Custom NFL Survivor Pool Rules

Sunday Survivor lets commissioners customize an NFL survivor pool with double-pick weeks, required game slates, loser pool mode, second chance brackets, against-the-spread picks, no-repeat-opponent rules, team reuse, mulligans, capped or disabled auto-picks, hidden picks, configurable tie handling, and custom pick deadlines. These are settings on one pool, not separate pool types, so they can be combined however a group wants to play.

Every rule you can change

Rule	What it does	Options
Pick deadline	When picks lock each week	A weekly deadline, or each entry locks at its own game's kickoff
Hidden picks	Keeps picks and results from games played before the deadline secret until picks lock, so a Thursday night result can't reveal who is already out	On or off
Double-pick weeks	Requires two picks in the weeks you choose, both must survive	Any regular-season weeks, 1 to 18
Required game slates	Forces the first pick of a double-pick week to come from games you pick	Any set of games
Loser pool	Reverses the goal: pick a team to lose, and picking a winner eliminates you	On or off
Second chance bracket	Eliminated entries keep playing for 2nd place	On or off
Playoffs	Runs past Week 18 into the postseason, but only if more than one entry is still alive	On or off, locked once your first week kicks off
Against the spread	Picks must cover the spread, not just win	On or off, with push handling
No repeat opponents	Stops entries picking against the same team week after week	Off, or a cooldown of any length
Team reuse	Lets entries pick a team they have already used	On or off
Mulligans	Extra lives, so one loss doesn't end a season. Set it to 1 and you have a double-elimination pool	Any number per entry
Auto-pick	Fills in a pick for anyone who misses the deadline	Off, on, or capped at a set number per season
Ties count as	What happens when an NFL game ends in a tie	A win or a loss
Entries per person	How many entries one player may run	Any limit
Start week	Which week the pool begins	Any week

They combine

This is the part that is hard to find elsewhere. Most platforms sell a survivor pool, a loser pool, and a spread pool as three different contests you choose between. Here they are switches on the same pool, so a loser pool can also use against-the-spread scoring, double-pick weeks from Week 14, and hidden picks, all at once.

Five pools you could build today

Every one of these is the same product with different switches flipped.

The traditional pool

One pick a week, no team twice, one loss and you are out, everything locks Sunday at 1pm ET. This is the default, and most pools never change a thing.

The forgiving pool

Two mulligans, auto-pick on so a forgotten week doesn't end anyone's season, and team reuse allowed. Built to keep casual players alive into December rather than losing half the office in Week 2.

The double-elimination pool

One mulligan per entry, and nothing else changed. A first loss costs you a life instead of your season, a second one ends it. People ask for this by name and it is already here: double elimination is what one mulligan means.

The brutal pool

No mulligans, no auto-pick, no repeat opponents, and double picks from Week 14 on. For groups who want a winner before the season runs out.

The pool that can't be gamed

Hidden picks, so a game that has already finished doesn't reveal who it knocked out. Closes the hedge where someone holding two entries covers both sides of a late game once they know their last rival is out. Worth reading the extreme survivor pool guide alongside it.

Set your rules once. It runs itself.

Free up to 10 entries. Deadlines, grading, standings and reminders all happen on their own once the pool is set up.

Create a pool