2010 Football Pool Rules
Welcome
back to theDodger--the high-tech version of the good ol'
football pool that I have been running since 1989. The early years were full of printed entry
sheets that I would pass out every Tuesday, followed by Excel file printouts I
would circulate with everyone’s picks on Friday afternoons.
That
makes this Season number 22 (!!) for this popular, friendly, relatively low
entry-fee pro football prognosticating contest.
The pool will be run in much the same way as previous years, including
the internet enhancements introduced several years ago. Those of you who have participated recently
know that the theDodger site makes this pool really run smoothly. You are able to submit your moves right on
the web page, look at everyone else’s picks after the submission deadline (2
hours before kickoff), and print off your own reports.
In
recent years we have had anywhere from 30 to 60 participants, so feel free to
recruit. Every year we gain some new
players and drop off some old. In
general you are welcome to play in the pool if you either know me or know one
of the other established players in the pool.
You are the son of a girlfriend of a guy who is a friend of someone I
used to work with? Congratulations, you
are welcome to join! Feel free to invite
others you think would enjoy participating in the pool.
Internet Data Base Fee
There
will be a charge to pay for the programming and storage space we use on
theDodger web site. The charge is $125
for the season. So, for example, if we
have 50 players, then each of us will pay $2.50 for this fee, and the rest of our
entry fee is plowed 100% into the prize pool.
Entry Fee
The
regular pool entry fee is $50 for the full season, payable at the beginning of
the season. This works out to a bit less
than $3.00 per week. Please send the
entry fee to me prior to the Week 2 games.
This entry fee is the same as prior years.
Prizes
100%
of the collected money (less the $125 internet fee) will be returned as prizes.
Rich and Roger pay entry fees, and the
calculation of the prize pool will be fully disclosed in the Ramblings.
There
will be two winners each week, and seven winners at
the end of the year—the top three cumulative scores will win prizes, and there
will also be a booby prize for the contestant who finishes in last place. I will award a prize to the top performer who
earned no prize during the season…in other words, the top person in the
standings who wins no weekly prizes and does not finish in the top 3.) This prize will be named BEST LOSER. I will also award a prize to the person(s) in
the pool who finish in the exact middle of the pack. This prize will be named PAY THE MIDDLEMAN. The BONUS KING will be the player who earns
the most Bonus Points. The distribution
will be as follows: 48% to First, 24% to Second, 12% to Third, 5% to the Best
Loser, 4% to Middleman, 4% to the Bonus King, and 3% for the Booby Prize. You can only win one of the above prizes. Roughly half of the entry fees will go to the
weekly winners, and half will go to the year-end pool. For example, if 50 people enter, each week I
would pay $50 first, $20 second, and the year-end would be: $569.00 First,
$284.00 Second, $142.00 Third, $59.00 Best Loser, $47.00 Middleman, $48.00
Bonus King, and $36.00 Booby.
Format
Simply
try to pick the winners of each game, including the Monday Night Game. Each week I will randomly select three games
where you will have to pick against the point spreads. (I admit, this is not
entirely random, as I try to only select games with at least a 4-point point
spread. I also may skew it so that either the Sunday night or Monday night games will be a spread
game, and I generally try to pick teams that were not involved in the
point spread games the week before.) The
point spread will be displayed right on the spot where you will submit your
picks. Please ask me if you are
uncertain how the point spreads work. If
you get all three point-spread games right, you win a bonus point towards your
year-end score. If you tie with someone
one week, the prize will be determined by your performance in future weeks. Please see the example below to see how the
tie-break works.
Deadlines
You
must submit your picks by 2 hours before kickoff of the first game of the
week. I will attempt to enter the random
picks for anyone who does not get their picks in prior to the deadline, though
sometimes due to travel I have to do the random picks after the games start. Around kickoff of the first game you can log
onto the web site and print off a copy of everyone's picks, so that way you
will know how you're doing while watching the Sunday wars. You must get your picks in on time to avoid
random picks. This rigid rule was
instituted last year, a departure from earlier years, when I accepted picks
emailed to me prior to kickoff. It makes
my life much simpler to keep to the hard deadline, so that is what I am doing
this season. Note that it would be a
good idea for you to print off the page that says “The Following Picks have
been received for *player name*”. That
way you have documentation that you successfully entered your picks.
Random
picks are pulled from the (cool) website www.random.org. If I assign you random picks I can send you a
time-stamped printout of the coin flips (Heads = home, Tails = visitor) from
this site that sealed your fate.
Optional Weekly $5 "Skins Style" Sidepool
See
below.
How to Sign Up
Send
me your $50 check and log on to www.thedodger.com/football/. Login and make your
picks. Returning players have the same
login information as last year…if you need a reminder, please send me an
email. I look forward to another great
year! If for any reason you are having
troubles making your picks on the site, send me an email with your picks prior
to the deadline and I will enter them for you.
Rich
Sweetman, (603) 232-9276 (h). My wife
Paula, the treasurer for the pool, will gladly help you if I'm not around.
OPTIONAL
WEEKLY $5 "SKINS STYLE" SIDEPOOL
If
you are not interested in playing an additional $5 per week, don't bother
reading this page. This will be a yabba-dabba-doo time for those who want a little more action.
Entry Fee
The
entry for the sidepool is $5 per week. I
used to collect this each week, but now that we are doing this over the net, it
is no longer convenient to do that. I’d
appreciate it if you would do what many folks do and pay $85 up front for the
whole season of sidepools.
Format
If
you are familiar with the "Skins Game" played in golf each year
around Thanksgiving, then you will understand this more easily. The winner of the side pool will be the person
AMONG THE SIDEPOOL PARTICIPANTS who picks the most games correctly that week. You don't have to beat the people who are not
in the sidepool, you are only competing against other
sidepool entrants. If you beat all the
other people in the sidepool, and nobody ties you, you win it! Yes, the three point
spread games count. No, you do not get a
bonus point towards the sidepool if you get all three point spread games right.
Ties
To
borrow a phrase from an old TV ad, this is where the fun starts. If there is not a clear winner among the
sidepool entrants, i.e. there is a tie for first, then NOBODY wins the side
pool and the pool gets "rolled over" to the next week. If you want to stay in the pool, you must
still put in your $5. (That way if
everybody stays in the pool, the pool will double!) The fun aspect of this pool is if your picks
aren't coming through, you can hope for a tie and a bigger pot the next week.
It
is in your best interest to keep playing in the pool if the pot rolls over. You would in effect just throw away your
original entry if you drop out after it rolls over. Hopefully this example will clear things up.
Example
Assume
in Week 1, 20 people enter the sidepool. Now we have a $100 pot. After the games are played, the two side pool
entrants Betty and Pebbles each pick 12 games correctly, and everyone else does
worse. Nobody wins the pot, and it is
rolled over to Week 2. (Bummer for Betty and Pebbles, but great for everyone else!)
Now
in Week 2, all 20 of the original entrants stay in and put in their $5. (As I said above, it would really be a mistake
to drop out here, as you lose your $5 equity from Week 1.) Let's say two more people see how much fun
everyone had in Week 1, and they want to enter the sidepool. It would be unfair to let them in for $5,
because they didn't risk anything in Week 1. Therefore they can play, but they have to put
in $10, the same amount that everyone else has invested in the pool. So now we have 22 participants and a $220 pot.
Whoa boy, what fun! Let's say after the
15 Sunday games we have this situation with the Saints and 49ers to play Monday
Night:
|
Player |
Games |
Team |
|
Wilma |
12
|
49ers |
|
Mr.
Slate |
12 |
Saints |
|
Barney |
12 |
Saints |
|
Dino |
12 |
Saints |
Everyone
else picked fewer than 12 right, so these are the only
people with a shot. Now if the 49ers win the Monday Night game, then Wilma wins
the sidepool and the $220. However, if
the Saints win we have another tie and the pot rolls over to Week 3. Hence everyone in the pool will be pulling for
the Saints. (except, naturally, Wilma.) After the sidepool rolls over four times, then
for all subsequent sidepools up to two people can tie
each other and split the pot.
Also,
if you turn in identical picks with someone else who is in the sidepool, then
you will split the prize if you get every single game right. Unlikely, but at least you have some chance.
2010
Football Pool Rules
Reader's Digest Version
I
know, I know, four pages of rules are too much to soak in. Here is a synopsis.
You can always click on the Rules link in case you need to refer to them during
the season.
Picks
will be submitted over the internet, and you can print off your sheets from the
web page. Go to www.thedodger.com
Pay
me $50 at the start of the season.
Predict
the winners of NFL games each week. 3 random games will involve point
spreads. If you pick all three point
spread games right, you earn a bonus point for your year-end score.
Chance to win money each week (pay 1st and 2nd
prizes--probably about $70 in total each week).
Chance to win money at the end of the season (somewhere
around $500 for first).
100%
of the $50 entry fees are returned as prizes! (Less a fee for
the internet data base.)
If
you tie other entrants for first in one week, beat those people the next week
to break the tie.
Your
picks are due two hours before kickoff of the first game of the week.
Weekly Ties
Let
us assume that after Week 1 we have a three-way tie between Bill, Hillary, and
Monica. They each picked 12 of the 15
games correctly, and everyone else did worse.
In the early years of the pool, I used a "Total combined score on
Monday Night" tiebreak. Yuck! Picking the total points scored in a game is
a lame way to break a tie. (Almost no skill involved, you just had to be
lucky.) Now we resolve the ties in Week
2. Perhaps. For instance, let us say that in week 2, Bill
and Monica each pick 8 games right and Hillary only gets 6 right. Hillary is eliminated, and we go to week
3. Finally, in Week 3, Monica gets 10 right and Bill only gets 9 right. Monica would then win the
$50 Week 1 first prize, and Bill gets the $20 second prize, just enough to
cover the dry cleaning.
Any
ties in the final week of the season will simply be split.
Year-End Prize Ties
These
will be split in the usual way. For example, let's say the year end pool is
$569.00 First, $284.00 Second, and $142.00 Third. Consider the following three
cases.
|
Case
A |
Games |
|
Laura
Palmer |
160 |
|
Agent
Cooper |
160 |
|
Audrey |
160 |
|
TheGreek |
159 |
|
Case
B |
Games |
|
Laura
Palmer |
160 |
|
Agent
Cooper |
158 |
|
Audrey |
158 |
|
TheGreek |
157 |
|
Case
C |
Games |
|
Laura
Palmer |
160 |
|
Agent
Cooper |
159 |
|
Audrey |
158 |
|
Bob |
158 |
|
Lucy |
158 |
|
TheGreek |
157 |
In
Case A, Laura Palmer, Agent Cooper, and Audrey split the top three prizes and
each get $332.00. In Case B, Laura
Palmer wins the First prize of $569.00, while Agent Cooper and Audrey split Second and Third and win $213.00 each. In Case C, Laura Palmer wins the $569.00 First
prize, Agent Cooper wins the $284.00 Second prize, and Audrey, Bob, and Lucy
split Third prize to win $47.00 each. In
all three cases TheGreek gets zippo. The safest thing to remember is if more
than three people have a better score than you, you will not win a prize.
This
is the 22nd year that I have run this little contest. Participation
fluctuates…now that I run my own small consulting company I don’t have a pool
of coworkers to hit up as I did in years past.
Please feel free to recruit newcomers. Usually we gain some participants
and lose others. You are welcome to invite "outsiders" in to the
contest, but then it is YOUR responsibility to get me their entry fees on time.
Also, as you can probably tell from looking below, you need not use your legal
name to play. In fact, now that we are on the net, pseudonyms are encouraged!
PAST
CHAMPIONS AND RUNNERS UP
|
Place |
1989 |
1990 |
1991 |
1992 |
|
First |
Nick Liouzis |
Calvin Tage |
Calvin Slombardy |
Elmer Fudd |
|
Second |
Mark Howland |
Charlene Schroth |
Jeff Howard |
Jeff Yeaton |
|
Third |
Underwomen |
Kelly Haza
|
|
Lynn Carlisle & |
|
Place |
1993 |
1994 |
1995 |
1996 |
|
First |
|
Kipper |
Mike H. |
Hookm |
|
Second |
Lynn Carlisle |
007 |
Glenn Whitney & |
Jeff Yeaton |
|
Third |
Frank Rizzo |
Jeff Howard & |
|
Sue Doran-Dumb & |
|
Place |
1998 |
1999 |
2000 |
2001 |
|
First |
Whit & SueDoranDumb |
CR & Nick |
LynnCarlisle |
SweetMan |
|
Second |
|
|
SweetMan |
Sick Puppy, CalvinVincible,
& PatsFan |
|
Third |
Duste |
Whit |
Lucydoo,
Bourne, & Duste |
|
|
Place |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
|
First |
theSandman |
Ozzy |
Queenie |
JR |
|
Second |
theDodger & H.I.D.K. |
Bourne |
Peterman |
Mikeom |
|
Third |
|
touchdown |
BuffaloWings |
Doogman |
|
Place |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
|
|
First |
VO & Nick |
Bucko |
JamieD & Calvin (t) |
|
|
Second |
|
Doogman & SickPuppy |
|
|
|
Third |
JR |
|
Doogman |
|
|
Place |
2009 |
2010 |
|
|
|
First |
Bucko |
You??! |
|
|
|
Second |
Ozzy |
|
|
|
|
Third |
CalvinTage |
|
|
|