NBA Betting Contests and Pick ‘em Pools for 2025: Free and for Real Money

• Entry Fee: Free
• Prize Pool: $10,000
• Contest Type: Spread Pick ‘em

BetOnline’s NBA pick ‘em pool runs from just Friday, November 7, to Sunday, November 9, at 9:00 PM ET. Here, you’ll be asked to make the correct spread picks for 26 games taking place on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Registration only opened on Wednesday, November 5, so you’re only a day behind. But enter now to qualify for one of 500 prizes, including a first-place prize of $500! Second place receives $300, third place gets $200, fourth place gets $150, and fifth place gets $100.

There are prizes for certain place ranges, all the way to 351^st to 500^th, which receives $10. All entries in the top 500 also receive 10 free spins.

How to Play:

1. Register for this NBA betting contest, starting on Wednesday, November 5.
2. Pick the winning spread for 26 games from Friday, November 7 to Sunday, November 9.
3. Entry is free; however, you must bet $10 or more in the sportsbook, casino, or racebook between Wednesday and Sunday to qualify for any prizes.
4. You can edit your picks up until tip-off for each game.

• Entry Fee: Free
• Prize Pool: $1,750 in free play for the top three at the end of the year; $500 in free play each month
• Contest Type: Pick ‘em

BetUS has three NBA pick ‘em pools, starting with the Sharpshooter. It’s free to join, but to qualify for the prizes, you must have made one deposit since August 1, 2025. BetUS also wants to ensure everyone gets a fair shake, so if you win in a month, you’re not eligible to win in the following two months.

Furthermore, players can only win two monthly prizes. However, your picks are still counted towards the overall prize. The monthly winners will receive a $500 free play, while the overall winners at the end of the season get $1,000 in free play for first place, $500 for second, and $250 for third place.

While this is an NBA betting contest, you’re also eligible if you’re picking college basketball games.

How to Play:

• Make straight-up wagers in NBA or college basketball of at least $5 to be considered a valid entry.
• All NBA and NCAAB wagers of at least $5 are considered an entry.
• All entries will be graded each Tuesday.

• Entry Fee: Free
• Prize Pool: $25,000
• Contest Type: Pick ‘em Streak

The BetUS Court King NBA betting contest is similar to the Sharpshooter. However, you must make consecutive winning wagers to come out on top! Prizes will be doled out at 15, 20, and 25 consecutive straight-up picks, each of which must be a $10 minimum bet. 15 straight picks gets you a $500 free play, $2,500 for 20 straight wins, and $5,000 for 25 consecutive wins. At the end of the season, there is a $25,000 prize pool to draw from!

You must have made one deposit at this NBA betting site since August 1, and this contest also includes college basketball picks. There is also no minimum or maximum number of picks per day that you can make!

How to Play:

• Make a real-money deposit.
• Make NBA and college basketball picks and get on a hot streak.
• You must select a game played within seven days of your previous selection, or your score goes back to zero.

• Entry Fee: Free
• Prize Pool: N/A
• Contest Type: Pick’em

Finally, the Courtside Seats NBA pick ‘em contest is the easiest of them all! You don’t even have to win your pick; all you need to do is bet on the team you’ve designated as “your team”. Unlike the previous two pools, this is just an NBA betting contest, so college basketball doesn’t count.

Betting for all 25 weeks, you’ll receive a $500 free play, $250 for 24 weeks, and $100 for 23 weeks. Each bet also has to be a minimum of $25.

How to Play:

1. Pick “your team” from a dropdown menu.
2. Make a bet of at least $25 on “your team” from Sunday to Saturday.
3. Making more than one bet won’t matter.

• Entry Fee: Free
• Prize Pool: $10,000 per week
• Contest Type: Pick ‘em

BetNow has a weekly NBA betting contest in which $10,000 is up for grabs each week! If you have an account at BetNow, you can get one free entry per week, in which you have to pick the straight-up winners for 14 NBA games, along with a tiebreaker.

Each winning pick gets a point, and if there is a tie among players, the $10,000 prize is simply split up. There are also consolation prizes for each week, based on the prize pot.

• Entry Fee: Free
• Prize Pool: $5,000
• Contest Type: Pick ‘em

Our final NBA betting contest is from Everygame, which is the $5K Hot Hoops Chase! Every bet you make on the NBA season (as well as college basketball) will be counted, and the player with the highest amount of qualifying bets receives $1,000. Second and third place get $750 each, while fourth and fifth will receive $500 each. From sixth to 20^th in the standings will get $100 each.

To qualify, these wagers must be at least $20. But parlay bets are included, along with single wagers, both pre-game and in-play bets. Moreover, the odds for the wager must be a minimum of -200.

Everygame will update the leaderboard regularly so you can see how you stack up against the competition as the season goes on!