ABC Deadpool - a new one by Wormfarmer

[Wormfarmer 429]

I organized a dead pool for about 10 years between a couple of friends and myself until they eventually dropped out.  But I enjoyed it because it was small and manageable enough.  This is a new idea I haven't seen before and I hope to get a dozen entries to try it out.  The pool starts now and ends on June 30, 2018.  No entry fee the first year since it is a trial run, but no prizes either.  The rules:

 

Submit a list of 26 soon-to-croak people.  The first name or last name of the first person must begin with an A.  Second person with a B.  You get the idea.  You can enter at any time until I have 12 entries, then it will be closed.  One list per customer, please.

 

Qualifying names will be those getting an obit by sources used by the Windy City Deadpool, also found on its own thread at this site.  That pool, in turn, uses the obit sources of the Derby Dead Pool, but adds US sources ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox networks to make it more Yank friendly.  Since I am a Yank, I kind of like that.  I will also throw in CNN, The New York Times and the LA Times as legit obit sources.  Since I do not regularly access any of the British/European obit sources, I will rely on any overseas contestants to police their own obits if they are not likely to pop up in the US sources. 

 

Scoring:

A hit with the first name beginning with the appropriately corresponding letter, (all letters except as below)  - 1 pt

A hit with the last name beginning with the appropriately corresponding letter, (all letters except as below)  - 2 pts

A hit with the first name . . .  A, E, I, O, U, V, Y  - 2 pts

A hit with the last name . . . A, E, I, O, U, V, Y  - 3 pts

A hit with the first or last name . . .  Q, X, Z  -  4 pts

A hit with the first AND last name (all letters not listed)  - 4 pts

A hit with the first AND last name (all listed letters)  - 8 pts

Bonus pts:

Person was born in the year 1937 or later  - 2 pts

IF we get 12 entries, I will start awarding bonus points for solos (3 pts), and duos (1 pt).  They will be awarded retroactively if the hit occurs before the last entry comes in.

 

Example: if someone gets a solo hit with Zadora Zephyr, who was born in 1940 (assuming 12 entries), the score would be 8+2+3=13  (the best you could do with one hit).

 

Ties will be broken by the date the final score is reached.  That is, if 3 folks end up with 18 points, the person that got to 18 on the earliest date will be the winner. 

 

Finally, there is always a disadvantage to posting a list early in that early lists can be picked over by everyone else who joins after.  (Is it a problem?  I don't know)   But as an incentive to get your list in early, you can choose four names to protect for the rest of the game.  That is, select any four names on your list which cannot be used by anyone submitting a list after yours (names already on submitted lists stay on).  Indicate these 4 names by writing "protected" after them.  It is your responsibility to peruse the protected names already submitted before submitting your list. 

 

I hope folks will find this interesting enough to play.  Here is my inaugural list, with my 4 protected names:

 

1. eman ahmed

2. Barbara bush  -  PROTECTED

3. rod carew

4. gord downie

5. errol christie

6. Helen fawkes

7. billy graham

8. bobby "the brain" heenan

9. I. M. Pei

10. clive james

11. barys kit - PROTECTED  NO QO

12. don lusk

13. Robert mugabe

14. Catherine nevin

15. gino odjick

16. leslie phillips

17. nabeel qureshi - PROTECTED  NO QO

18. charlotte rae

19. mel stottlemyer, sr.

20. ruthie tompson

21. bobby unser

22. paul van zandvliet

23. herman wouk 

24. xaviera hollander

25. yasuhiro nakasone

26. zoltan sarosy - PROTECTED  NO QO

 

 

[YoungWillz 21,142]

So the game finishes on 30 June?

[Joey Russ 7,255]

I don't like the protection thing at all, it gives an unfair advantage to people who submit early.

 

Otherwise, decent idea.

[Wormfarmer 429]

3 minutes ago, YoungWillz said:

So the game finishes on 30 June?

Yes, next year, 2018.

 

[YoungWillz 21,142]

Just now, Wormfarmer said:

Yes, next year, 2018.

 

Ah that's better then. I'll have a think.

[Toast 16,209]

 

What's wrong with starting on 30 June and having entries PM'd to you?

Give people a chance to consider and assemble a team without influence.

I hate these pools that "start now and here's my team before the rest of you have had a chance".

 

And you can fuck right off with your "protected" names.

[Wormfarmer 429]

3 minutes ago, Joey Russ said:

I don't like the protection thing at all, it gives an unfair advantage to people who submit early.

 

Otherwise, decent idea.

I wanted some reason for people to get their lists in early, otherwise, the last entries get to pick over all the earlier lists without penalty.  I struggled with how many names to protect without overly depleting the pool of names available.  Maybe 4 was too many, and I might adjust next year (if there is one).  The last entry will have 44 names unavailable to them, but will also have seen a lot of good names come up to choose from, plus hopefully some from their own research.  I guess the idea is - don't be last!

[Toast 16,209]

2 minutes ago, Wormfarmer said:

I wanted some reason for people to get their lists in early, otherwise, the last entries get to pick over all the earlier lists without penalty.  I struggled with how many names to protect without overly depleting the pool of names available.  Maybe 4 was too many, and I might adjust next year (if there is one).  The last entry will have 44 names unavailable to them, but will also have seen a lot of good names come up to choose from, plus hopefully some from their own research.  I guess the idea is - don't be last!

 

There's a perfectly simple solution. 

You invite people to send in their teams by PM, and they don't get revealed until the start date.

That's how the DDP and numerous other pools work.

[Joey Russ 7,255]

1 minute ago, Toast said:

 

There's a perfectly simple solution. 

You invite people to send in their teams by PM, and they don't get revealed until the start date.

That's how the DDP and numerous other pools work.

Agreed. 

[Wormfarmer 429]

2 minutes ago, Toast said:

 

What's wrong with starting on 30 June and having entries PM'd to you?

Give people a chance to consider and assemble a team without influence.

I hate these pools that "start now and here's my team before the rest of you have had a chance".

I figured by postponing the start, then I have to deal with substitutes and replacing names that die in the interim.  With the protected names idea, that could get messy.  Out of hundreds of good names for pools, there are only 4 right now that are not available to you, so I would say you still have a pretty good chance. 

[Wormfarmer 429]

2 minutes ago, Joey Russ said:

Agreed. 

 

7 minutes ago, Toast said:

 

There's a perfectly simple solution. 

You invite people to send in their teams by PM, and they don't get revealed until the start date.

That's how the DDP and numerous other pools work.

 In thinking this through, I decided that starting it on a future date would be tough with the parameters of this pool.  Since each list is structured around the alphabet and not just a list of random names, substitutes can't be provided in advance, since we don't know which letter will be needed.  If the 'protected names' unfairly skew things, I will rework it for next time (if there is one). 

[Toast 16,209]

You wouldn't need the "protected names" though, not if everyone's teams are kept confidential until the game starts.

All you have to do is sub in for any picks who die.  Hardly arduous.

There's unlikely to be that many, so you'd just ask the player if and when it's necessary.

 

[gcreptile 11,037]

The subs wouldn't always suit the letters though... tough.

 

I quite like the idea, though. However, I have a couple of recent additions to my short list that I hesitate revealing right now. One of them even has the same letter in first and last name.

[Joey Russ 7,255]

Just now, gcreptile said:

The subs wouldn't always suit the letters though... tough.

 

I quite like the idea, though. However, I have a couple of recent additions to my short list that I hesitate revealing right now.

Same here. I'm probably not going to take part to keep the names that haven't been revealed secret. 

[Wormfarmer 429]

4 minutes ago, gcreptile said:

The subs wouldn't always suit the letters though... tough.

 

I quite like the idea, though. However, I have a couple of recent additions to my short list that I hesitate revealing right now. One of them even has the same letter in first and last name.

 

3 minutes ago, Joey Russ said:

Same here. I'm probably not going to take part to keep the names that haven't been revealed secret. 

That is what the protected "4" is for.  If you do your own research and come up with a few names that you don't want everyone else to John Dillinger on you, you get your list in early and hit them with a protected moniker.   Nobody else can use em.  Sounds made to order, gents! 

[Wormfarmer 429]

10 minutes ago, Toast said:

You wouldn't need the "protected names" though, not if everyone's teams are kept confidential until the game starts.

All you have to do is sub in for any picks who die.  Hardly arduous.

There's unlikely to be that many, so you'd just ask the player if and when it's necessary.

 

I appreciate the thoughts.  But my list is already out there, so I suppose it is too late for me to change horses for this year.  Besides, I was looking for this pool to be different than others, for good or for bad only time will tell. 

[Joey Russ 7,255]

1 minute ago, Wormfarmer said:

 

That is what the protected "4" is for.  If you do your own research and come up with a few names that you don't want everyone else to John Dillinger on you, you get your list in early and hit them with a protected moniker.   Nobody else can use em.  Sounds made to order, gents! 

No, I'm talking about potential DDP fodder for the following year. I want to keep those hidden, so I won't play.

[Wormfarmer 429]

1 minute ago, Joey Russ said:

No, I'm talking about potential DDP fodder for the following year. I want to keep those hidden, so I won't play.

If the names are that good, you may lose them before the end of the year.  Might as well get something for them now!  Or you could play without using those names.  There are still hundreds of others that everyone else knows about . . . .

 

[Toast 16,209]

I'm out, too. 

I would have played had it been handled differently, with a lead-in to the start and teams not revealed until the start date.

[gcreptile 11,037]

Ok, here's something, a couple of special picks, but none too revealing:

 

A: Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

B: Birch Bayh
C: Errol Christie - PROTECTED
D: David Dinkins
E: Edwin Edwards
F: Dean Francis
G: Greg Gilbert - PROTECTED
H: Dmitri Hvorostovsky
I: Anna Irwin

J: Connie Johnson - PROTECTED

K: Dilip Kumar

L: Leah Bracknell

M: Colin Meads
N: Olivia Newton-John
O: Seiji Ozawa
P: Paul Van Zandvliet
Q: Randy Quaid
R: Randy Romero
S: Stefan Karl Stefansson - PROTECTED
T: Than Shwe
U: Gudrun Ure
V: Vanessa Goodwin
W: John Wraw
X: Gao XIngjian
Y: Anthony Young
Z: Mario Zagallo
 

I'm ready to revise my picks in case the rules get changed. (Edit: Yes, I'm pointing out why the "Protected" rule is not good.)

[Lord Fellatio Nelson 6,222]

Well that went well....

[Wormfarmer 429]

OOooo.  An improvement already.  Numbering the list with letters.  I like it.  Carry on.

[Wormfarmer 429]

10 minutes ago, gcreptile said:

Ok, here's something, a couple of special picks, but none too revealing:

 

A: Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

B: Birch Bayh
C: Errol Christie - PROTECTED
D: David Dinkins
E: Edwin Edwards
F: Dean Francis
G: Greg Gilbert - PROTECTED
H: Dmitri Hvorostovsky
I: Anna Irwin

J: Connie Johnson - PROTECTED

K: Dilip Kumar

L: Leah Bracknell

M: Colin Meads
N: Olivia Newton-John
O: Seiji Ozawa
P: Paul Van Zandvliet
Q: Randy Quaid
R: Randy Romero
S: Stefan Karl Stefansson - PROTECTED
T: Than Shwe
U: Gudrun Ure
V: Vanessa Goodwin
W: John Wraw
X: Gao XIngjian
Y: Anthony Young
Z: Mario Zagallo
 

I'm ready to revise my picks in case the rules get changed.

Ah, at least there is someone out there who doesn't believe my humble little thread will destroy their chances for victory in next year's big daddy pools. 

[gcreptile 11,037]

One problem that might arise: Do the "PROTECTED" picks get unique bonusses? It makes them REALLY strong.

[Wormfarmer 429]

22 minutes ago, gcreptile said:

One problem that might arise: Do the "PROTECTED" picks get unique bonusses? It makes them REALLY strong.

Yes, if they are protected while still a solo (or duo).  Not if prior lists containing them keep them from being so.