Barker's NFL Survivor Pool 
 

News & Info | Official Rules | Prizes | How to Join | Promotions

IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT THE COLLEGE BOWL POOL

Barker's Pools has not been updated lately, but the pools continue!

I have been very busy lately, but I am still running more pools than ever through our
new hosting site, and right now, we are taking new entries for the latest competition:

2008 College Bowl Pool

To join, just send me an email, and I will get back to you with the details. 

Get in-depth sports gambling information from Doc's Sports!
 

News & Info
 

   
Latest News
 

September 1st (12:00 p.m.):  I have FINALLY uploaded the entire website for football season, so everything is up-to-date!  I deeply apologize for the long delay entering the season, but we still have a week before the competitions begin, so that should give us enough time to get everyone in!  Now, the main reason for the delay is the fact that I have moved all of the pools to a third-party host.  This site will remain up, because I still generate some revenue from it that helps keep the pools running, so I ask that everyone visit here as often as they can to keep the traffic up, even though you will be playing the pools from another site (now, even though this means less work for me, the new host charges a fee, so I will still have to take 10%-20% from each pool fund).  The Barker's Pools site will contain all of the details and rules about our pools, you will use it to sign-up for the pools, the prize winners, Hall of Fame, and Pool Archives will still be listed at my site, and there will be a few pools that will be entirely ran from here.  However, I know everyone is tired of delays, and the last 2 weeks should be the end of them.  The players that tried out the college pool test run this weekend really loved the new site, including the real-time updates to the standings (and right when a game begins, you can see all of the other player's picks for that game). 

Basically, once you fill out the Join form, I will email you your confirmation with the details on paying your entry fees, and you will also receive an invitation email to the Office Football Pool site.  This is where the pools are being hosted, and you will use the link and password in your invite email to add your entries to this new site.  As far as the entry fees, I am allowing PayPal payments this year, but if you are able to mail a check/money order, I ask that you do that so that we can keep the PayPal activity to a minimum.  I will need PayPal payments by next weekend, and if you are using a check, please try to have it postmarked by this Saturday, September 6th.  (Since we are running late, I will accept payments a few days late if you are a regular pool player.)  Now, let's get to the pools for this football season:

Barker's NCAA Football Pool - Our classic weekly college football pool!  Pick the winner of 20 games each week, rank them confidence style, and earn points for your correct picks.  We start in Week 2 (which will be our Week 1), and there will be 14 weeks in the pool.  We will have weekly and yearly cash prizes, 20 in all!  Each entry is $5 per week or $70 for the whole season (this year, there is a 4-week minimum).

Barker's NFL Pick'em Pool - This is just like the college pool, but with the 17-week NFL season (it also uses confidence scoring).  There will be a cash prize each week, and the Top 8 players overall at year's end will also win cash prizes!  We start this week (you can join up until the games begin on Sunday, but there is an early game on Thursday... if you miss it, you will receive a random pick for that game, and it will be ranked 1).  It is $5 per week/$85 for the season (it also has a 4 week minimum).

Barker's NFL Survivor Pool - Our most popular football pool is back!  Pick one NFL team each week that you think will win their game (you cannot pick each team more than once!).  If they win, you keep playing; if they lose, you are eliminated!  Each entry will be $20, and you are encouraged to purchase multiple entries.  Instead of having a winner-take-all prize like last year, this year we have 3 cash prizes!

Barker's Cappers Challenge - This is for those that like to gamble on sports!  With your entry, which costs $40 (multiple entries are allowed), you will receive a "play" wagering account with $5,000.  You will wager on NFL and college games, sides or totals, and you can bet up to $1,000 per wager (you can place a maximum of 25 bets per week, but there is no minimum).  Throughout the year, you will receive an additional $5,000, in case you lose it all at some point.  After the Super Bowl (yes, you can wager on bowl games and playoff games as well), the Top 5 cappers will win cash!

That is a total of 53 cash prizes!  I am also going to have 1 to 3 fantasy football leagues, and each team for it will be $100.  When you are ready, check out each pool page, the rules for each pool, and go to the Join page to request your entries!  You need to join the NCAA Pool by Saturday, the Pick'em and Survivor pools by Sunday, and the Cappers Pool by Monday!  On each pool page, you will find a link to our Promotions.  You can take advantage of those for free pool credits (we have our usual Bodog promo for 2 free Survivor entries, we have a new Refer A Friend promo, and starting in a couple of weeks, we have Barker's Trivia starting up, where you can visit each pool page once a week for a trivia question, and at the end of the year, those with the most correct answers will have a shot at $100... this is something I came up with to keep people coming to Barker's Pools during the year).  I hope everyone joins us for football season... let me know if you have questions or comments!  (I will be a bit busy tonight, so do not expect your entry confirmations until Tuesday, but the rest of the week, you should have it quickly).

You need to sign-up ASAP, so do not delay!
 

Looking for a reliable sportsbook/casino/poker site?  Check out BodogLife.com!
 

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Official Rules
  

POOL FORMAT
Barker's NFL Survivor Pool is a season-long competition covering the 17-week NFL regular season.
Last season we had 182 players, so this season we are going to shoot for the 200-entry mark!
We are keep the single-elimination format in 2008, as it worked well last year, but it is challenging!
For those unfamiliar with this pool format, your goal is to simply pick one winning NFL team per week.
You pick your winner straight up (no point spread), but you must pick a different team every week.
If your team wins, you survive to play the next week, but if they lose, you are eliminated from the pool.
The last surviving player receives a very big cash prize (this year, we have a few other prizes as well).
 

JOINING THE POOL
This year, we are using another website to host this competition: www.officefootballpool.com
You will still use this site to access the official rules, the join form, the prize winners, etc.  However, the
new site will make the pool more organized, with real-time updates to the pick sheets and standings.
After you have read all of the Rules, go to the Join area to sign-up for your entries in this competition.
Once I receive your entry information, I will send you a confirmation by email within 12 hours.  It will
contain the details on paying your entry fee, along with instructions on creating an account at the new
pool webpage (your email will have the link and password you will need to add your entry to the pool).
If you have more than one entry in a pool, and you would like to keep them under one account, you can
add an Alias to your account at the Office Football Pool site, go to My Aliases under the Home menu.
Note:  If someone referred you to Barker's Pools, when signing up for your account, place the person's
name in the Reference field (you can find this at My Pool Settings under the Pools menu, if you
forget when joining).  If you refer someone to play, have them do the same, and you can earn pool
credits that you can use to join future competitions.  You can find the details in the Promotions area.
 

ENTRY FEE & DEADLINES
The pool begins on Thursday night, September 4th, and it will end once we have one sole survivor.
The entry fee is $20 per entry, and this, of course, covers your entry for the entire year (or as long as
you can keep your entry alive).  Multiple entries per person ARE allowed (additional entry fees apply).
You may want more than one entry since this is a single-elimination pool... once you're out, you're out!
(Due to the amount of work involved with running a pool of this size, along with the fees we are now
paying our new pool host, this year 20% of the collected entry monies from the Survivor Pool will be
used for administrative costs, rather than the 15% that is usually deducted from all of the pools.)
 
The deadline to join the NFL Survivor Pool is Sunday, September 7th, at 12:00 p.m. Central.
You must also submit your Week 1 pick by the same deadline.  Remember, that will be your
only opportunity to join the Survivor Pool; if you miss out, you will have to wait until 2009!
 
About submitting your pick...  Each week, there is a pick deadline, and you need to submit your pick
before this deadline, which is ALWAYS on Sunday at 12:00 p.m. Central.  Keep an eye out for the weeks
with early games, as you will need to submit your Survivor pick before the early game(s) if you plan on
using any of the teams that are playing early.  Once an early game begins, it locks on the pick sheet, so
you will not be able to choose those teams.  Here is a list of the weeks with one or more early games:
       -- Week 1 has a game on Thursday, September 4th, at 6:00 p.m. Central.
       -- Week 10 has a game on Thursday, November 6th, at 7:15 p.m. Central.
       -- Week 11 has a game on Thursday, November 13th, at 7:15 p.m. Central.
       -- Week 12 has a game on Thursday, November 20th, at 7:15 p.m. Central.
       -- Week 13 has three games on Thursday, November 27th, beginning at 11:30 a.m. Central.
       -- Week 14 has a game on Thursday, December 4th, at 7:15 p.m. Central.
       -- Week 15 has a game on Thursday, December 11th, at 7:15 p.m. Central.
       -- Week 16 has a game on Thursday & Saturday, December 18th & 20th, at 7:15 p.m. Central.
If you do not submit a pick before the deadline, you will receive an Autopick for the week (all of the
info on the Autopicks system can be found below).  Again, it is not a problem if you do not submit your
pick before the early game(s); you just cannot use any of the teams from the early game as a Survivor
pick.  Basically, you have until the kickoff of a game to make your pick using a team from that game,
up until the deadline on Sunday, when you must have your Survivor pick submitted.  If you do not, you
will receive an autopick for the week.  It is YOUR responsibility to make the deadline each week, but
email reminders will be sent twice per week, including once 24 hours before the pick deadline!
 
About paying the entry fee...  You can pay by mailing me a check or money order, or you may be
allowed to use PayPal, however, I would prefer a check/money order.  We sometimes have trouble if
we use PayPal, as they do not like sites such as this, but if you live out of the country and cannot send a
check easily, or if you just really need to use PayPal, you can select it on the entry form when joining.
If you pay with PayPal:  I MUST receive your entry fee BEFORE the entry deadline has passed!
(When using PayPal, always wait for me to send you an invoice from PayPal before sending payment.)
If you pay with a check/money order:  You must have your check POSTMARKED on or before the
entry deadline of September 7th, and I must RECEIVE the payment within 7 days of the deadline!
Once I receive your payment, I will mark your entry as PAID, and you will be eligible to play in the pool.
In the Standings, you can see which players have not yet paid; if their entry fee arrives within 7 days
and is postmarked correctly, I will mark them as PAID, and they will be eligible for the competition.
Even if their payment hasn't arrived, a player may still make picks until the 7-day wait has passed.
If it does not arrive within 10 days, their entry will be disqualified and removed from the pool.
 

HOW TO PLAY
This pool is definitely one of our most exciting (and stressful), as each game has extremely high stakes.
Early each week, the pick sheet will be available on our new pool site (REMEMBER, you will not use the
Barker's Pools website to submit your pick; instead, the pool will be hosted from a third-party website).
Most weeks will have 16 games, but because of the byes, some weeks will only have 13 or 14 games.
To submit your Survivor pick each week, follow the instructions below:
 
To begin, navigate to the pool page.  (When you sign-up for the pool, you will receive the link to the pool
page at the Office Football Pool site; I will also post the link in the News & Info section for you to use.)
You will need to login to your account and make sure you are switched to the NFL Survivor Pool page.
Once there, click on Picks to access the pick sheet, and now you can submit your pick for that week!
On the pick sheet, you will find each NFL match-up for the week, along with each team's current record.
To make your pick, simply choose ONE team for that week that you think has the best chance of winning.
Keep in mind, however, that once you use a team, you CANNOT use that team again for the remainder
of the regular season, so you must use a bit of strategy when deciding when to use the top NFL teams.
(Our new pool host has a feature where you can view your list of used/available teams so far.  When the
pool was ran at this site, it was your responsibility to make sure you did not use a team twice during the
year, which would result in a loss... thankfully, our new host simply will not let you use a team twice!)
Once you have decided on your team for the week, Submit Your Pick.
 
After you submit your pick, you can review it on the site or in the pick confirmation email that will be
emailed to you.  You ARE allowed to change your pick as many times as you like before the deadline.
Remember, you only have until 12:00 p.m. Central on Sunday to submit your pick each week!
It is YOUR responsibility to ensure that your pick is in the system, exactly the way you want it.
Tip:  At the pool website, click on Analysis to find some great info on all of the games each week,
rankings of each team's offense and defense, the point spread for each game, and much more!
 

AUTOPICKS
With our new pool host, we have a helpful feature to assist those that forget to submit their pick prior
to the deadline.  It is called Autopicks, and it will be automatically switched ON whenever you create
your account/entry at Office Football Pool.  With Autopicks, if you miss the deadline one week, or if you
just cannot decide on a team to use, then Autopicks will automatically choose the NFL team with the
highest point spread that week (the biggest favorite, in other words), as long as you HAVE NOT used
that team yet this season.  Autopicks will not run until the deadline has passed each week, and if there
are any early games that week, the teams from those games WILL NOT be used as your autopick.
Players that receive an autopick will be flagged in the standings, so you can identify those players.
 

SCORING & WINNING
At the pool page, you can access the Survivor picks by clicking the Standings button on the main menu.
You can view your own pick at any time, however, you can only see the picks from other players once
each game has started.  In other words, at kickoff of each game, you will be able to see how many
players selected each of the teams in that game as their Survivor pick for the week.  Again, you will
also have access to a chart at the pool page that will show all of the teams each player has used this
season.  With the new site, the standings will be updated in real-time throughout each day of games.
Now, the survival format is about as easy as it gets:
  
If the team you chose WINS, you will survive and get to play again next week, choosing a new team.
If the team you chose LOSES, you will be eliminated from the competition, so better luck next year!
If the team you chose has a game that ends in a tie (after overtime), it will count as a LOSS for you.
As the weeks roll by, players will be eliminated.  Only the surviving players will continue to play.
 
The last surviving player will receive a large cash prize (the next four places will receive prizes as well).
The cash prize amounts are determined by the number of players in the pool.  Go to the News & Info
section to see the current number of players/prize amounts, and the Prizes area contains a breakdown
of the prizes we will have if we have 150 players this year, which is close to our total from last season.
Cash prize winners will receive their winnings within a maximum of 35 days from the date in which they
won their prize (I will mail out a new batch of prize money at the beginning of every month).  I usually
pay the winners with a check or money order, but on request, I may be able to pay a prize using PayPal.
 

TIEBREAKERS
After the regular season, if two or more players are tied, the following tiebreaker will be used:
     1.  The win/loss record of the 17 Survivor picks from each player will be added together, and the
player who has the 17 teams with the lower combined winning percentage will win the tiebreaker.
The tiebreaker rewards the player that takes a greater risk by choosing weaker teams during the year.
If there is still a tie between players after the tiebreaker is enforced, then the prize will be evenly split.
 
Once we get near the end, if the two or three remaining players wish to stop playing and split the
prize money (if there are three players, they know they have won 1st-3rd Place, so they can add the
prizes together and split them three ways), they ARE allowed to do this, but all of the players MUST
email me and let me know that this is what they want to do.  Also, if at some point, a surviving player
wants to sell his entry to the highest bidder, this IS allowed, however, it is up to the two parties that
are involved to complete the transaction... I will only let everyone know that an entry is available.
In the event that all of the remaining players in the pool lose with their pick one week, they will all be revived for the next week and given another chance to pick in order to determine our prize winners.
 

OTHER RULES
You must provide a full name and email address in order to join the pool.  Don't worry though:  These
will never be displayed on the site.  Only your anonymous username/alias will appear in the standings.
Barker's Pools will NEVER sell or distribute the contact information of our members to a third-party.
I do send occasional emails regarding our upcoming pools.  To stop receiving these, let me know.
On each pool page, we have a message board called the Trash Talk Board where you can chat with
other players and do a little bragging/trash talking, but please keep it clean, fun, friendly!  If you go
too far and attack or harass another player, you will be removed from the pool without a refund!
Also, do not use this board for your complaints/problems with the pools; please email me instead.
 
IMPORTANT:  I reserve the right to make changes to the Rules midway through the competition in
order to maintain the integrity and fairness of the pool.  This could include adding new rules, doing
away with rules, and making changes to incorrect results or standings.  Changes will only be made if
absolutely necessary, and we will hold a vote for any major issues, if possible.  Any changes to the
picks or results will be flagged in the Standings, so you will know if any changes are made.  Finally,
in order for everyone to know I run honest pools, I had a policy that I would not play in the pools.
However, with the new pool host, they automatically give the pool creator an entry, so I will have
entries in the competitions from now on, under the name of BARKERS POOLS (I will be paying for
my entries like everyone else).  Like I said above, the site shows any changes that are made to the
standings after the results are in, so you do not have to worry about anything suspicious going on.
In fact, I am not even able to see anyone's pick until AFTER the deadline, just like everyone else.
 
By joining this pool, you are stating that you have read and understand the Rules entirely.
If you have any problem with the rules, you can request a refund BEFORE the games have been played,
and your entry will be removed from the competition.  If you have any questions or comments, do not
hesitate to contact me at barker@barkerspools.com.  You can also call 801-790-4236 - just leave
a message, and I will get back to you ASAP!  Most importantly, have fun this season and good luck!
 

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Prizes
  

Below, you will find the prize breakdown we will use for the pool this season.  The
first chart shows the prizes we will have if we have 150 players, which is close to
what we had last season.  Rather than only having one winner-take-all prize for the
Final Survivor, this season we are adding a couple more, although the final player
will still receive 67% of the prize pool (last year, the final player took home 80%).
If we have more entries than last year, the cash prizes will be increased, and we
may add a cash prize or two, but first, we will boost the current prizes!  Below the
prize breakdown, we will list the big winners for 2008 once the Survivor Pool ends.

With 150 players and $3,000 in entry fees, the following prizes would be awarded:
  
The Final Survivor at season's end would receive $2,000.
The Runner-up Survivor at season's end would receive $300.
The 3rd Place Survivor at season's end would receive $100.
The 4th Place Survivor at season's end would receive a $25 pool credit.
 
The "Big Loser" prize winner would receive a $25 pool credit.
 
The first batch of players that lose, whether it is 1 player or 37, will be named
the Big Losers, and they will be entered into a random drawing for this prize.
  
The remaining 20% of the prize pool will be used to support and expand this website.
Unfortunately, running this site takes time and money, so a small portion of each pool's entry fees
will be used to offset my expenses.  This portion will be between 10%-20% of the collected entry
fees, depending on the pool.  The administrative costs include: domain registration, hosting fees,
PayPal & banking fees, pool software, web design software, and other miscellaneous expenses.

The prize winners will be listed here at the end of the season!
 

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How to Join
  

Below, you will find the instructions on joining one of the football pools for 2008.
Remember, there are three other football pools for you to join, along with fantasy
football leagues.  You can use the same entry form to sign-up for all of the pools.

•  The entry fee for Barker's NFL Survivor Pool is $20 per entry.

• You can purchase multiple entries, which is a good idea in a survivor format.

• The entry deadline is Sunday, September 7th, at 12:00 p.m. Central.

• If you want to pick either team playing on Thursday, the 4th, sign-up by then.

     Click here to join!    
 

After you have completed these steps, all that is left to do is kick back and enjoy
the games, root your teams to victory, and hopefully win some cold hard cash!
Don't forget, there are three other football pools for the regular season, so check
them out on the other pages of this website and go to the Join page to sign-up.
Also, the Promotions area has information on how you can earn free pool credits,
including a great promotion where you can receive TWO free entries for Survivor!

If you are interested in Fantasy Football, I am running 2 or 3 leagues
with available teams, so email me for all of the information on joining!
 

Want to run your own NFL team?  Get Front Office Football 2007 for your PC!

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Promotions
 

This football season, Barker's Pools is offering three BIG promotions!

Check them out below and see how you can earn pool credits that you
can use to join the current competitions or save to play in future pools:

PROMOTION #1

~ BARKER'S BODOG PROMOTION ~
  
Would you like a $40 pool credit for the 2008 football pools?
  
Barker's Pools has partnered with BodogLife.com to bring you this special offer:
  
  1.    Open a new Bodog account by clicking on one of my Bodog links/banners.  
2.    Within 30 days, deposit $20.00 or more into this new gambling account.      
3.    Then email the date & amount of your deposit to me, and I will validate it. 
4.    Within the next 24 hours, I will email you and confirm your $40 pool credit! 
  
To start Step #1 (open a Bodog account), click here!
  
To qualify for this promotion, be sure to read the following requirements:
A)  This promotion is ONLY available to those that are new players at Bodog.
B)  Your initial deposit MUST be $20 or more and made within 30 days of signing up.
C)  Fraudulent behavior, such as opening a second account, requesting a chargeback,
or immediately withdrawing your deposit, will result in you being banned from this site!
D)  You will not qualify for this offer if you fail to use one of my links to open your account.
E)  If you do not follow these instructions properly, I will not be able to verify your deposit,
and you will not receive your entries, so email me with any questions you have beforehand.