Get Help With Your Next Survivor Pool

If you are looking for a new way to gamble on sports, then you should consider setting up and running a survivor pool. This is probably the third-most-popular form of the pool out there, but it might be one of the easiest things to do.

Survivor pools have started to become more and more popular, though, and it’s not going to be hard to get other people to sign up. You can easily put together a survivor pool, but it can be done easier if you use OfficeSportsPools to help you out.

OfficeSportsPools has all of the tools needed to take your next survivor pool to the next level, and it will become a contest that your friends will want to sign up for each year. You can actually make some money off of your survivor pool as well and can make more money if you are a winner.

There is one sport that tends to provide the best option for a survivor pool, but you can set this up for a number of different sports. If you have never ran a survivor pool before, then perhaps this is something you will consider after reading this article.

What Is A Survivor Pool?

A survivor pool does not have as big of a name or brand recognition as squares or a bracket, but this contest might be easier to understand. The object of a survivor pool is to make correct picks in order to survive each week.

The concept of this pool is pretty simple as you will only have to pick one team to win and advance each week. Football is a great survivor pool option because teams play just once a week, but you will find this game offered on a wide range of sports.

This type of contest will sometimes be referred to as a knockout or an eliminator, and the winner then is the last person standing. This is usually an all-or-nothing prize, and one loss will eliminate a player from the competition.

One of the best parts about a survivor pool is that you don’t have to study a ton of statistics in order to participate. As long as you have some general knowledge about a certain sport, then you have enough information to pick just one team to win.

Benefits of Running A Survivor Pool

Since there are so many different sports pools available to run or join, it’s essential to find different benefits that allows one to stand out over the rest. There are a number of key benefits to running a survivor pool, and those that join your pool will receive those benefits as well.

This isn’t a contest that takes a ton of time to set up, and there is very little work to be done week-to-week. If you use OfficeSportsPools to help with this endeavor, then you will find that you basically have to do nothing as the contest will run itself.

Below are three of the most significant benefits you will notice when setting up a survivor pool.

Simple to Play

We have already mentioned this a bit earlier in the article, but a survivor pool is one of the easiest contests to set up, and it’s also extremely easy to play. All you have to do is pick one winner per week, but things do get a bit harder as the year goes on.

If you use OfficeSportsPools, then this can be even easier to play as everything will be set up and managed online. All it takes is a simple click of a button, and your pick will be locked in for that week.

You will also be able to check the standings of your survivor pool quickly, and you will see what the other players in your pool picked for that week. This is much simpler than filling out a bracket and entering those contests because a lot more work has to be done when entering the pool.

Easy to Run

Not only are your players going to love being in your survivor pool, but you are going to enjoy being the “commissioner.” There is a bit of work to be done when setting everything up, but it is smooth sailing after the contest begins.

Since all of this is done on a weekly basis, that will give you plenty of time to rest up throughout the week. You are also going to find that keeping track of those still in the contest is much easier than checking brackets after each round of the NCAA Tournament.

We will cover all of the planning that must be done before the survivor pool begins, but there is very little to do after that point.

Unlimited Amount of Players

Another big advantage of a survivor pool is that it can really have an unlimited number of players. A squares board is limited to just 100 different squares, but there is no limit when it comes to this type of game.

In fact, the more players that you are able to recruit in your survivor pool, the bigger the payout at the end will be. Adding more players doesn’t add extra work or stress on your part either, as this pool will still be run the same way.

Having hundreds of entries into a bracket pool can be overwhelming, but that isn’t a problem with a survivor pool. You will also find that a large chunk of players will get eliminated each week, and the player pool will shrink quickly.

NFL Provides the Best Option

When most people think about a survivor pool, they are likely thinking about one that is run during the NFL season. There are thousands of people that play in these contests each year, and this is where you should start if you want to run this type of pool.

There are now 18 weeks in the NFL regular season, and you want to cut it off after Week 18. It’s rare to see a survivor pool continue through the NFL Playoffs, especially after pointing out one of the key rules.

Picking a winner every week in the NFL might not sound that challenging, but there is a wrinkle that makes this a bit more difficult. One of the most common rules with a survivor pool is that you can no longer use that team again once you pick a team once.

This is why it is extremely hard to win an NFL pool because the options get pretty slim as the season moves on. There are a number of different strategies that people will use when it comes to a survivor pool, but that doesn’t really concern you when running it.

As someone that is running the NFL survivor pool, all you have to do is make sure that everything is set up before the first week of the season. From there, you can sit back and watch the action unfold, and you can also pray that you survive if you are participating as well.

Second Chance NFL Pools

A new wrinkle to an NFL survivor pool has started to emerge of late, and it’s one that OfficeSportsPools can help you out with as well. Since some players will be eliminated in Week 1, they are often looking for another chance to get in on the action.

When you start setting up your survivor pool, you will have an option for setting up a second chance pool. It’s usually best to wait until Weeks 5-6 to start this new contest, as that is when you will have a large enough player pool to make this happen.

Some people won’t be interested in the second chance option, and others will still be focused on the original pool that was created. Second chance pools usually have a much smaller player pool, but it will still allow you to give your players another chance at winning.

Planning Your NFL Survivor Pool


As mentioned earlier, the most challenging part of running a survivor pool is planning out how you want this to be run. There are a couple of essential pieces of information that you must decide on, and that should then be shared with everyone before the pool begins.

The first is obviously the sport you will be using to run your survivor pool. After you have chosen a sport, then you will want to start sending out invitations as soon as possible.

Along with the invitation, you will want to include what the entry fee is going to be for anyone that wants to participate. You won’t be able to share the prize money at first because it will depend on how many people sign up to play.

Most survivor pools allow players to enter the contest a handful of times, and three is usually a good number. That not only will allow the prize pool to increase, but it will give every player a few chances to win.

All of this planning has to be done by you, but that information can then be shared with OfficeSportsPools to make the rest of the process simple. Letting OfficeSportsPools execute the plan you have set is a great way to run this type of contest.

Other Popular Professional Sports

Even though football is the best sport to use when it comes to a survivor pool, you can also look at the three other major professional sports in the United States. The NBA, NHL, and MLB can also give you an opportunity to create a survivor pool and invite your friends.

When it comes to baseball, it works a bit differently as you will likely want to require your players to pick a team that is going to post a .500 or better record for a specific week. This does make it harder to keep track of, but OfficeSportsPools will do all of that work for you.

NBA and NHL survivor pools usually focus on each weekend throughout the regular season, and the contest is then run like an NFL contest. One slight variation that you might want to consider is allowing players to use the same team more than once since it is a much longer season.

Our Software Makes It Easy

As mentioned a few different times in this article, the available software can help you run the best survivor pool out there. Even though it’s not that hard to set up and run a survivor pool, it can become even easier when we do all of the work for you.

Your biggest challenge will be recruiting friends or coworkers to join your survivor pool, but OfficeSportsPools can handle the rest. This freedom will allow you to join your own survivor pool and join in on the fun.

It’s hard to envision survivor pools changing much over the next few years, but OfficeSportsPools will be in on the changes and will make adjustments. We specialize in a number of different sports pools, but survivor is one of our top options out there.