difference to decide this, but in soccer the scoring is insufficient to make goal difference alone a fair reflector of closeness - e.g. a pick of 6-5 and one of 1-0 have the same goal difference but are very different predictions. The Bonus Index uses goal difference, but tempers it with total number of goals too. A formula is applied to each pick:
Bonus Index (BI) =
Abs (
Abs (your goal diff. - actual goal diff.)
+
Abs (your tot. goals - actual tot. goals) / 2
)
The lowest BI wins the BP. Basically, if the combination of your goal difference and total goal difference (which is weighted half of goal difference) is the best in the pool, you'll win the BP. We know it's complicated, but it works reasonably fairly.
Special case: penalty shootout
This tournament makes use of penalty shootouts in some of its games. In SportGuru, you will pick the score at the end of play, whether play ends in normal or extra time. If you pick a draw, you will be given the additional option of choosing which team will win the penalty shootout, and this will count for the Bonus Point: anyone correctly predicting the right team to win the shootout will win/share the Bonus Point.
If nobody correctly predicts that the game will end with a penalty shootout, the closest pick for the winning team, as determined by the Bonus Index described above, will win the BP.
Grand Slam Point (GSP)
The Grand Slam Point rewards getting all the winners in a given round of the tournament correct. It does not necessarily apply to all rounds.
Value
The Grand Slam Point is awarded if you correctly predict the winner (or draw) in all the games in a round (for definition of our rounds, see the fixtures. You will only qualify if you picked all the games in the round and if you did not default on any of them.
| Value | Rounds |
| 2 pts | From Round 1 to Round of 16 |
| 0 pts | From Quarter-finals to Finals |
