How to Run a Weekly NFL Knock out Pool

A knockout pool is a different way to bet on NFL games during the season. Instead of predicting the winner for each game during a week, you choose which games to “bet on.” What makes this type of pool so difficult is that once you miss a single pick, you are eliminated for the rest of the season. Running a knockout pool is a very simple process and takes little effort on your part.

Things You'll Need

  • Email account
  • Word processing/spreadsheet program
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Instructions

    • 1

      Gather enough people to join your knockout pool. Since a player is eliminated with one loss, you shouldn't have any less than six people in the pool. There should be no maximum amount allowed in, though. More people just means more money to the winner.

    • 2

      Determine how much money people will have to pay to join the knockout pool. You can choose a random number, such as a $50 entry fee. Talk to the players in the pool and ask them how much they would be willing to pay before you set the final number.

    • 3

      Collect all of the money before the start of the season. Otherwise, people in the pool may back out after a week or so. Getting the money before Week 1 begins ensures that the winner of the pool will get each dollar he earned during the season.

    • 4

      Choose how many games will be bet on each week. If you choose too few games, nobody will get eliminated during the week. Make the players bet on a large amount of games and your knockout pool will not last into the fifth week of the NFL season. Three to six games per week are reasonable amounts.

    • 5

      Allow those in the pool to pick the games they bet on. In some knockout pools, the person running the pool forces players to pick from a predetermined list. This can take the fun out of it. If a person wants to pick the Colts to win each week, let him. He'll be disappointed when they lose a game and he's eliminated.

    • 6

      Make players submit their picks an hour before the NFL week begins. This helps you keep track of picks and keeps those in the pool from cheating by making their picks during football games.

    • 7

      Post each person's picks in email messages. Using a spreadsheet or word processing document is an easy way to do this. Sending out these messages will avoid any confusion players may have about who their opponents picked each week. Your emails will also show who is still alive in the pool and who has been eliminated.

    • 8

      Devise a tiebreaker. Your pool may come down to two players in Week 14 of the NFL regular season. There is a chance that they both will lose a game during that week, creating a tie. The easiest tiebreaker is to make the two players predict the final score of a particular game, such as the Monday night game. The person closest to the actual final score wins the tiebreaker.

    • 9

      Give all of the money to the last man standing. In a knockout pool, the winner is the person who went the longest without missing one pick. There are no splits in a knockout pool.