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(Edit: 25 entries were received prior to Jan 15th, the start of the game. The game is now closed to new entries. The monthly table is onerous enough as it is. ) Before entering this pool consider that it will take a bit more work throughout the year than most pools, kind of like managing a fantasy sports team. This is a tournament of 12 rounds, each lasting a month (except the first round which will be shorter), with a cumulative score at the end determining the winner. The first year tournament went to a playoff and was won by GCreptile (over Captain Chorizo), after scoring 27 points during the regular game. If you played last year please read through the rules anyway as there are changes to hopefully improve and simplify it. The game: Submit your monthly TEAM - a list of 5 names. (The following is a rules update that takes effect starting with the Feb teams.) If your list is fresh, meaning your names are the first to be posted for the month, each name is worth 5 points if they die during that month/round (and gets a QO). If you are the second player to post a name for the month (say, Groucho Marx), you will score 4 pts for a hit/QO on Groucho. The third team to post Groucho will score only 3 pts and so on, until the fifth team has posted Groucho, after which point he is worthless for the month. This results in a similar distribution as last year in which a name could only be included on five lists each month (once at each point position). Once posted, a team is set, and names cannot be changed for that month for any reason. At the close of January, all lists become void and new lists can be submitted for the month of February, etc. IMPORTANT: You can not use a name in consecutive months. Example: If you use Billy Graham in Jan, you cannot use him again until March. If you get new intel about some very brown bananas, you do not need to wait until the new month to post your new list. If you choose, you can post your next month's list early, which will be an inactive list until the next month starts. However, once you post your next months list, your active list becomes void and you forfeit the ability to score for the rest of that month. Which also means you forfeit your chance at the month end bonus. . . . . .(see below). So check your current team for any recent hits before you post a new team. Once posted, you can't score with your old team. If you choose to post a list early, and a name dies PRIOR to the start of the next round, you will be playing with a short hand for the month. Once your team is posted to the thread, it is locked in, name changes for any rule violation or change of heart are not allowed. BONUS: If you get a hit on the last day (of any month), you will triple your points for that hit. So in this case a fresh name would score 15, or a stale one as little as 3. A hit on the second to last day of the month will score double pts. Double points will also be awarded during the entire last week of December (Xmas through the 31st). This is the only bonus of the game. In 2018 we had several double point bonuses awarded in that last week. I will post monthly teams and standings, and police for rule violations only on hits. If you hit and it turns out you violated a rule (consecutive months or 6th player to post a name that month) with that pick, you will earn no score, and again, you will not be allowed to fill the slot with a new name. I will use Wikipedia for the dates of all deaths, and lists will be "postmarked" by the date/time they are posted to the thread. QO's: Any name scored by the Derby or AO Deadpools will be scored, or if they get a QO in the Associated Press. Also accepted this year are NY Times, LA Times, USA Today or CNN. Finally, to address end of tournament ties: I hate ties. Simply the team who achieved the high score of the tournament first will break a tie. In other words, to overtake a leader in the game, you must surpass him/her in points, not just match. Good luck and I hope to see some January teams soon! I will post my team after the first 5 or 6 teams come in. WF Sample post: WF's January team: Zsa Zsa Gabor Katherine Hepburn Fidel Castro George Burns Groucho Marx