> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.toqui.app/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Set prediction deadlines for your pool
> Choose how and when predictions lock in your pool — from per-match cutoffs to a single bracket-wide deadline.
When you create a pool — or update its rules — you decide when your members can no longer change their predictions. This guide walks through every option, what each one means for your members, and how to choose well.
## The three states a prediction can be in
Every prediction (a group game or a knockout slot) sits in one of three states at any given moment:
The matchup hasn't been decided yet — one or both teams are still TBD. Members can't predict yet.
Teams are confirmed and the deadline hasn't passed. Members can submit or edit.
The deadline has passed. No more changes — by anyone, including you.
The *predict window* for a given game is the time during which it's **both** Open *and* not yet Locked. For knockout matchups, this window can be much narrower than your lock setting suggests — see [The TBD problem](#the-tbd-problem-knockouts-only) below.
## The one rule that governs every lock
> **A prediction locks at the earliest of: the match's own kickoff, the stage's deadline, or the bracket deadline (if applicable).**
That's it. Every option below is a way of choosing when those deadlines fall.
## Per-stage lock options
For each stage of the tournament, you pick one of three lock modes:
Each game locks at its own kickoff. Maximum flexibility — members can predict right up to the whistle.
All games in the stage lock together — the moment the stage's first game kicks off.
All games in the stage lock on a date you choose.
### Which one should you pick?
**Casual pool with friends or coworkers?** → **Per Match**. Lets people drop in predictions throughout the tournament without pressure.
**Skill-based pool with real stakes?** → **Stage Start**. Nobody gets to predict the last game of a stage after seeing how the earlier ones went.
**Want a ceremony — everyone in by a single date?** → **Custom**. Great for "draft night" energy.
### Quirks to know
**The per-match floor always applies.** Even if you pick Stage Start with a date that falls *after* a game's kickoff, the per-match kickoff still wins. Members can never predict a game after it has started.
**Be careful when picking Custom dates.** If your Custom date falls *before* some matchups in that stage are even known — because the earlier rounds that feed them haven't finished — those games become impossible to predict. This is especially risky for knockout stages. Open the tournament schedule in another tab when setting Custom dates.
## Cascading Bracket — a fundamentally different mode
Most pools predict each game one at a time. Cascading Bracket is different: members predict the **entire knockout bracket** in one sitting, before any knockout game kicks off, and their picks **cascade** through the rounds.
If a member picks Argentina to beat Croatia in R32, Argentina automatically appears as the team they're predicting in their R16 slot. The picks flow downstream:
```mermaid theme={null}
flowchart TD
R32["R32 pick: Argentina beats Croatia"]
R16["R16 slot: Argentina now appears here"]
QF["QF slot: follows the R16 winner"]
SF["SF slot: follows the QF winner"]
R32 --> R16 --> QF --> SF
```
If they change their R32 pick later, the downstream slots that depended on it are **cleared so they can re-pick** — because the matchup they originally predicted doesn't exist anymore.
Cascading Bracket still requires score predictions, like every other mode. Members pick a winner *and* a scoreline for each knockout matchup — the cascade just controls which matchup appears in each downstream slot.
### What changes when you turn it on
There's no Per Match / Stage Start / Custom choice for R32, R16, QF, SF, or the final. All knockout predictions lock together.
By default it's set to the exact kickoff of the first knockout game.
Group games keep their own lock setting. Cascading Bracket only changes knockouts.
### When to choose it
**Pick Cascading Bracket if you want the one-shot bracket prediction feel** — the kind people gather for, debate over, and screenshot. It rewards conviction and punishes uncertainty.
**Don't pick it for casual pools.** A member who misses the bracket deadline can't predict *any* knockout game for the rest of the tournament — not just one.
For the full mechanics of how points cascade with team advancement, see [Bracket pools](/en/guides/bracket-pools).
## The TBD problem (knockouts only)
Group stage matchups are confirmed before the tournament starts, so they're never pending. But **knockout matchups depend on earlier results**, so they show as TBD until those results come in.
Two details that matter:
* We update knockout matchups **2 hours after each feeding game ends**. A scheduled worker waits this long to give our data provider time to confirm the result.
* That means the matchup for the very last knockout slot of a round isn't predictable until 2 hours after the last feeding game ends.
### How this hits each lock mode
| Lock mode | Risk | Worst case for members |
| --------------------- | ------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Per Match** | Low | A late-confirmed matchup gives only a few hours before kickoff. Members miss one game. |
| **Stage Start** | Medium | If a matchup confirms close to the stage's first kickoff, the predict window for that game might be only a few hours. Members miss one or two games. |
| **Custom** | High | If your Custom date is before some matchups confirm, those games can't be predicted at all. |
| **Cascading Bracket** | Highest | Late-confirmed slots only become predictable hours before the bracket-wide deadline. Members can lose a whole branch of their bracket if they don't return in time. |
### Real-world example: World Cup group → R32
The last group game of a World Cup typically ends around 10pm the night before R32 starts. R32 begins at 12pm the next day:
```
June 27 June 28
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
~7pm ~10pm midnight 12pm
│ │ │ │
▼ ▼ ▼ ▼
Last Game Late-confirmed Bracket
group ends R32 matchups deadline +
game become first R32
kicks off predictable kicks off
(2h after game end)
```
**For Cascading Bracket pools**, that gives members from midnight to noon — about **12 hours** — to fill in the late-confirmed slots and finalize their bracket. Most of that is overnight. **The morning of the first R32 day is the make-or-break window** for any member who hasn't already submitted a complete bracket.
**For non-cascading pools** with Stage Start lock, the calendar is the same, but consequences aren't. Missing the window costs members **one or two specific games** rather than a whole branch.
We send reminder notifications ahead of bracket deadlines and stage starts, so members aren't relying on memory alone. Members can read the full member-facing version of this content in [When can I make my predictions?](/en/when-can-i-predict).
## Creating a pool mid-tournament
You can create a pool after the tournament has already kicked off — handy when a group decides to play partway through. Locking adapts to where the tournament is:
* **Stages already underway** lock **per match**. Each remaining game stays open until its own kickoff, so your group can predict every match that hasn't started yet. Games that already kicked off are locked and earn 0 points for everyone — there's no way to predict a match that's already begun.
* **Stages that haven't started** keep the normal behavior for your scoring mode. In Escalating, for example, a future stage still locks when its first match kicks off.
Because a started stage can't use a stage-wide deadline that's already in the past, the **Stage start** lock option is grayed out for those stages in the setup screen, with a note that upcoming matches lock at each kickoff instead.
**Pool created mid-tournament before this behavior shipped?** It may show a started stage with every match locked. The fix is self-serve: the organizer opens **Pool Settings → Scoring Rules** and switches that stage's prediction lock to **Per match**. The remaining games reopen immediately — no need to contact support.
## Editing the rules later
The pool's organizer and any admins can edit the rules **at any point during the tournament** — there's no cutoff, and you never need to contact support. Regular members can't change rules. This is built for the case where a pool was set up with the wrong rules and needs fixing mid-tournament.
What's editable:
* **Scoring** — point values, turning individual rules on or off, the scoring mode, and the Cascading Bracket toggle.
* **Prediction lock timing** — the per-stage lock mode (Per match / Stage start / Custom) for any stage that hasn't locked yet.
### What happens when you change scoring after games have been played
Changing **lock timing** never affects points. Changing **scoring** is different once results are in:
Toqui shows a confirmation first: *"This applies the new scoring to every game already played, so rankings may change. All members get a notification."*
On confirm, every score in the pool is recomputed under the new rules — including games already played. Rankings can move up or down. Recalculation takes a few moments, so members might briefly see scores updating.
Everyone in the pool gets a push and in-app notification naming who made the change — *"\[Name] changed the scoring. The leaderboard was recalculated · \[Pool name]."* The person who made the change isn't notified, and no email is sent.
No recalculation or notification happens if you change **only lock timing**, or if you edit scoring **before the pool's first game has been scored** — there's nothing to recalculate yet.
## FAQ
A locked prediction can't be created or edited — by the member, by you, or by anyone. Locks are enforced on our servers, not just in the UI. After a lock, only the scoring engine touches the prediction.
You can't reopen a game that has already kicked off — the per-match kickoff is a hard floor that always applies. But you *can* still change a stage's lock mode for games that haven't started: switching a stage to **Per match**, for example, reopens every match in it that hasn't kicked off yet. Rules in general have no editing cutoff — see [Editing the rules later](#editing-the-rules-later).
That stage has already begun. A stage-start deadline would fall at the stage's first kickoff, which is now in the past, so it can't apply. Upcoming matches in that stage lock at each kickoff (Per match) instead. See [Creating a pool mid-tournament](#creating-a-pool-mid-tournament).
Predictions they submitted before the deadline still count. Games they didn't predict simply earn zero points for those games — there's no penalty to their overall score beyond the missed opportunity.
We wait 2 hours after a feeding game ends before updating the matchup. The delay gives our data provider time to confirm the official result before we propagate it.