Football.Picklive.com – Online Gaming Site Review:

Picklive Football is an online, real-time football gaming website where gamers participate in picking players during live matches to try and gain points and win chips in 10 minute mini games. I tried out Picklive on Saturday during the first FA Cup semi final featuring Chelsea and Aston Villa and was surprised with how fast the games move and how exciting, fun and intriguing the mini games can be.

During the duration of the 90 minute match, multiple 10 minute games can be played where participants pick 3 different players from the 22 players on the field. Participants can also sub a player for a different player already on the field if they feel their player isn’t performing well. As soon as your 10 minute mini game is finished, you can quickly start up another match. The players you pick can be a combination from both teams. For example, in my first match, I picked Didier Drogba, Florent Malouda and James Milner (and ended up finishing 6th out of 7th).

Participants can earn points based on the performances of each one of the players they’ve picked. At the end of the 10 minute mini games, the player with the most points wins a certain number of chips that determines your overall ranking on the Picklive website (In my second match, I finished 1st and won 60+ chips).

Points can come from your three players in a myriad of different ways.

• Completed Pass – 1 point
• Completed Cross – 1 point
• Interception – 1 point
• Goal – 20 points
• Assist – 10 points
• & much more

Your selected players can also loose points for you if they aren’t contributing or if they’re making mistakes:

• Failed Pass = -1 point
• Foul = -3 points
• Red Card = -20 points
• Own Goal = -20 points
• Yellow Card = -10 points

Tips:

I may regret this because I’m essentially spilling what worked well for me, but if you want to play and win, my advice to you first off would be to play multiple games throughout the 90 minutes in order to increase your chances of winning chips. To start off, I’d recommend picking safe picks in your first match. Pick 2 central midfielders from 1 team and another central midfielder from the opposition team.

(This strategy may not work in a match where 1 team is dominating possession over the other team. For example, if one team is attacking well and has chance after chance, the forward most players on that team coupled with either the goal keeper or central defenders on the other team may be the players who could earn you the most points because they’re seeing the ball the most).

To start a game, try to pick players that you think will be involved early and often in the first 10 minutes of the match. As the two sides attempt to establish possession and cohesion moving forward, the midfielders usually get a lot of touches, thus earning you a good number of early points every time they complete a pass. All that said, if you like to take risks, or want to try to establish an early lead in your mini game, you should pick the player or players you think have the best chance of scoring an early goal because goals are worth the most points.

Be Able to Adapt Quickly:

Believe it or not, 10 minutes of a football match moves pretty quickly especially when you’re trying to watch the TV, computer and the performances of players all at the same time. If one of your picks is having an off day, mis-hitting passes, or is prone to foul often, don’t be afraid to sub him as soon as you see fit. His lack of a positive performances will cost you points that another player could be earning for you.

If one player earned you a lot of points in your first mini game, feel free to pick him again. The player may be in the midst of good form and could earn you valuable points all afternoon.

Pay Attention to Trends:

This may seem obvious, but if you notice a certain player earning a lot of points that you haven’t picked, sub one of your players out for him. Early on in the Chelsea v Aston Villa match, John Obi Mikel completed a lot of passes in midfield thus earning a point every time he did so. I quickly subbed Mikel for Drogba who wasn’t heavily involved early on. Mikel earned me more points in just a few minutes than Drogba did in 10.

Have Fun:

Picklive can be a blast when your players are performing well and earning you points. Equally, your players can frustrate you when uninvolved. Remember, it’s just a game, but have fun with it and have a chat with the other football fans in your mini games.

For readers of EPL Talk who are interested in checking out Picklive, the next available match takes place Sunday, April 11th and will feature the second FA Cup semi final of Portsmouth v Tottenham. Feel free to leave any comments, tips or thoughts on Picklive in the comments section below.