Rule lock

Why pools lock everything

Trust comes from rules that can’t move mid-cycle. Once a pool opens, nothing about it can change — not the goal, not the fee, not the floor, not the accepted activities. That’s what makes your $20 entry a real bet instead of a moving target. If the terms could shift after you join, you wouldn’t be staking on your performance — you’d be gambling on whether the rules hold. The lock removes that uncertainty entirely.

What gets locked when a pool opens

The following are facts frozen at pool open — not options you configure during the month:

What can’t change after the pool starts

Once the pool opens, none of these can move:

• Goal — the daily target and how many days you need to hit it
• Target rule — what counts as a successful day (steps, distance, etc.)
• Entry fee — the amount you committed when you joined
• Floor pot — the guaranteed payout pool if entries fall short
• Cycle dates — the start date, end date, and timezone
• Accepted activity types — which integrations and data sources feed your progress

The pool exists to settle on fixed terms. If anything could move after you enter, the bet becomes a renegotiation — and renegotiations favor whoever holds leverage, not whoever did the work. If you realize the goal isn’t right for you before the pool starts, that’s exactly what the registration window is for. Cancel before the pool opens and you get a full refund. After the pool starts, the terms are set for everyone.

What still has a grace window

Two windows open after a pool cycle ends, and both are part of the locked rules — you know about them before you ever enter:

• Activities synced within 24 hours after the pool end timestamp still count. Real-world sync delays are real: a GPS watch can take hours to upload, and a workout that finished at 11:58 PM shouldn’t be disqualified because Strava processed it at 12:14 AM.
• Disputes can be opened in the 48 hours after the audit pass runs. If a result looks wrong — an activity rejected that shouldn’t have been, or a data glitch — that window is your chance to flag it.

Neither window changes the rules. The sync window lets late-arriving data land; it doesn’t let you log activities that didn’t happen. The dispute window lets you flag a bad result; it doesn’t let you renegotiate the goal. Both windows close automatically, and when they do, the result is final and payouts run.