Jimmy Boyd in 
NFL Survivor Pools, often known as “Knockout”, “Eliminator”, or “Last Man Standing” pools, have become one of the most popular contests for groups of people to enjoy the pro football season. The concept is so simple that anyone can get behind it, all you have to do is survive by picking teams that win their games. What makes them different from other types of pools is that you must continue to choose teams that you think will win, but you can’t pick the same team twice. This adds enough strategy to give an edge to the smarter players, while still allowing everyone to have a chance at victory.
So you have entered the major public survivor pools but are hungry for me. You’ve decided to start your own but need a little help. No worries as we have got you covered. Just like how we showed you how to win your survival pool now we have what you need to know to run your own knockout contest with friends, family, co-workers or anyone else.
Understanding the Basic Rules of Eliminator Pools
The core concept is straightforward: participants choose one team they believe will win in a given week. If their team wins, they progress to the next week. If their team loses, they’re out. As the weeks progress, the choices become more challenging since you cannot select a team you’ve already chosen in previous weeks. That means if you pick the best team in Week 1, you can’ rely on them later in the season.
Another basic rule is the pick deadline. Typically it’s set to the kickoff of the game you are selecting, but some pools might have earlier deadlines. I don’t see any reason to set the deadline before the Thursday game, but a hard cutoff before the 1PM EST game on Sundays could be used. A friendlier way to do it would be if someone forgets early on Sunday, they can always get their pick in on the afternoon, Sunday night, or even Monday night games.
You also want to figure out what you are going to do about ties. Some treat ties as a loss, others you move on. I’ve even seen it where if a team ties you have to take two teams the following week.
Then there is the re-buy option. Are you going to let participants get a second chance at life if they are eliminated early on? This can add a twist, get more money in the pot, and keep people engaged who might be done in September. Your options here are either a hard no or setting an early deadline. I’ve seen it go as late as Week 9 before a team can re-buy. My recommendation is you set it up for re-buys until Week 6.
Lastly you’ll need to determine a winner. If you have multiple participants who make it all the way until the end of the regular season, what are you going to do? You can either split the prize pool between them or extend it into the playoffs. It’s helpful to have a clear set of rules to avoid confusion. My personal preference is ending it at the regular season and splitting the pool. If you extend into the playoffs do they get a clean slate to take any team they want again? One pool I’m in has a draft where you get to pick a team, then whoever has the Super Bowl winner is declared the champion. This is a little too complex for me as I like to keep things simple for the average player.
Managing and Organizing Your Last Man Standing Pool
Trust me when I say you are going to want to use an online platform to run your contest. The days of manually tracking everyone’s picks, sending out weekly updates, and reminding everyone of deadline’s is over. There are several options you can use, and most of them are pretty cheap. Here is a list of ones I recommend:
Just make sure you don’t tell anyone where you get your expert NFL survivor pool picks so they don’t have an edge over you in your own contests!