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Stadium Swim at Circa Hotel in downtown Las Vegas as we give an update on the Circa Sports Survivor pool.
Stadium Swim at Circa Hotel in downtown Las Vegas. Photo by: Dawn Gilbertson/USA TODAY NETWORK.

The NFL season is one of the best times of year for bettors and our best sports betting sites

But it's also a time for fantasy sports and other pools, like Survivor. While many of those pools happen between friends and co-workers, Circa Sports hosts a huge nationwide Survivor pool. This year's contest had a $10 million guaranteed prize pool, but after 14,226 entrants joined the fray, the prize pool settled at $14.26 million. That was a boost from last season's pool, which ended at $9.2 million after kicking off with an $8 million guarantee.

Less than 4% of all entrants remain in the pool run out of the sportsbook in the Nevada sports betting market.

Rocky beginnings 

Survivor pools got off to a rocky start this season, as the Cincinnati Bengals fell to the New England Patriots in the opening week of the season. The loss immediately dropped 34.3% of the entrants from Circa's pool, and when the dust settled on the week 5,564 entries had been eliminated. 

The second week of the season was not a pleasant experience for poolies that dodged the landmine in Week 1. The Baltimore Ravens ate up 26.5% of the remaining entries, the Detroit Lions finished off 9.9% more, and the Philadelphia Eagles took out 9%. When the dust settled on the week, another 4,825 entries had been eliminated. The implied value per entry rose to $3,679. 

The bleeding did not stop in Week 3. The Bengals (25.5%), Cleveland Browns (24%), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (17.2%), and Las Vegas Raiders (13.3%) all knocked off more than 10% of the remaining entries. The Bengals knocked off another 988 tickets on their own, while the Browns took out 931. Only 642 of the 14,226 entries remained heading into Week 4. 

Only one team was responsible for major destruction in Week 4. The San Francisco 49ers safely guided 43.1% of the remaining entries through, but the 17.1% of the entrants that backed the New York Jets were not as fortunate. The implied value per entry rose to $29,720 as the pool dwindled to 480 entries. 

Next steps 

Knowing which teams will dominate the board in Week 5 is hard. Only the Browns, Patriots, Carolina Panthers, Denver Broncos, Jacksonville Jaguars, Los Angeles Rams, New York Giants, and Tennessee Titans can be selected by all the remaining pool entries. Our Week 5 odds show the Pats (-1 vs. the Miami Dolphins), Broncos (-3 vs. Raiders), and Jags (-2.5 vs. Indianapolis Colts) are lined as favorites from that group, and those all look to be tight games between division rivals. 

The largest favorites of the week are the 49ers (-7.5 vs. the Arizona Cardinals), Seattle Seahawks (-6 vs. Giants), and Kansas City Chiefs (-5 vs. the New Orleans Saints). Only 40.4% of the pool has San Francisco remaining, 57.1% can still choose Seattle, and 89.4% can pick Kansas City. One of those teams tops Andrew Brennan's Week 5 Survivor Picks