SURVIVAL POOL 2024
THE RULES

  • How do you play?
    Each week you pick (for each entry) one NFL team to win their game (no spreads used). If your team wins, you "survive" and get to participate in the following week. If your team loses, you are out (ties are considered a loss). Game, set, match!

  • The catch?
    You can only use each team in the NFL once for the entire season (for each entry). So, for example, if you pick the Patriots to beat the Bengals in week one, and the Pats win, you cannot pick the Patriots as your team again this season for that entry.

  • What if I forget to submit my pick?
    As a safety net we have what is called the Default Pick. The Default Pick is the team with the highest favored spread (as of Friday) that week (the spread is only used to determine the default pick, not a winner). In the event you have already used the team that happens to be the Default Pick for the week, you will receive the next highest favored spread and so forth. If there is more than one team tied for the highest favored spread we will go in alphabetical order, numbers first (49ers), then alphabetically by team name (Bears, Chargers, Rams, Titans, etc).

    NOTE: You only get 1 Default Pick for the season, if you fail to submit a pick after you have used your default pick, then you are eliminated.

    NOTE2: Even if it is the highest spread, any game that falls before Sunday of a given week (Tues - Sat) will never be used as the default.

  • Continuation Rule: With the pool growing year after year the likelyhood of several entries making it all the way through Week 18 continues to increase. With that in mind, if 15 (this number subject to change based on final number of entries) or more entries make it to the end of the season, the Pool will continue into the playoffs (otherwise the pool ends upon completion of Week 18). If there is at least one playoff team that each entry has NOT used (in each round) then the same rules apply, you cannot pick a team you have already used. If there is at least one entry that HAS used all the playoff teams already, then the picks will reset for everyone, all teams will become eligible (and the normal SP1 rules apply). If 15+ Survivors remain going into the Super Bowl then the spread WILL also be used.

    No need to worry about the Continuation Rule until we get towards the end of the season and if there are many (15+) Survivors still going. At that time I will give a more clear explanation on how it will work if it happens.

  • **COVID-19/Damar Hamlin RULE**
    What if an individual game is cancelled last minute/or stopped in game?

    In the event a game is cancelled last second (or after the deadline), giving no time to resubmit a pick (if you used that game), or even hear the news for that matter, you will receive the Default Pick, BUT, it will NOT count against your one time default pick use. There's not much that can be done about it, it'll basically be treated as 'forgetting' to submit a pick.

    This only applies if a game is cancelled on game day (or after the deadline). Any cancellations that come ahead of game day is the responsibility of the participants.

    This also applies to any game stopped/cancelled after it has started, the 'Damar Hamlin Rule.' Like with COVID our hands are pretty much tied, the default will be given (will NOT count against your one deafult use) to those who may have used that game, unless it is continued/completed before then next week's games are played.

  • How much to play?
    $5 per entry, maximum of 15 entries (paid + free entries) per person. As a bonus, for every three NEW people you recruit to play (and pay) you get one free entry. A NEW person is considered someone who did not participate in SP1 or SP2 of 2023.

  • You cannot win if you do not pay your entry fee(s). Once the pool ends, whether that be the NFL season ending or there is one person standing at any point, any Survivor(s) who have not paid their fee(s) are immediately ELIMINATED. If this elimination knocks the remaining Survivor(s) out of the pool, the $$ will be awarded to those who lasted the longest prior to this elimination.

  • How much do I win?
    The amount you win depends on the number of paid entries. Winner take all. If there is a tie the $$ will be divided equally.

  • When is my pick due each week?
    Your pick is due by 12:00pm EST on Sunday. All picks received after that time will be disregarded and you will be given the default pick for the week (if your one default remains).

  • What about non-Sunday/Monday games?
    If there is a non-Sunday/Monday game, and you are going to use that game as your pick, then you must submit your pick 1 hour prior to game time (otherwise it will be assumed you are not using that game and will pick from the Sunday/Monday list).

    NOTE: If you are using the Monday Night game, that pick is also due by 12:00pm EST on Sunday.

  • What if I submit my pick, but it gets lost somehow, and I am given the default when I shouldn't have?
    Unfortunately this can and has happened. Sometimes emails get swallowed up by the Internet Gods and never reach their destination. The only defense against this is to make sure you let at least one (preferably several) other person (in the pool) know who you are picking so they can vouch for you in the event of a disputed pick.

    I cannot stress the previous bullet enough. Every year this happens to someone. When you send in your pick(s) please send them to a least one other person as well.

    Email logs are not valid proof of a pick as they can be manipulated.

  • Can I see who everyone has picked each week?
    Yes, the entire pool will be tracked at http://www.pllfirefly.us. All picks will be posted after the Sunday deadline each week (never before, to prevent others from basing their pick off everyone else). Most updates are done on Wednesday mornings.

    NOTE: Some links on the website will not be active until the season gets going.

    To begin the season, I will submit my pick to several people in the pool before the pick deadline each week. If I go deep into the pool (when it starts to become strategic) I will submit my pick to someone who has been knocked out already, to keep things legit.

    Submitting your pick(s)

    2024 is year number 26 for this pool, and over that time the pool has balooned significantly. We've gone from 20 entries in 1999, to 1300+ (2022, where we've remained more or less steady). As you might guess it's a lot of work to log everything (one of these days i'll get this pool automated). To make it easier for me, you should submit your pick in the following manner.

    FAILURE TO SUMBIT YOUR PICK CORRECTLY CAN RESULT IN BEING ELIMINATED. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!

    In the SUBJECT field of your email, all you need is the following. SP1, WK#, YOUR NAME (OR MONIKER), YOUR PICK. You need not put anything in the BODY portion of the email. By having everyone just enter their pick into the email subject/heading it saves me the time of having to open 600+ messages each week, instead, all the picks are in a nice list on one screen.

    SP1 = Survival Pool 1, which is the 'marker' my email looks for to filter your message to the Survival Pool folder I have set up.

    WK# = The particular week number in the NFL season. For week one it should be WK1, week two, WK2, etc...

    Example:

    Example 2 (multiple picks):

    Since all the info I need will be in the SUBJECT, I will not be opening any of these emails. If you need to contact me to ask a question, please send a 2nd message with a different heading.