The PredictVS leaderboard ranks predictors by Elo rating — a skill-based system borrowed from chess. Unlike raw points, Elo adjusts for the difficulty of your picks and the quality of your competition. It is the most honest measure of how good you are at predicting sports.

Climbing the leaderboard is not about getting lucky on a few big games. It is about sustained, smart decision-making over weeks and months. Here is how the top predictors do it.

Understand How Elo Moves

Your Elo goes up when you outperform expectations and down when you underperform. The key word is expectations. Picking a -300 favorite to win and being right barely moves your rating because everyone expected that outcome. Picking a +200 underdog correctly moves it a lot more.

Conversely, missing a heavy favorite costs you more Elo than missing a long shot. The system rewards you for being right when it is hard and penalizes you for being wrong when it should have been easy.

Volume Matters — But Only With Quality

You need a consistent volume of predictions for your Elo to reflect your true skill. Someone who makes 5 picks a week will have a noisy, volatile rating. Someone who makes 30+ picks a week will have a rating that more accurately reflects their ability.

But volume without discipline is a trap. Do not make picks on games you know nothing about just to pad your numbers. Every incorrect prediction costs you Elo. Only predict on games where you have at least a basic opinion.

Play Multiple Sports

Your Elo is a single number across all sports. Top leaderboard predictors typically cover at least 2-3 sports. This gives you more opportunities to earn Elo without forcing low-quality picks in a single sport.

Check your personal analytics to see which sports you perform best in. If you are 60% accurate in NHL but 47% in NBA, you know where your edge is. Prioritize the sports where your accuracy is highest.

Be Selective With Player Props

Player props are high-variance. They carry juicy odds (and juicy point payouts), but they are harder to predict consistently. For Elo purposes, a missed player prop hurts just as much as a missed winner pick.

The top predictors pick their spots. They target player props where they have genuine knowledge — a hot streak, a favorable matchup, a minutes increase due to injury — rather than guessing on every prop available.

Do Not Chase Losses

After a bad night, it is tempting to load up on picks the next day to make up ground. This almost always backfires. Elo is designed to reward patience and consistency, not volume spikes driven by emotion.

If you had a rough night, take a breath. The games will still be there tomorrow. Stick to your process and trust that good decisions compound over time.

Use Both Modes Strategically

Prop sheets and live picks both count toward your Elo. Use prop sheets for games you have researched. Use live picks for games you are watching where you can read momentum. Avoid using both modes on games where you have no edge — that is just doubling your exposure to variance.

The Long Game

Elo is a marathon, not a sprint. The leaderboard rewards predictors who show up consistently, make disciplined picks, and avoid tilt. There is no shortcut — but that is exactly what makes a high Elo rating meaningful.

Start by joining a few contests in the lobby, find the sports where you have an edge, and build from there. Your rating will follow.