Hey, everyone!

The World Cup is just around the corner, and the whole world will be watching! But even if you won't be, and even if you don't know (or care) much about soccer, that doesn't mean you can't get in on some of the fun!

Here's the deal: I'm setting up a friendly pool for my friends here at Xmarks. There is no betting involved. No money will exchange hands. This is strictly for FUN, bragging rights and personal glory only!

All you have to do is pick which countries you think will win against other countries in the tournament.

Here's what you do:

1) Go to http://wcpool.com/

2) a) Register with a unique username & password (it's all completely free and private) It's not necessary -- but if you use the same username as on XMarks, we will know who we all are... ith:
2) b) Enter in: XMTS where it asks you for the subleague

3) Once registered, Click on "My Prediction" in the menu

4) Start with the "Group" stage. Click on the bubbles next to which teams you think will win.

This is what it looks like:

South Africa (o) ( ) ( ) Mexico <-- means you pick S.A. to win


South Africa ( ) ( ) (o) Mexico <-- means you pick Mexico to win

South Africa ( ) (o) ( ) Mexico <-- means you think the game will result in a tie. (Ties are allowed in the first round of play)

4) b) Always remember to click on "Save Predictions" at the bottom of the page.

5) Pick who you think will win in each successive round, all the way to the Final game.

6) When you are finished, you will see green checkmarks next to each prediction category instead of red Xes.

7) You can change your mind as much as you want up until the starting day of the tournament.

8) Point system:

All the matches

You can earn 1 point for every match which you predicted correctly (home wins, tie or away wins)

1/8 finals

*** point for every correct predicted country in the 1/8 finals.
*** bonus point for every country placed in the correct position.

Quarter Finals

+2 points for every correct predicted country in the quarter finals.
+2 bonus points for every country placed at the correct position.

Semi Finals

+3 points for every correct predicted country in the semi finals.
+3 bonus points for every country placed at the correct position.

Third place

+4 points for every correct predicted country in this round.
+4 bonus points for every country placed at the correct position.

Final

+5 points for every correct predicted country in the final.
+5 bonus points for every country placed at the correct position.