Survivor Pool Rules
Pick one team each week to win. Lose once and you’re out. Last one standing takes the pot. Here’s the whole game.
Every FantasyDailies contest is P2P (peer-to-peer). Buy-ins, payouts, and buybacks are settled directly between players and the pool commissioner (Venmo, Zelle, Cash App, PayPal, cash). FantasyDailies never holds, routes, or touches any money and takes no cut. We provide the tools and tracking only.
How Survivor works
- Pick one team each week that you think will win (the margin doesn’t matter — just win).
- You can’t reuse a team. Once you’ve picked the Chiefs, they’re gone for the rest of the season.
- Lose and you’re out. In a one-and-done pool, one wrong pick eliminates you. Some pools use two strikes.
- Last one standing wins the pot. If everyone left loses in the same week, common house rules split the pot or roll back a week — the commissioner decides.
Picks lock at each game’s kickoff. Miss the lock with no pick and you’re out — unless you turned on auto-pick, which enters a still-available team for you so you stay alive.
Common rules
Ties: the pool decides whether a tie counts as a win or a loss. Strikes: one-and-done (out on your first loss) or two-strike (out on your second). Buybacks: optional and admin-controlled — see below.
Buybacks (re-ante)
If the commissioner turns them on, an eliminated player can buy back in. Standard, fair rules apply: there’s a cutoff week (you can’t get knocked out in Week 1 and buy back in Week 10), a cap on how many times you can buy back, and a price (a multiple of the buy-in, or a scale that climbs by week). Every buyback is announced to the whole pool and logged — no secret re-entries — and the money is P2P.
What happens on a tie?
It depends on the pool’s setting: a tie either counts as a win (you survive) or a loss (you’re out). Your pool’s rulebook says which — it’s generated from the commissioner’s exact settings.
Can I pick the same team twice?
No. Once you use a team, it’s gone for the season. The standings show which teams each player has already burned.
What if I forget to pick?
With auto-pick OFF (the default), no pick is entered and you’re out. With auto-pick ON, we enter a still-available team for you at the lock so you survive the week.
What’s a buyback?
If enabled, it lets an eliminated player pay to re-enter — before the cutoff week, up to the max, at the set price. Announced to the pool and logged. Money is P2P.
How does the pot work?
In a money pool, everyone’s buy-in (plus any buybacks) makes the pot. It’s all P2P — the commissioner collects and pays out. FantasyDailies never touches it.
Who decides the rules?
The commissioner, when they create the pool. The pool then writes its own plain-English rulebook from those exact settings, so the rules always match how it runs.
Taxes & forms (P2P)
FantasyDailies holds no money and issues no tax forms. Any winnings, buy-ins, or commissioner rake are P2P and are your responsibility to report. Depending on your situation you may need an official IRS form — we link to the always-current versions on IRS.gov:
- Form W-9 — taxpayer ID (kept for records, not filed with the IRS)
- Form 1099-NEC — report $600+ paid to a non-employee
- Form 1099-K — payment-processor reporting (context)
Not tax advice — consult a professional. See the full Terms.
FantasyDailies is a free tool for friendly and office pools, provided for entertainment. All contests are P2P; the platform holds no funds, is not a party to any contest, sets no odds, takes no cut, and is provided “as is” with no guarantee of uptime or data. Not legal or tax advice.