Why your location gets checked, and what that check does

Nobody enjoys a location prompt. It's friction at exactly the moment you wanted to do something else, and it can fail for reasons that feel arbitrary.

It's also not optional, and understanding why makes the whole thing less irritating.

Eligibility follows your body, not your paperwork

This is the single most misunderstood point. Where you can play is determined by where you physically are at the moment you play — not where you live, not where your account was opened, not where your bank is.

A resident of a permitted state who is physically somewhere else is, in that moment, somewhere else. A visitor to a permitted state who passes verification may be eligible while they're there. Eligibility travels with you, and it's checked each time, not once at signup.

Why the rule is drawn that way

Because the laws that permit these contests are state laws, and a state's authority runs to activity within its borders. A permitted state permits contests taking place there. It doesn't extend permission to someone sitting in a state that has decided otherwise.

So the check isn't a formality. It's the mechanism by which the product stays inside the rules that let it exist at all.

What the check actually looks at

A combination of signals rather than a single one — device location services, network and IP analysis, and the consistency between them. Real-money play is restricted when you're physically outside a supported jurisdiction.

Part of that analysis is specifically looking for tools that mask location: VPNs, proxies and similar software are screened during device and IP checks.

Why a VPN makes things worse

It's tempting to reach for one when a check fails, and it's the wrong instinct in both directions.

Practically, it usually doesn't work. A VPN changes one signal while others keep reporting something different, and the mismatch is itself detectable — a VPN often turns a passing check into a failing one.

More importantly, it's an attempt to play somewhere you're not permitted to. That's a problem for your account rather than a clever workaround, and it puts any balance in it at risk. There is no version of this that ends well.

When a check fails and you're doing nothing wrong

It happens, and the causes are usually mundane:

• Location services are switched off at the device level.

• Location permission was never granted, or was granted once and later revoked.

• A privacy or ad-blocking tool is interfering with location detection.

• A corporate or campus network is routing traffic through somewhere else entirely.

• You're genuinely near a state border, where signals can disagree.

The first two cover most cases. Confirm device location services are on and that permission is granted, then try again. If it still fails, support can look at the specific case — hello@getpicks.app.

The summary

Location checks exist because permission to run these contests is granted state by state, and eligibility follows where you physically are. The check is a condition of operating legally, not a hurdle placed there for its own sake — and working around it isn't a shortcut, it's the one thing guaranteed to cause you a real problem.