ProphetX America’s #1 Hater Contest: How the $10,000 Survivor Pool Works and Which RBs I’m Picking

If you've ever played in a survivor pool, you already understand 90% of ProphetX's America's #1 Hater contest. The difference is that instead of picking one team to win each week, you pick one NFL running back you're convinced won't score a touchdown. It's free to enter, the grand prize is $10,000 in cash, and you must make your first pick by the end of Week 1 (Monday, September 14, 2026). You won't be able to enter the pool after the Broncos vs. Chiefs matchup kicks off.

I've entered, and I've spent more time than I'd like to admit staring at the board. Here's everything you need to know about the America's #1 Hater promo, how the math works, how to check where you stand, and the names I'm taking to start the season.

Week 1 Update: Four Names Are Already Locked

As of Friday, September 11, 2026, two Week 1 games are in the books, which means four running backs are locked and can no longer be selected if you still need to make your first pick.

• Rhamondre Stevenson (NE) and Jadarian Price (SEA): no touchdown. The Patriots-Seahawks Super Bowl LX rematch on Wednesday, September 9 went down without a running back score, so anyone who took either name is alive and can rest easy while the rest of the field sweats out Sunday.
• Kyren Williams (LAR): scored. Williams punched in a 5-yard touchdown run in the second quarter of the Rams' 27-7 loss to the 49ers in Melbourne. If you faded him, your season ended in Week 1.
• Christian McCaffrey (SF): no touchdown. McCaffrey handled 10 carries for 68 yards, but all three 49ers touchdown passes went to receivers. Anyone bold enough to fade him survives.

With those four off the Week 1 board, the remaining names lock as their games kick off Sunday, September 13 and Monday, September 14.

What Is the ProphetX America's #1 Hater Contest?

America's #1 Hater is a free, season-long elimination contest run by ProphetX, the peer-to-peer prediction market exchange. Every week, you choose one running back from a fixed board of 34 names and say, in effect, "he's not scoring."

If he stays out of the end zone, you survive. If he scores a rushing or receiving touchdown, you're out.

The last entry standing after Week 18 takes home the $10,000 grand prize. If more than one entry survives the full season, they're all named co-winners and split the money equally.

This contest is one of the best NFL prediction market promos available, as it's 100% free to enter and is as simple as it gets.

The contest is presented by ProphetX, which is not a sportsbook. It's a prediction market exchange where users trade contracts with each other, and it operates under CFTC regulation like the other major prediction market platforms. If you're new to how these platforms work, our ProphetX review covers the exchange itself in detail.

How to Enter: Create Your Hater Profile

Joining the America's #1 Hater pool takes just a few minutes, but you need to do it before the Week 1 board fully locks. Entry closes after Week 1, so nobody can join late and outlast people who've been sweating their picks.

Here's the path depending on where you're starting from:

• Already a ProphetX user? Go to the ProphetX website or app, create your hater profile, and connect your existing ProphetX account. You'll get the ✓ badge next to your name in the standings.
• Not on ProphetX yet? Sign up with our ProphetX promo code first, then build your hater profile and connect the account. Signing up through our link also gets you the current welcome offer on the exchange itself, which is a nice bonus on top of a free $10,000 shot.

Once your profile is set, the board is right there. Tap a name, hit Select, then Submit Your Pick. You can change it as many times as you want until his game kicks off.

You'll then repeat the selection process every week until you either get a pick wrong, or win a share of the $10,000 pool!

How the America's #1 Hater Contest Works

Think of it as a survivor pool with a grudge. There's no spread to beat and no game to sweat; there's just one running back you don't believe in.

Steps for making your picks

1. Pick a name. Choose one RB from the current week's board that you don't think scores.
2. Lock before kickoff. Your pick locks at the first snap of his game, not the first game of the week.
3. He scores, you're gone. Any touchdown, rushing or receiving, ends your run. If he doesn't score, you survive.
4. Burn the name. Every RB you've used is off your board for the rest of the season, win or lose.

Important rules

The official rules are short, but a few of them will decide who wins this thing.

• No pick means elimination. Forgetting to submit by the end of the week's slate will kick you out as if you picked an RB who scored. Consider setting a reminder on your phone.
• Once his game kicks off, he's locked. A running back whose game has already started is unavailable for that week, even if you haven't submitted yet. Join early for the full board; by Monday night, only the Broncos and Chiefs backs are left.
• Ruled out before the game? You re-pick. A player declared out pre-game is a non-participant, and you have to choose a new name from the board. You aren't eliminated for a scratch.
• The board is the board. No new names get added after Week 1. You have 34 running backs to get through 18 weeks, and bye weeks shrink your options further in the middle of the season.
• Everyone falls the same week? The prize is shared among every entry that reached that week and submitted a pick. If you're alive and let the deadline to claim pass, you forfeit your share.
• Run out of names? If you have no more names to pick from, even due to a bye week, you're out.

Results are graded from official NFL scoring, and stat corrections applied before Wednesday at noon ET are honored.

Reading the Board: What the Percentages Mean

Every card on the board shows a running back, his matchup, and a percentage tied to the "Anytime TD – NO" contract trading on ProphetX. The higher the number, the more confident traders are that he stays out of the end zone.

There are three flavors of price you'll see, and the distinction matters:

That last one is important. When I first looked at the board, Cam Skattebo showed 97.1% "last" and Bucky Irving showed 93.1% "last." Those were stale trades, not real consensus, and once live offers appeared they settled at 55.2% and 61.2%. As of Friday, Aaron Jones Sr. is the new cautionary tale, sitting at 96.0% "last" with nothing resting behind it. Don't build your season around a "last" price. Use the Safest odds filter as a starting point, then verify the number is live.

What Are Your Odds of Winning the Hater Contest?

The honest truth? Surviving 18 straight weeks is brutally hard, and the math shows why this contest will almost certainly end in a shared prize rather than a single last hater standing.

If you could find a pick that fails to score 70% of the time every single week, your chance of running the table is still tiny. And you won't get 70% every week, because the best (or, really, worst) options on the board burn fast.

As of Friday, September 11, 2026, there were 1,800+ entries alive. Run those numbers across the field and the expected number of clean 18-week survivors is close to zero. That means the realistic paths to money are:

• Co-winner split. A handful of entries survive Week 18 and divide the $10,000.
• The everyone-falls week. The remaining field gets wiped out on the same day, and everyone who reached that week with a submitted pick shares the prize.

My takeaway: your goal isn't to be the one genius who survives 18 weeks. Your goal is to outlast most of the field so that when the collapse comes, you're still in the pool with a pick submitted. That reframes strategy quite a bit.

My Strategy for America's #1 Hater

In a normal survivor pool, you hoard the strongest teams for later. Here, the logic is similar but inverted, and the fixed 34-name board changes how aggressive you can be early.

A few principles I'm following:

• Target committee backs and pass-catching backs. RBs who split carries and don't get goal-line work are the safest fades.
• Don't blow all the low-touch names in September. Bye weeks hit in the middle of the season and knock names off the board. You need survivable options in Weeks 6 through 14, too.
• Use the late lock to your advantage. Picks lock at the player's kickoff, not the week's first game. That means I can watch the early Sunday games play out, check inactives, and pivot to a Sunday night or Monday night name if my original pick's situation changes.
• Never touch the alphas. Jahmyr Gibbs, Jonathan Taylor, Bijan Robinson, Ashton Jeanty, Derrick Henry, Christian McCaffrey, Saquon Barkley. I'm not taking any of them, and I'm not saving them for later either. They're just off my list. (Yes, McCaffrey went scoreless in Melbourne. I still wouldn't have made that pick.)

What Picks Should You Make for the Hater Contest?

Here's where I've landed for the opening stretch. I want to be clear that these are penciled in, not carved in stone. I'll be monitoring injury reports and the board prices each week, and I'll adjust if the situation changes.

• Week 1: Jonathon Brooks, Carolina Panthers (68.8% NO, last trade). Brooks is coming off two ACL tears, has been dealing with soreness heading into the opener, and the Panthers have said it's a committee with Chuba Hubbard when both are healthy. Carolina is also a home underdog against Chicago, which doesn't scream heavy red-zone rushing volume. If he's ruled out before Sunday, September 13, 2026, I simply re-pick, and Woody Marks is my pivot.
• Week 2: Woody Marks, Houston Texans (73.7% NO in Week 1 pricing). Houston traded for David Montgomery, and the plan looks like a near-even split with Montgomery handling short-yardage and goal-line work. Marks' path to touches is the passing game, which is exactly the profile I want to fade. I'm holding him a week rather than using him immediately so I have a strong name in my pocket.
• Week 3: J.K. Dobbins, Denver Broncos (68.8% NO in Week 1 pricing). Denver's backfield has multiple mouths to feed, and Dobbins has never been the kind of back who gets force-fed at the goal line in a timeshare. I'll reassess based on his Week 1 and 2 usage before committing.

Names I'm saving for later

• Jeremiyah Love (ARI): a rookie in a new offense, trading above 70% in Week 1 pricing. Worth a look once we see his role.
• Jacory Croskey-Merritt (WAS): priced in the mid-60s and part of a committee.
• Tony Pollard (TEN) and Bhayshul Tuten (JAX): both in the low-to-mid 60s and worth revisiting depending on how their offenses develop.
• Aaron Jones Sr. (MIN): aging and in a timeshare. Ignore the 96.0% "last" price until a live offer shows up, but the profile fits.

Jadarian Price was on this list before Week 1. He's still a useful bye-week name for anyone who didn't use him against New England, but his game has already been played this week, so he's off the board until Week 2.

Names I'm treating as radioactive

Anyone priced below 45% is a no for me regardless of matchup: Gibbs, Taylor, Bijan, Jeanty, Henry, McCaffrey, Omarion Hampton, and D'Andre Swift. The board will force some tough choices late in the year, but I'd rather run out of good names in Week 15 than lose in Week 2 fading a bell cow.

How to Check Your Pool Status

The contest site makes it easy to track where you stand, both for your own entry and the field as a whole.

• Standings tab ("Who's Still Hating"). Every entry is ranked by weeks survived, with a Find your name search so you don't have to scroll through hundreds of haters. Standings update after Monday Night Football.
• Picks are hidden until kickoff. You can't see anyone else's pick until that player's game starts, so there's no copying the leaders.
• ProphetX user filter. Toggle between everyone and ✓ badged entrants (those with registered ProphetX accounts).
• Your season, week by week. Your profile shows every pick you've made in order, with burned names torched on the board. There's a share card if you want to brag.

The dashboard also shows a running count of entries still alive, entries eliminated last week, the most burned name, and weeks remaining. I'd recommend checking it every Tuesday to see how fast the field is thinning, because that tells you how aggressive you need to be.

Is the America's #1 Hater Contest Worth Entering?

Yes! It costs nothing, the pick takes 30 seconds per week, and the format is more fun than a standard survivor pool because you're rooting against one guy instead of for a whole team.

The downside is simply that the math is stacked against any individual entry. You're likely playing for a share of $10,000 rather than the whole thing, and one goal-line vulture in Week 3 can end your season. Just ask anyone who faded Kyren Williams this week. But for a free entry with a real cash prize, that's a trade I'll make every time.

If you're still deciding which exchange to use as your home base, our guide to the best prediction market apps compares ProphetX with Kalshi, Polymarket and the rest.

Get your hater profile built and your first pick submitted before Broncos vs. Chiefs kicks off on Monday, September 14, 2026. After that, the pool is closed for the season.