You don't have to beat a field of 8,192. Just finish top two of 8.
Every round you're drawn into a group of 8 at random. Out-walk 6 of them and you're through to the next one. Do that 3 times at a full field — or fewer times at a smaller one — and you have won money.
Free to register — $50 to enter, and nobody is charged until the field closes with at least 8 people. Below that the tournament is cancelled and nobody pays anything.
8,192 is the largest field this event sells. Everything below — the prizes, the rounds, the calendar — is for that size. Pick a smaller one and all of it changes with it; the tournament runs at whatever size registration actually closes on.
8,192 is the largest field this event sells, and this is what it would pay: 6 rounds. Finish top 2 in your group 3 times and you're in the money; do it 5 times and you're in the final — one last group of 8, ranked 1st to 8th.
Those are the figures for a field of 8,192: $409,600 in, $327,680 back out — 80% of every entry, and there is no second pool it can leak into. They are not what another size pays. The pool is 80% of the stakes actually taken, and a place that would pay less than the $50 entry is removed and its money shared among the places that remain — so a smaller field pays fewer people, not everybody less. Whatever the field, the whole pool goes out on the ladder: nothing is held back, and nothing is left over for the champion to sweep up.
At 8,192 walkers, reach the last 128 and you've won $619.42 on a $50 entry.
That is 3 top-two finishes — get through your group of 8 3 times and you are in the money, from $619.42 at the bottom of the ladder to $103,322.99 at the top. A smaller field pays fewer places, so it takes fewer wins to reach them.
Every dollar goes onto the ladder.
No side pool, no consolation pot, nothing held back for anything else — $327,680 of the $409,600 taken at this size is paid to the 128 people on the list above. Whatever places survive the $50 floor, the pool is split across all of them and none of it is kept back.
It runs at whatever size it fills to.
8 people is a tournament. Registration is free, the field closes, and it then runs at the size it actually reached, paying that size's prizes. Below 8 it does not run and nobody is charged. Tap any row to send the rest of this page — the ladder, the rounds and the calendar — to that size.
| Walkers | Rounds | Days | Paid | 1st | 2nd | 3rd–4th | 5th–8th | 9th–32nd | 33rd–128th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | 2 | $228.57 | $91.42 | — | — | — | — | |
| 2 | 11 | 8 | $581.81 | $232.71 | $116.35 | $58.18 | — | — | |
| 3 | 15 | 8 | $2,327.24 | $930.86 | $465.43 | $232.75 | — | — | |
| 4 | 19 | 32 | $7,889.39 | $3,155.65 | $1,577.82 | $789.03 | $130.13 | — | |
| 5 | 23 | 128 | $25,830.74 | $10,331.97 | $5,165.98 | $2,583.40 | $426.06 | $154.85 | |
| 6 | 27 | 128 | $103,322.99 | $41,327.88 | $20,663.94 | $10,333.61 | $1,704.24 | $619.42 |
Fewer people, fewer prizes — not smaller ones
Read down a column and the prize shrinks with the field, because the pot is 80% of the entries actually taken. Read across a row and places simply stop being paid: a place that would hand back less than the $50 it cost to enter is removed, and its money goes to the places above it. That is why 8 walkers pay 2 places and not 128.
If the number is in between
Real fields are not round numbers. A field of 40 plays down to the 32 bracket first, in an extra qualifying round — and the earliest registrations skip that round entirely. Sign up early and you are the one sitting it out. The prizes are then that bracket's prizes, worked out from every entry taken.
A group of 8 in front of you, 6 times over.
Eight walkers. Not eight thousand.
Every round you're drawn into a group of eight, at random, from everyone still standing. You are never ranked against the whole field — only against the seven people beside you.
Your steps, verified by your watch
Your wearable-verified step total for that round's window is your score. No handicap, no age bands, no adjustment — the number your watch recorded is the number that counts.
Top two go through. Six go home.
Finish first or second in your group and you're in the next round. The other six are out — one round, one ranking, no appeal and no second chance. It is the same test every round, against seven different people.
Schematic. 2 of every 8 advance, so the field divides by 4 each round — groups are drawn at random among everyone still standing at the start of every round, so there is no seeding and no bracket to scout.
Round 1 runs 7 days — the get-your-watch-working week. Every round after it is 3, with one quiet day between rounds while steps are validated.
| Round | Days | Walking | Groups | Still alive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Round 1 | 1–7 | 8,192 | 1,024 | 2,048 |
| 2. Round 2 | 9–11 | 2,048 | 256 | 512 |
| 3. Round 3 | 13–15 | 512 | 64 | 128 |
| 4. Round 4Everyone who reaches this round is paid | 17–19 | 128 | 16 | 32 |
| 5. Round 5 | 21–23 | 32 | 4 | 8 |
| 6. The finalOne group of 8, ranked 1–8 on 3 days of steps | 25–27 | 8 | 1 | 1 |
What you actually need — and one thing you can't have yet.
The Lucilla app — iPhone or Android
Free on the App Store and Google Play. It verifies your phone, connects your watch, shows the group you've been drawn into, and holds the wallet your winnings land in.
A supported wearable
Apple Watch, Fitbit, Pixel Watch, Wear OS, Samsung, Garmin, Amazfit, Polar, COROS or Huawei. One device, connected to your own account — a watch already competing on another account cannot enter twice.
18+, and a card — but not yet
Registering is free and costs nothing today. You only need a card once registration closes, and then you have 7 days to pay — and only if at least eight people registered, because below that the tournament is cancelled and nobody is charged. Winnings are paid in USDC to the Lucilla wallet inside the app.
$50 reaches the prize pool whole. Card checkout is $52; the $2 difference is the card networks' fee, passed through at cost. Pay in USDC from your Lucilla wallet and it is $50 flat.
Save your spot
Free. Sign in, and your place is held from that moment. We'll email you the moment registration closes so you can pay $52 and lock it in — you get 7 days. Before then, get the app and connect your watch; that's what your steps are counted through.
8,192 of 8,192 still open.
Answered before you have to ask them.
The 14 things people ask before they enter — the format, the money, the watch, and what happens when something goes wrong.
Ask us something elseThe Lucilla Step Challenge is a skill-based competition. Every round is decided entirely by the verified step counts of the 8 entrants in a group — there is no element of chance in the result, no draw for prizes, and no house edge. Groups are drawn at random among everyone still standing, which affects who you are ranked beside, never who wins. Entrants must be 18 or older. Void where prohibited by law. The prize pool is 80% of the entries actually taken, so every prize depends on the size of the field that registers. Figures labelled as the 8,192 ceiling are what a full field would pay and are not a promise about a smaller one. No prize is ever smaller than the $50 entry: places that would pay less than that are removed and the pool is shared among the places that remain, so a smaller field pays fewer people rather than paying everybody less. A tournament runs at whatever size registration closes on, provided at least 8 people registered; below that it is cancelled and nobody is charged.
Lucilla is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Apple, Fitbit, Google, Garmin, Samsung, Polar, COROS, Huawei or Amazfit. Wearable trademarks belong to their respective owners.