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How to use the Johnno bot
New to Telegram, or to sports picks? This walks you through it one tap at a time. Already on Telegram? You can be set up in about a minute.
Watch it first
The whole join on a phone, shown in 26 seconds. Then follow the steps below.
Start your 7-day free trialOpen Johnno
Tap Start your 7-day free trial on this site. Telegram opens a chat with Johnno, @AskJohnnoBot. You can also search @AskJohnnoBot inside Telegram.
Press Start
Press START at the bottom of the chat. That sends Johnno the /start command and he answers straight away.
Start the free trial
Tap Start free trial, pick a plan and add a card in Stripe Checkout. Nothing is charged for 7 days, and you pay nothing if you cancel before then. No card? Send /stars to pay with Telegram Stars instead.
Get today's picks
Tap Show me today, or send /today. Johnno sends the day's board: up to three picks, each with its main risk.
Set your local time
Send /country and your two-letter country code, for example /country AU or /country GB. Kick-off times then show in your own time.
Telegram asked me for an SMS fee
In some countries, including Australia, Telegram asks brand-new accounts to pay a small fee, about A$1.99 for a week of Telegram Premium, before it texts the sign-up code. That charge is Telegram's, not ours, and AskJohnno never sees it. If you already have a Telegram account you never see this screen. Stuck on it? Email [email protected].
The three picks
- 🔒 Lock
- The strongest, best-backed pick of the day. Always high confidence.
- 🔗 Multi
- Two or three picks from different games. Each one is graded on its own.
- 🎯 Longshot
- The upset pick: an underdog with a specific reason it can win. Lower confidence on purpose.
How to read a pick
🔒 LOCK · Example FC v Sample United
👉 Pick: Example FC (regulation time)
🏆 Example League · 🕒 Sat 3 Oct, 7:45 pm
📊 Confidence: 🟢🟢🟢 High · Upcoming
💡 Why: Unbeaten at home all season and their top scorer is back.
⚠️ Risk: Sample United have drawn their last three away games.
- 👉 Pick
- Who Johnno backs. "Regulation time" means only the 90 minutes count, so a win in extra time is not a win. "Incl. extra time" means the final result counts.
- 🏆 🕒
- The competition and the kick-off, in your time once you have set your country.
- 📊 Confidence
- 🟢🟢🟢 High, 🟡🟡⚪ Medium or 🟠⚪⚪ Low.
- 💡 Why
- The main reason for the pick, in one line.
- ⚠️ Risk
- The main thing that could go wrong, in one line.
- Status
- Upcoming, then ⏳ Awaiting result once the game starts, then ✅ Correct or ❌ Incorrect.
Every button and command
Tap a button under Johnno's message, or type the command and send it like a normal message.
- Show me today · /today
- Today's board: every current pick at once.
- Lock · /lock
- Just the Lock.
- Multi · /multi
- Just the Multi.
- Longshot · /longshot
- Just the Longshot.
- Check my pick · /check
- Send /check Example FC to beat Sample United, or tap Check my pick. Johnno compares a match winner or draw with a fixture on his current published board, including the main reason and risk. It is not a fresh team-news check or a review of other markets.
- Recent · /record
- The public results, win or lose.
- Account · /app
- Opens your private account page on this site: plan, billing and cancelling.
- Stars · /stars
- Pays for the Founding Crew with Telegram Stars: 750 Stars every 30 days, no card needed. Cancel it in Telegram's settings.
- /paysupport
- Help with a payment. For a reply, email [email protected].
- /country AU
- Shows kick-off times in your country's time. Use your own two-letter code, or /country clear to reset.
- /settings
- Sets your time zone.
- /support your message
- Reports a bug or problem. It is one-way; for a reply about your account or billing, email [email protected].
- /feedback your message
- Sends Johnno an idea or suggestion.
- /disclaimer
- The service context, in plain words.
- Help · /help
- Everything the bot can do, in one message.
Your plan, results and cancelling
- Founding Crew is US$14.99 a month and Standard is US$19.99, charged after the 7-day free trial.
- To cancel, tap Account (or send /app), open Manage billing with Stripe, then cancel. It takes a minute.
- Every settled pick, win or lose, goes on the public Results page.
- The free Discord posts every result as it lands.
- Picks are opinions, not guarantees.
Ready?
Start in Telegram
7 days free. Cancel anytime from your account.