Every format above, Second Chance, Loser Pool, Double Pick Weeks, Against the Spread, works as a standalone pool. But they're also settings, not separate products, which means a commissioner can turn all four on at once. As of today, we haven't found another platform that lets you do that. Most sites give you one flavor of survivor pool. Sunday Survivor lets you stack them.
We call it the extreme survivor pool. Some commissioners call it a survivor pool on steroids. Whatever you call it, it's the hardest version of this game you can run.
What's Actually Stacked
- Double Pick Weeks: in designated weeks, every entry needs two winning picks, not one. Both have to hold up or the entry's out.
- Against the Spread: "winning" isn't enough. Each pick has to cover the point spread, locked in every Wednesday at 12:00 PM ET.
- Loser Pool: the whole objective flips. Instead of picking a team to cover, you're picking a team you think won't cover.
- Second Chance: the pool's first elimination doesn't end an entry's season. It drops them into a runner-up bracket that plays out the rest of the way.
Combine all four and here's what a normal week actually asks of you: pick two teams you think will fail to cover the spread, not two teams you think will simply lose. If a pick surprises you and actually covers, that's your one elimination, and it drops you into the Second Chance bracket instead of knocking you out entirely.
Why Commissioners Run It
Any one of these settings adds real difficulty on its own. Stacked together, the pool stops being about who can spot an obvious mismatch and turns into something closer to real handicapping, every single week, twice a week when the schedule calls for it. For a group that's outgrown the standard format and wants bragging rights that actually mean something, this is about as hard as a survivor pool gets.
It's also not chaos for chaos's sake. Second Chance keeps one bad week from ending the whole season immediately, so the pool stays competitive deep into the year even with four layers of difficulty stacked on top of each other.
How to Enable It on Sunday Survivor
Each of the four settings, double pick weeks, ATS, loser pool, and second chance, is its own toggle in your pool settings. Turn on all four before your first pick deadline and the platform grades every pick against every rule automatically: which teams to cover, which weeks need two picks, how a loser-pool result inverts, and when an elimination sends an entry to Second Chance instead of ending its season. No manual tracking, no spreadsheet on the side.
Set up your pool at sundaysurvivor.com →
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an extreme survivor pool?
A survivor pool running Second Chance, Loser Pool, Double Pick Weeks, and Against the Spread all at the same time. Each setting works on its own, but combining all four makes for the hardest version of the game.
Does any other platform let you combine these settings?
Not that we've found. As of today, Sunday Survivor is the only survivor pool platform we know of where Second Chance, Loser Pool, Double Pick Weeks, and ATS can all run in the same pool at once.
Do I have to turn all four settings on?
No. Each one is an independent toggle in your pool settings. Run any single format on its own, mix two or three, or stack all four for the extreme version.
How does grading work with all four settings on?
The platform applies all four rules automatically: which weeks need two picks, which teams need to cover the spread, how the loser-pool flip applies to that result, and whether an elimination sends the entry to Second Chance instead of ending its season.
Want the mechanics of each format on its own? See our guides on ATS survivor pools, loser pools, and second chance brackets.