Free alternatives to Sky Super 6 and the BBC predictor
Dardan Hasku3 min read
If you are looking for something to play instead of Sky Super 6, you already know what a score prediction game is. So this is not an explainer. It is an honest comparison of what those games give you and what they leave out.
What Super 6 gets right
Six matches, free entry, a jackpot, ninety seconds to play. That simplicity is the entire product and it is genuinely good. Millions play it precisely because there is nothing to learn.
The BBC predictor works from the other end: call every fixture in the round, measure yourself against a pundit, compare with a league of friends. Also free, also easy, also built around one competition.
Where both leave a gap
- Six matches is a small sample. One lucky 3:0 decides your week, which tells you very little about who actually read the football.
- Every match is worth the same. Calling a coin flip pays what calling a walkover pays, so the safest coupon is usually the best strategy.
- There is nothing to risk. You cannot back a conviction. Every pick weighs the same whether you are certain or shrugging.
- Being right alone counts for nothing. If eight thousand people also said 2:1, you gained nothing on any of them.
What to demand from a replacement
| Feature | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Difficulty weighting | A hard match should pay more, or safe picks always win |
| Something to gamble | A pick you can double or lose is what makes the last match tense |
| Rarity reward | Being right alone should beat being right with the crowd |
| Picks public after lock | You cannot enjoy beating somebody you cannot see |
| Private leagues | The table you care about has your mates in it |
How BankerBall differs
One coupon a week, hand-picked across the Premier League, Bundesliga, Serie A, La Liga, Ligue 1 and the Champions League league phase, so it is not tied to a single competition. You call every score rather than six.
Every match carries a K stamp between 1.00 and 2.50 for how hard it is to call, and your points on that match are multiplied by it. A correct score nobody else called adds a rarity bonus on top, so the lonely call beats the popular one even when both come off.
And you get ten bankers a calendar month. Back a match and a correct call doubles it. Miss and that match pays nothing at all, including the points you would otherwise have kept. That is the decision the six-match games never ask you to make.
The trade-off, stated plainly
Super 6 pays real money and takes ninety seconds. We pay nothing at all and ask for a full coupon. If the jackpot is why you play, stay where you are, and that is a perfectly good reason.
If what you want is a game where calling 0:0 at Burnley is worth more than calling a Liverpool win, where your friends can see exactly how brave you were, and where the season table rewards judgement rather than one lucky Saturday, that is the gap we built into.
Worth reading next: how the scoring works, and why the crowd's favourite scoreline is often the worst value.
This week's coupon is open. Free to play, points only, no money anywhere near it.
Call this week's matches