NFL Playoff Survivor Pools

Bring your group back for the playoffs.

Run a fresh pool from Wild Card weekend through the Super Bowl. Keep the familiar one-pick format, or add extra picks in the early rounds. Set your rules for tied finishes and wipeouts.

Pick winning teams to stay alive. Choose lives, picks per round, and team-reuse rules as the field gets smaller.

Start your pool

$1 per entry for the playoffs. Nothing upfront.

Let’s make Picksheet work for your pool.

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How playoff survivor works

One winning pick each round.

In a standard playoff survivor pool, each entry picks a team to win in each round, starting with Wild Card weekend. A loss eliminates the entry, and each team can be used only once. The goal is to be the last entry left.

Plan your playoff pool

Plan for a shared finish.

Four rounds may not produce a single winner. Set the ending rules, then decide whether to require extra picks early.

Set tiebreakers and wipeout rules.

Several entries can reach the Super Bowl, pick the same team, and finish together. Choose a prize split or a tiebreaker, such as predicted total points in the Super Bowl. If everyone loses in one round, let those entries share the win, apply your tiebreaker, or revive them if another round remains.

Three familiar setups.

The classic setup is one pick each round (1/1/1/1). For a tougher start, use two picks in Wild Card (2/1/1/1), or two in Wild Card and Divisional (2/2/1/1). Each uses one life and no repeat teams, with one pick in the conference championships and Super Bowl. Extra early picks also use up more teams: an entry can reach the Super Bowl having already picked both finalists. Decide whether that ends its run, whether to allow Super Bowl team reuse, or whether to finish the pool a round earlier.

Your pool’s rules

Playoff survivor rules for your group.

Keep the survivor rules your group likes, then adapt the schedule, team use, and ending scenarios to the postseason.

Format and rounds

Starting round: Wild Card weekend, or a later playoff round.
Where it ends: The Super Bowl, or an earlier round you choose.
Objective: Pick teams to win, or run a pick-to-lose variation.
How picks resolve: Straight up, or against the pool’s posted spread.
Entries per person: One each, or a cap you choose.
Entry deadline: Close entries at the opening deadline, or allow late entries under your missed-pick and lives rules.

Picks and team use

Picks per round: One pick each round, or a different count for each round. Set the count to fit the games and eligible teams remaining.
Team reuse: Use each team once, allow a limited number of uses, or allow repeat picks throughout the pool.
Picking against a team: Limit how often an entry can pick against the same opponent, or leave it unrestricted.
Eligible teams: Teams must have an eligible game in the current round. A team on a bye is not a pick for that round.
No eligible team left: Treat an unfilled pick as a missed pick, or establish a team-use reset or exception before play begins.
Regular-season team history: A new playoff pool starts fresh. For a pool continuing from the regular season, reset used teams or carry their history into the playoffs.

Lives and the finish

Total lives: One life for elimination on the first incorrect pick, or extra lives to keep entries in longer.
Multi-pick losses: Lose one life per incorrect pick, or one life for a round containing any incorrect picks. Two wrong picks can therefore cost two lives or one.
A missed pick: Lose a life for an unfilled pick, or use an automatic pick from the entry’s eligible teams.
ATS pushes: Count a pick that lands exactly on the spread as correct or incorrect. Set this rule if your posted lines can be whole numbers.
Everyone out in one round: Let entries eliminated that round share the win or use your tiebreaker to decide the winner. Alternatively, revive them under your wipeout rule if another round remains.
Survivors at the finish: Share the win, or break ties using a predicted Super Bowl score, remaining lives, winning margins, or another stated rule. Establish any prize splits before play.
Rebuys: Allow commissioner-managed re-entry under a stated cutoff, or keep elimination final.

Deadlines and game changes

Pick deadline: The round’s first kickoff, each game’s kickoff, or a day and time you set. A game that starts before the deadline still locks at kickoff.
Round-specific deadlines: Use a different deadline for a particular round. Account for games spread across multiple days and state the time zone.
Postponed or cancelled games: Establish whether a pick waits for the rescheduled result, can be replaced, or receives another stated outcome. Decide whether the team counts as used.

Visibility and control

Seeing other picks: As each game locks, or all at once at the deadline
Point spreads: Shown on the pick sheet, or kept off it. A pool that plays against the spread always shows them
How ATS spreads get set: Automatically from the market at any day and time, or manually. Unused for straight-up pools; the time is ignored in manual mode
Half-point ATS spreads: Automatic spreads always use half-points, so games cannot push; manual spreads are not guaranteed to use half-points
Commissioner picks: Enter and fix picks for a member, or turn that off
Commissioner visibility: Always off. Nobody sees a pick before it locks, you included
Rules text: A rules page generated from your settings, plus a note in your own words
Audit markers: Always on. Commissioner picks are flagged "C" and revivals "R"
Advance picks: Submit future-round picks once the eligible matchups are known, subject to the entry’s team-use rules.
Entry management: Keep track of who has joined, how many entries they have, and who still owes their dues.

Don’t see your house rule? Tell us what it is.

Rules

Your house rules
have a home.

Your scoring, your tiebreakers, the traditions your group has built. You decide how the pool runs. We help you make it work.

People

Your pool.
Your people.

Your members won’t be added to a marketing list or shown sportsbook promotions. You decide who joins.

Support

Get help from
a real person.

A setup question, a scoring issue, a house rule you want to try: you’ll hear from the people building Picksheet.

Football pool pricing

$1 per entry. For the playoffs. Nothing upfront.

Pay only for the entries you keep.

No credit card to start
No minimum charge
Set up before inviting anyone

How pricing works

Before the first playoff pick.

Separate a new postseason pool from a regular-season pool that keeps going.

Is this a separate pool or a continuation?

Either is possible. A new playoff pool has its own entries, standings, and team history, so anyone you invite can join. A continuing regular-season pool keeps its existing entries; its rules determine who remains eligible and whether used teams reset.

Can our regular-season pool stay on another site?

Yes. Start a separate playoff pool on Picksheet and invite your group. There is no need to move or import the original pool.

Can members pick a team that has a bye?

Not in a round when that team has no game. It becomes a possible pick when it plays, provided the entry’s team-use rules allow it. A bye is not a winning selection.

What if an entry has already used every remaining team?

In a no-reuse pool, the entry has no legal pick. A missed-pick penalty may then cost it a life. Set that consequence or a specific reuse exception before play; an automatic pick cannot supply a team that is ineligible.

Can we require two picks in a round?

Yes. Early rounds have more games to choose from. Set the count for each round, explain whether failed picks cost lives individually or once for the round, and account for teams already used. The Super Bowl provides only one game.

Can we start after Wild Card weekend?

Yes. Choose a later starting round and invite everyone before that round’s deadline. A later start leaves fewer teams and rounds, so revisit your reuse and finishing rules.

Can we play against the spread?

Yes. A correct pick then depends on the pool’s posted line, not simply which team wins the game. Set when lines become fixed and how a push is handled.

What does a separate playoff pool cost?

$1 for each entry you keep in the new pool, with nothing upfront and no minimum. The new pool is billed separately.

Ready to run your pool?

In setup, choose Wild Card (or a later round) as the start, and Super Bowl or your chosen final round as the end.