If you have the advantage of a reliable, accurate boot list, the chances are very good for scoring higher if you lock in at the beginning.
Lance's rules at
http://survivorpickem.com/rules.php :
"
Extreme Pool: In this game, you must predict the order in which remaining Survivors are voted off. You do not have to lock in your picks until you feel ready to. However, you do not score points until you do so, and the total number of possible points is much higher at the beginning of the season, so if you wait too long, even though your picks may be better quality, it may be too late to make up lost ground!"
"
Extreme Pool details: At the point that you feel that you have reasonable confidence in your ability to predict the remaining Survivors vote-off order, you may pick the order in which the remaining Survivors are voted off and lock your votes in. Once the next weekly deadline passes, your votes are locked in and cannot be changed for the remainder of the season. You do not start to accumulate score until your votes are officially locked in and a weekly deadline passes. After each episode, the top name on your list is removed (or multiple names are removed in the event multiple Survivors leave the game), and you are given one point for each Survivor on your list that remains in the game. For example, suppose at the beginning of an episode your list contains the names in this order: Ed, Trixie, Alice and Ralph. One Survivor is voted off (Alice). Since one Survivor was voted off, one name is removed from the top of your list (Ed). Your list now contains Trixie, Alice and Ralph. The remaining Survivors are now Ed, Trixie and Ralph. You score one point for Trixie and one point for Ralph since they are still in the game AND on your list. You do not score points for Alice even though she is on your list because she left the game. You do not score points for Ed even though he is still in the game because he is no longer on your list. If two Survivors had been voted off, your list would have been shortened by two (Ed and Trixie) and the scoring would continue as before."