I. Handling of Packs and Cards
A. Regular Season Boxes and Packs are determined by the dealer and provided on the website prior to game beginning.
B. The selection of Playoff Packs is determined using the formula described in the "Things to Know" section of this website. All packs are selected using a roullette wheel numbered 0, 00, 1-36. The packs associated with each number are listed in the "Playoff Packs" section of this website.
C. Once the pack type is determined, the dealer must pick the pack nearest to the dealer, causing the least amount of movement to nearby packs.
D. Packs may be opened either by tearing at the back of the pack or by using scissors to cut the top or bottom of the pack. If a dealer determines another way of opening the pack is a better way to safely extract the cards, they may.
E. The dealer must wash hands before opening packs and may use surgical gloves at his or her discretion.
F. Organization of Cards for Regular Season. In preparation for the regular season, all of the boxes to be opened are emptied and the card packs are shuffled before opening. Then the packs are opened, and the cards are organized by division, but otherwise kept int he same sequential order they appeared inside the pack. The card nearest to the front of the first pack opened comes first, the card nearest to the back of the last pack comes last, and all other cards in between are played in the order in which they were pulled from the pack. The players are not entitled to view individual cards when they are taken from the pack, but the opening of all packs must take place on camera to ensure provenance.
G. Organization of Cards for Playoffs. The same rules as the regular season for opening packs apply, but during the playoffs the playoff packs are opened as part of the playoffs (because unlike the regular season, the playoffs are not organized by division). The first card played is the card nearest to the front of the first pack, the last card played is nearest to the back of the final pack and all other cards in betwen are played in their sequential order.
H. Cards may not be slabbed during the regular season or playoffs. Once the game is complete the dealer is directed to slab any cards that may have value.
I. Shipping. Cards must be shipped within 24 hours of the ending of the game by USPS, unless the game occurs on Friday or Saturday, in which case the cards must be shipped the following Monday or in case of holidays on the soonest day that the USPS is open.
J. All cards are shipped to the participant who owns the team in which the cards are affiliated, except for prize cards and the champions card, which go to whichever team won the card. When a card is pulled that shows a player who is not affiliated on the card with a professional team, the dealer shall look up which team drafted the player and that team shall receive the card, unless a trade took place before the player played his first game. In such a case, the card goes to the team which the player played his first game. If a card is pulled that is affiliated with a team and does not include a player that can be looked up, or with multiple players but no specifically named player, these cards are not distributed to any players and may be given to the team who ended up with the fewest cards at the end of the game. These cards are referred to as 'Junk Pile' cards.
K. Distribution of Cards to Teams. Sometimes cards are pulled from teams that no longer exist or have changed names or cities. Here are the rules of distribution for these special circumstances:
1. All Houston Oilers cards go to the Houston Texans;
2. All Chargers cards go to LA Chargers;
3. All Raiders cards go to Las Vegas Raiders;
4. All Browns cards go to Cleveland Browns;
5. All Rams cards go to the LA Rams;
6. All Colts cards go to the Indianapolis Colts;
7. All Dallas Texans cards go the Kansas City Chiefs;
8. All Boston Redskins cards go to the Washington Commanders;
9. All Washington Redskins cards go to the Washington Commanders;
10. All St Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cardinals cards go to the Arizona Cardinals;
11. All Portsmouth Spartans cards go to the Detroit Lions;
12. All Decatur Staleys cards go to the Chicago Bears.
L. When One Card Contains Player Names from Multiple Teams. When a single card contains two or more players from different teams, the card is awarded as follows: Vertical Alignment: the card is awarded to the team of the player on top of the card when held vertically. Horizontal Alignment: the card is awarded to the players on the left side of the card when the card is held horizontally.
M. In unforeseen circumstances, not anticipated by the rules, the dealer should make a determination in the best interests of the league weighing fairness to the participants as the highest value. When such a decision is made, it must be incorporated into the rules after the game, or if a ruling was made in error the harmed party shall be justly compensated for the mistake.
II. Regular Season, Connecting Four Positions for Prize Cards & Twin Up Battleship
A. Order of Play. The regular season is played one division at a time. Typically the order goes as follow: AFC North, AFC, East, AFC West, AFC South, then NFC North, NFC East, NFC West and finally NFC South. This is the merely the recommended order of play and may be adjusted for any reasons that facilitates the administration and enjoyment of the game.
B. Organization of Cards. (Please refer to Rule I-F above.) Once cards have been removed from the packs and organized into divisions, they must stay face down divided by division, until that division is ready to play.
C. Division Tables & Card Placement. Before the division begins play, the dealer shall move that divisions game board to underneath the camera. Then the dealer shall take the cards for that division and place them face up below the four oval shapes associated with the teams of that division, so that only the top card is showing.
D. Play. The dealer shall methodically place each card in the oval connected to the that card's team, stating the team and the player's name and the position of the player. The dealer shall examine the front and state when a card contains an autograph. If an autograph is on a card, the dealer shall state so.
E. Placement of Cards on Team Ovals. For each team, the placement of the first card should be on the left side of the oval and each subsequent should be placed on top of the last slowly shifting towards the right side of the oval so that each card may be seen yet making sure it is clear which card is on top. When many cards are placed on the same oval causing confusion, making sure that the current top card remains on top.
F. Dealer Narrative. During the course of play, the dealer shall do his or her best and keeping track of the score and of communicating the alignment of the player positions on each card, and regularly communicate to the players when there is a possibility that each team's top card will show the same position and a Positional Prize Card may be won. The dealer shall regularly communicate the score during the course of the game, especially towards the end of close games.
G. Determining Playoff Teams. After all the cards are played, the dealer shall count up the score for each team and announcing which two teams have qualified for the playoffs - remember its the team with the most points and the team with the fewest points.
H. Qualifying for the Playoffs. The team with the most points in a division qualifies for the playoffs. The team with the fewest points in a division also qualifies for the playoffs. These teams will compete against each other in the Wildcard round of the playoffs.
I. Scoring. Each card is worth one point. Autograph cards are worth 7 points (one point for the card and six points for the autograph. If a dual autograph card is pulled, 14 points are allotted for the card (one for the card, 2+2 for the autographs). Positional Prize Cards are worth 10 points.
J. Positional Prize Card. In each game there are six positional prize cards: Quarterback (QB), Running Back (RB), Wide Receiver (WR), Tight End (TE), Offensive Lineman (OL), and Defense (DEF).
K. Winning Prize Cards. A Prize Card is won when all four teams' top cards have the same position. For example: If The Bills' top card is a QB, and the Jets' top card is a QB, and the Dolphins' top card is a QB, but the Patriots card is a RB, no prize is awarded. But, if the next card is a patriots QB, then a prize card is awarded. That prize card is awarded to the Patriots because they were the final team to hit the QB, connecting all four teams' top cards QB-QB-QB-QB. When this occurs, the preselected QB Prize Card is awarded to the Patriots and the Patriots will receive 10 points for the prize cards.
L. Autographs not valued for Prize Cards. All prize cards are worth 10 points regardless of whether they contain an autograph.
M. Limit on Prize Cards. Only one prize card per position may be awarded per division per game may be won. So taking the example from rule II-K when the Patriots won the QB Prize Card. If the very next card is also a QB, the team receiving that card does not receive a prize card because that position's prize card has already been awarded for the division. Multiple prize cards may be won in each division per game, they just must be different positions.
N. Other Divisions Eligible for Prize Cards. The winning of a Positional Prize Card in one division does not exclude a prize card for the same position from being awarded in a different division. When such an event occurs, the dealer shall pause regular season play, spin the roulette wheel and retrieve the card.
O. Card Not Found. If the card cannot be found by the dealer after a reasonable amount of time, the dealer shall give the player the choice of receiving the prize one below or one above the initially selected prize card. If the player is not present to communicate his choice the dealer shall select the card one higherr than the original card selected.
P. Kickers and Punter Cards. Cards containing a kicker or a punter are considered to be wild cards, and substitute for any other position, QB, RB, WR, TE, OL and DEF. Kicker and punter cards may only be used once as a wildcard. If four teams all show kicker and punter cards, a defensive prize card is awarded.
Q. Placement of Cards after a Division Finishes Regular Season Play. Once the regular season has ended for a division, the cards are moved to a large board containing all of the teams. The cards of the teams that have been eliminated from the plays are flipped upside down. The cards for the teams that made the playoffs remain face up.
S. Twin Up Battleship. During the regular season, when a team receives the same player back to back without any other cards in between, they receive the opportunity to select from a number of envelopes and they earn the card inside the envelope they selected. This card does not count as a point. If the player is unavailable to select an envelope, we will request that the online community select for them. The first response, after we make the request, will be honored.
III. Playoffs & Revival
A. Organization of Playoffs. There are four rounds to the playoffs and a Defend the Throne round which is played after the Championship game. The rounds are played in the following order, by the following (a.) number of teams, (b.) using the format described below, and with the following (c.) number of packs and type of packs. In each round of the playoffs, all of the head-to-head matchups are played at the same time. All packs are selected using the roulette wheel.
1. Wildcard Round.
a. Teams/Games: 16 teams/8 games. The playoff teams from each division play each other.
b. Sudden Death Format - the first team in each matchup to pull a card wins.
c. Packs: 1 or 2 packs depending on the size of the pack (if a pack contains 14 cards or less, two packs are played, otherwise only one pack is played). Packs are selected from 'Spin 1'. If no team has hit after the first pack is played, OT packs are used, until a winner is determined.
2. Divisional Round.
a. Teams/Games: 8 teams/4 games. AFC North versus AFC East, AFC West, versus AFC South; NFC North versus NFC East, NFC West versus NFC South.
b. The team with the most points after the packs are played wins.
c. 2 packs: Spin 1 and Spin 2. If tie, OT packs are used. The team with the most points at the end of an OT pack advances.
3. Conference Championships.
a. Teams/Games: 4 teams/2 games. Two remaining AFC teams play each other as do the two remaining NFC teams.
b. The team with the most points after the packs are played wins.
c. 3 packs: Spin 1, Spin 2, and Spin 3. The team with the most points after the packs are opened wins. If tie, one OT pack at a time is opened until one team has more points after than the other.
4. Championship Game
a. 2 Teams/1 Game
b. The team with the most points after the packs are played wins.
c. 3 packs: Spin 1, Spin 2, and Spin 3. If tie, OT packs are used. The team with the most points after the packs are opened wins. If tie, one OT pack at a time is opened until one team has more points after than the other.
B. Revival of Non-Playoff Team into the Playoffs. If at any point during any round of the playoffs an autographed card is pulled of a team that did not qualify for the playoffs, that team is revived an enters the playoffs into the matchup they would have been in based on their division.
1. Requirements for Revival:
a. A signature card is pulled during the playoffs of a team that did not qualify for the playoffs.
b. The matchup the non-playoff team would have been in had they made the playoffs (and continued advancing), has not already been decided. If the matchup has already been decided (for example, one of the playoff teams has pulled a card in the wildcard round, which is sudden death) then no revival occurs.
C. Scoring of Revival Card. When a non playoff team is revived into the playoffs, the autographed card that revived them is counted as 2 points in the playoff matchup for the revived team.
D. Teams that Qualified for the Playoffs may not be Revived. Any team that qualifies for the playoffs and is eliminated from any playoff round, may not be revived.
E. Revived Team Not Eligible for Cards Received Prior to Being Revived. When a team is revived they receive 2 points for the autographed card that revived them, and any points from cards received after the revival, but they do not receive any points for cards they received during the playoffs prior to being revived.
F. Hasty Defeat of Revived Team. Often autographed cards come at the end of the pack. In such cases when a team is revived on the final card pulled during a round, that team receives two points for the autographed card, but does not receive points for any of the cards received prior to being revived. If another team in the playoff game they were revived into has more than three points, the revived team will immediately be eliminated from the playoffs, again.
G. Dealing with Multiple Teams and Ties. When a team (or multiple teams) have been revived into a playoff game, making it a matchup between three or four teams instead of two, only the teams that are tied after the packs have been played advance to overtime. The teams that are not tied for the lead at the end of regulation play are eliminated from the playoffs.
H. Champion Receives Champions Card. The team that wins the final round of the playoffs is awarded the Champions Card. But, the Champion may lose this card if an autographed card is pulled during the Defend the Throne portion of the game, and they lose the subsequent re-do of the final round of the playoffs.
IV. Defend the Throne
A. One last Pack, Maybe More. After a champion has been declared and the champions card has been awarded, a final pack must be opened. If this pack does not include a autographed card, the game is over. If this pack includes an autographed card, the team which receives the autographed card is revived and they play against the Champion in a playoff-like game played the same as the conference championship & championship rounds. (Three packs: Spin 1, Spin 2, Spin 3).
B. No Points for Revival Card. Unlike the playoffs, this revived team does not receive three points for the autographed card they receive. The champion does not receive points from this pack either.
C. Structure of Defend the Throne Round. If an autograph card is pulled from the Defend the Throne pack, then three more packs are opened to determine whether the Champion of the Revived Team will receive the Champion's Card. These packs are, Spin 1, Spin 2 and Spin 3.
D. The Same Rules as the Final Two Rounds of the Playoffs Apply. The team with the most points after all the cards are pulled from the three packs wins. Ties are resolved using OT packs.
E. Revival. If another autographed card is pulled from a team that is neither the Champion nor the team revived by the Defend the Throne pack, that team is revived to compete for the Champions card. That team receives two points for the autographed card, but no points for any cards pulled prior to the revival.
F. Once the Defend the Throne final round is complete, the game is over. Cards are slabbed and shipped the following day.