The development team here at WinTheTrophy wrapped-up our second WTT Hackfest this weekend. Our focus over the past three days was on a new and upcoming feature called BetDuel. (Those users who attended the PUG a few months back received a preview of the mockup.)

We're really excited about this feature, as it will add direct, head-to-head competition to the site. You'll be able to challenge other users to see who can accumulate the most chips using just 1 bet, 3 bets, or multiple bets over a period of 7 days.

Look for this new feature within the next couple of weeks!

You may have noticed a new entrant in the weekly leaderboard this week, our first algorithmic bettor, the NBA Over/Under Bot. We'll be using this bot (and a few others over the coming weeks) to work out the kinks in the WinTheTrophy BetBot API.

The algorithm behind this first bot is incredibly simple, but we look forward to seeing what the developer community comes up with in terms of computer bettors and we are confident, that you, our human experts, will smite them all!

And don't worry, we're going to be setting up the system to be fair to both the human and computer players alike and to ensure you always know when you are going up against a computer. They'll have their own silicon ghetto.

Good luck! Take NBA Over/Under Bot down! Viva la flesh and blood!

Starting next Monday, Weekly Leaderboard Winners will be posted on the WinTheTrophy Twitter account. Follow us!

We’re currently addressing some issues with last week’s Weekly Leaderboard winner. We hope to announce the winner by tomorrow! Apologies and thanks for your patience.

So you’re sitting around watching your 29th sporting event in a row and you’ve been clicking back and forth between 8 games in 5 different sports and that still isn’t enough. Well, you may need a little medical help, but other than that you’re a perfect candidate for WinTheTrophy. In fact, even if you only watch an occasional sporting event, you’ll find this free fantasy sports betting site fun, engaging and challenging.

After you signup, you fill out your profile (optional) – and you’re ready to start picking. “But wait,” you say, “I have no understanding of sports wagering and don’t really care to learn.” In that case, WinTheTrophy has you covered with its approach to automatically interpreting the complex numerical nomenclature of sports handicapping. Behind the scenes at WinTheTrophy, the complex numerical valuations of a sports wager are analyzed and then translated into normal every-day language like “Huge Payout,” “Tiny Payout,” “Favorites,” and “Underdogs.” Sound easy? It is.

To place a bet, you just click on one of the buttons associated with the three different bet types: moneyline ("Who will win?"), point spread ("Who will cover?") and over/under ("How many total points?"). After you click the button, you then choose how many free chips you’d like to wager. Upon entering the amount, WinTheTrophy automatically calculates how many chips you will win and – if you think that is fair – you go ahead and confirm the wager.

After you have placed a bet, you can see your wager(s) on your personalized My Bets page, which allows you to review your selections, watch the scores in near real-time and see whether you have won, lost or pushed.

Bad week? No problem because each week your 1,000 free chips resets and a new contest for the Weekly Leaderboard begins. Each week you are automatically entered in the Weekly Leaderboard contest. And if you wager with skill and consistency, you have a good shot at victory, online accolades, a coveted virtual trophy and Points (virtual currency units).

Points are also accrued as you wager, make comments, post blog content, invite friends and so forth. In the future, WinTheTrophy will have a virtual store where you can redeem these Points for virtual goods, bonuses, skins, avatars and other items.

Another key feature of the WinTheTrophy is personal betting statistics. On your personalized “My Profile” page, you can see your cumulative wagering record in the 100+ categories WinTheTrophy tracks. With this information, you can identify your betting strengths and weaknesses, compare your skills against others and formulate personal betting techniques that might yield more winnings.

So no matter who you are, you can have fun and benefit from the features of WinTheTrophy. Follow your favorite team, make a wager (or two hundred) and sit back and watch your team, and know that you have a little extra incentive for them to win (or lose) or to score a lot (or a little). It’s always fun watching your favorite team but WinTheTrophy will make it even better.