WORLD CUP POOL (Any Interest?)

[Nolan Dalla]

If there is sufficient interest, I will run a pool for the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

The idea is this:

(1) We get ten people interested in the World Cup. Those interested should post their names below. We will cut this off at 10 names.

(2) All ten must put up $100 in advance (the figure is negotiable, but $100 sounds like fun money, and a decent cash win to the winner). We can play winner take all, or a split $700 to the winner and $300 to the runner up. Vote your preference.

(3) We make this a lottery based on a RANDOM numerical order. Like this: (HYPOTHETICAL)

1. Flipper
2. 1837
3 Jack
4. Anders
5. Jim
6. Robert
7. Emmit
8. Barry
9. Jim
0. Nolan

Note, this is NOT the draft order.

Then, since we are each assigned a number -- 0 to 9 -- we arbitrarily choose an event and have the numbers determined at random.

EXAMPLE:

LAST DIGIT OF EACH NBA TEAM'S FINAL GAME SCORE IN ORDER ON (INSERT DATE) IN LINESHEET:

Example:

Pacers 97
Celtics 89

Rockets 102
Mavs 99

etc.

So, the draft order so far is: 7, 9, 2, and so forth.

This way you get the numbers at random (every number has equal chance, since last digit of an NBA final team score in any game can range from 0-9. Also, everyone can see the numbers come up, no matter where you are in the world.)

Then, we have the draft order and we do this by Message Forum posting, until the ten teams are all gone on the list. We can "couple" teams if we like, such as combining some teams to make them more attractive to the players. For instance, Paraguay, Poland, and Turkiye are each listed at about 40 or 50-1, but combined they would be more like 15-1 (not as good as the favorites, but that's the breaks for getting a bad draft order). Makes you think if you REALLY want one favorite, or three middle grade teams, or 18 "bad" teams (who would have picked the Patriots last years in the NFL?)

How about this: The Ten "Draftees"

FRANCE
BRASIL
ARGENTINA
SPAIN
ITALY
GERMANY -- clearly the top 6 favorites
PORTUGAL and RUSSIA -- two decent upper third teams
ENGLAND an IRELAND -- nice combo
PARAGUAY and POLAND and TURKIYE -- three talented darkhorses
FIELD (18 remaining nations -- all listed at 60-1 or higher)

Note: Keep in mind that France came out of nowhere last time to win.

(This has been double posted to attract more attention. Sign up below in NEW THREAD if interested in participating.)

-- Nolan Dalla

 

[Nolan Dalla]

Holy shit........

I guess not.

Disregard. talk amongst yourselves. Discuss.

-- ND

 

[Antonio]

Chit...Nolan just saw your thread anyway i can get it???

 

[Nolan Dalla]

Sure, Antonio......so far it's just you and I. Not sure why there's so little interest -- especially from our international freinds. I'll leave this opne a few more days and then close it unless we get 10 interested.

Thanks,

ND

 

[Gatorbait]

I think you guys found my weakness.........I just can't say the "p" word..............pass........not..I'm in.

 

[redsfann]

I'll be number 3 to show an interest. If you can get 7 more, count me in.

 

[Antonio]

Are you kidding me:shrug: :shrug: :shrug: Come on guys 6 more to go here. Where are all the other Euro's in here?????

 

[Flipper13]

Yes im interested. Sorry didnt check this board for at least a week. i was actually lucky to find this because i came to this forum looking for gold medal picks on todays hockey game.

 

[Nolan Dalla]

Five players in, so far......


Antonio
Gatorbait
Resfann
Flipper
Nolan

If we get five more, then it's a GO!

Thanks to all who responded, so far.

-- ND

 

[PerpetualCzech]

Sounds like fun and nice setup. Count me in, thx

 

[Andy]

ND,

Can you please explain the rules and how the pool work again? Thank you, ohh by the way I have to disagree with that you said France came out of no where to win the last World Cup!! No disrepect, but France was very impressive in 1996 European Championship, they reach the Semi Final in that tournament, and with 2 years to prepare for the 1998 World Cup also with that line-up of super stars, I don't think it was a surprise at all!!!

Andy

 

[Nolan Dalla]

Please see rules above....which are generally how things will go.

First, I will collect checks from everyone. Then, once I have ten checks in hand I will post a number for each player. Then, we will randomly select the draft order based on a fair method (like I said -- using NBA games final score (last digit) is the easiest thing.

All "rules" will be agreed to in advance. We will vote on them, if necesssary. We will do it is right here at this forum.

Obviously, this must be done in a way where all playes have a chance to win. So, we will couple some teams. Before we make any final decisions, the players must agree that all rules for he contest will be voted upon.

This will be a group thing, and the most important thing is to have fun with it. But we have to get started now, because checks and drafting will probably take a month or so.

Once we have ten names, then we will decide together what teams should b coupled so as to make thgs fair. I don't want the #10 draft person to get screwed. It mus b fair.

PS -- Regarding France, I didn't mean t suggest they were like Cameron a few years ago. I realize they were a good tema. But they were not among the favorites that year -- at least in the US. Perhaps in Europe they were considered stronger. I seem to recall 15-1 or somthing, but it's been awhile and I could be wrong.

Nolan Dalla

 

[PerpetualCzech]

Just by a complete fluke I remember following the line on France and the best I saw was 12 to 1 until the week before kickoff where it starting dropping to around 8 to 1. Those were all from Euro books ... I wouldn't be surprised if they were higher across the ocean.

They also had some kind of big unbeaten streak going in, something like not losing for the last 1 or 2 years I think.

 

[PerpetualCzech]

I got to thinking a little more about this World Cup pool ... at the risk of making it too complicated, why don't we consider auctioning off the teams instead of drafting. The advantages would be that you eliminate the luck factor of where you pick in the draft and we can also avoid the subjective task of figuring out what team team belongs in what group.

We could each use our $100 to bid on a country and then let the market decide how much they are worth. It might work if we can get everyone together on some kind of instant messaging service (like AIM).

Just a thought.

 

[Nolan Dalla]

That's a terrific idea!!!!!!


Okay, in case there is any objection, we will auction off EACH TEAM (since we have 32 teams, we could take two days for each team..........post the team and lt this be an open bidding auction for all the teams). We might as well stretch this out and make it fun.

Question is -- should we put a cap at $100? Or, should we allow bids in excess of that amount?

This way -- we could also conduct the bidding and THEN ask for checks. Everyone can send a different amount, depending on what they bid.

We could also allow more than 10 players.

I think this is a terrific idea. Anyone second the motion?

-- Nolan Dalla

 

[dawgball]

Great idea for a WC contest. I'm in, but I would like to only divvy up $100. I think we can still auction that way. $100 is your salary cap.

I think I make 7 here.

 

[PerpetualCzech]

Glad to hear the positive feedback! I agree with dawgball ... there needs to be some kind of a cap so that the players know what kind of a bankroll they are up against. This prevents any "gorilla" tactics of someone bidding a million dollars each for the top 5 teams leaving the small player with no chance (an exaggeration but you get the idea) There is a lot of potential for taking the fun factor out of the pool without a cap.

This method however also leaves a real chance that the pot will not be as attractive as before (the $1000 is no longer guaranteed because some players may not use their full $100) We should probably wait to see how many players we get before deciding on the cap.

 

[dawgball]

I think the $100 should still be the standard fee. Just like some teams in professional sports, they do not utilize all of their cap money. If I am not fortunate enough to use every last dollar, then that would be the fault in my bidding style. I don't know if I am explaining this correctly.:shrug:

Where this comes into play is if the first team goes for $90. The person that won that team may not have enough money to buy anything else. That would be unfortunate, but it is at the risk of the bidding style. It would still cost $100 to join the league, though.

I have been a part of a couple of fantasy auctions on-line. Some of them were blunders, and some were quite easy. One thing that can happen is everyone bidding the same amounts because of the delay and refreshing of the screens. There does need to be a bidding order (or some other idea to retain order throughout). This order can be drawn for in the beginning using Nolan's idea and rotates one man down with each team. With everyone being in different time zones in this instance, this may become difficult.

There is also the blind-bidding setup (which I personally do not like), but it does keep everyone from arguing. This, of course, depends on everyone trusting the person that is designated to receive the bids.

I am open to any ideas, though. With luck being the way it is, it can work out in any scenario.

 

[Nolan Dalla]

I hereby propose the following:

(1) There is a $100 cap on all bidding. Whoever hits the $100 cap automatically wins that team as his pick.

(2) No player may exceed his $100 bankroll. In other words, each player has a $100 salary cap.

(3) All World Cup teams are to be auctioned off IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER. We will do this on this board.

(4) The teams will be posted by ME (unless there is objection) and will stay up on the page -- for two days (48 hours) or until the bidding reaches $100, whichever comes first. Each team will be posted at approximately midnight EST -- and the two dau perios will give everyone REGARDLESS OF TIME ZONE a chance to make a bid.

(5) Bidding is easy. We will take the top bidder in each thread. Since posts are put at the site automatically, there is no lag time.

(6) If there is no bid on a team, then it will be placed ON HOLD. All of those teams where there is n bid, will be COUPLED TOGETHER as the final entry.

(7) Bidding starts at $5. I simply don't care to mess around with $1 checks.

(8) After you successfully make a bid and the auction is closed, you will have 21 days to settle. Settling means mailing me a check for the bid amount (no buyers premium or vig -- so this is legal). Non-US/Canada bidders are kindly requested to send an International Money Order. I will open a seperate bank account for thse funds and I will let everyone know the PRIZE POOL once the auction is completed. In case something happens to me, I will add Jack's name as the co-signer on the account so funds will be accessible.

(9) We will divide the pool, with 50 percent going to the winner, 25 percent going to the runner-up (2nd), and 12.5 percent going to each of the semi-final runners-up (3rd and 4th). This is done to INCREASE the chances of surprise teams and make the longshots more attractive to bidders.

(10) If I do not receive your check in 21 days (or receive notice in some way that you intend to pay), your team will be re-entered into the pool and RE-AUCTIONED. Sorry, but I won't do this on a promisary system. I did that in football betting one year and several people burned me. CHecks must be received, or you are out.

(11) Once the 48 hours has elapsed, or we reach $100 in bidding -- I will declare a winner. From hat date forward, you will hae 21 days to settle the account.

(12) In the veent of any dispute, MadJack will serve as arbitrator and judge. His word is final.

We have about 3 months to do all the bidding and gather funds. I propose that if this is approved, we the open it up to the general forum (more interest there) and begin bidding in a few days.

Please state any objection now. Thanks to all,


-- Nolan Dalla

 

[PerpetualCzech]

Sounds great to me, Nolan. A couple of questions/clarifications:

1. I assume we can bid for more than one team if our total contribution stays under $100, right?

2. If your total bid is under $100 then you are only liable for your bid, not the full $100, right? This was clear from your rule #8 but I just wanted to mention it because dawgball thought if he stopped bidding at $90 he would still have to pay the full $100.

Minor nitpick: there is a bronze medal game for the 3rd and 4th place teams so we can split the last 25% as 15-10 if we like.

Thanks for taking the time for all this, it should be fun!

(Now who's going to do the same for the NCAA tourney?