2016 WoV NFL Picks Game (Discussion Thread)

Greetings!

It is time, once again, for the WoV NFL Picks game!!!

The first thing that I would like to do is announce a change to the game for this year that will likely be permanent: Instead of basing what is to be paid the winning player by winning percentage, there will be a simple fee of $20 per entry that shall be collected before the start of the season.

ADDED EV (DONATIONS)

WizardofNothing is donating a guaranteed $50 (which he has already given me for the purpose) to the winner of the game. He is also donating an additional $200 to the winner conditional upon there effectively being twenty-two unique individuals playing. (Twenty other than ourselves)

I am donating $250 to the contest, either way. In the event that we HAVE twenty-two individual players and WoN makes the additional donation, or more, my $250 will be $125 for the, "You Suck," consolation prize and $125 for the, "Most Average," consolation prize.

In the event that we DO NOT have twenty-two individual players, then my $250 shall be broken up as follows:

$100-First Place
$75-"Most Average"
$75-"You Suck"

WizardofNothing will BOTH be defending his donations and be eligible to win the contest.

I will only be defending my donation. If I am the winner, then WizardofNothing's donation will go to me, (because I am not donating anything to first place if he makes the $200 additional donation) but the remaining prize pool will go to second place.

If WizardofNothing does not make the donation due to insufficient players, then I can, 'Defend,' only the amount of my donation for whatever prize I may win. Second place will get the prize pool if I am the winner.

THE RULES

HOW TO ENTER:

I will PM all individuals who played this game last year and all who indicate in this thread that they are interested with an invitation. I will also PM Members who have been Members for less than one year and have ten or more posts with an invitation. I will not PM Members with a longer tenure than that who have not played before because they have effectively already refused (either directly or by way of not playing) a previous invite.

You DO NOT need an invitation to play. Please either PM me or indicate that you are interested in this thread and I will PM you with the payment options for your entry.

Payments MUST be received prior to kickoff on September 11th, 2016 (the first Sunday of the season) for week one entries to be valid, or if paying by a mail method, the envelope must have a post date on or prior to September 10th, 2016. Any envelopes with a post date after that for people who played Week 1 will be returned and the entry will be cancelled.

If you do not play during Week One, you may enter into the contest for Week 2 with Week 1 constituting your, "Skip," Week provided payments are received prior to kickoff (or postmarked) for September 18th, 2016 or earlier.

Entries cost $20 each and each individual participant is permitted to have up to five entries. Additional entries cannot be purchased for Week 2 if you have already played in Week 1.

HOW TO PLAY:

The Rules will be as follows:

Format:

Winner Take All for Prize Pool (There are also two consolation prizes)

Consolation Prizes:

The first consolation prize will be the, "You suck," consolation prize. This prize goes to the player with the worst record, if there is a tie, then the winner shall be adjudicated by the normal tie breaking Rule or the players may opt to split it.

The second consolation prize will be the, "Most Average," consolation prize which goes to the player that finishes the season closest to .500. Tiebreakers will also be adjudicated using the normal tie breaking Rule or the players may opt to split it.

Rules:

1.) The winner will be determined by having the highest winning percentage. In the event of a tie, the winners will have the option of either splitting the take, or they may agree to PM me a Super Bowl pick prior to the Super Bowl, but after the combatants are known, consisting of the winning team, spread and TD's thrown; the winner will be determined in that order. If two Members PM me the same thing, they will BOTH be asked to change at least one aspect of their picks.

2.) The procedure for this will be that at some point on Thursdays, I will post the point spreads and Over/Unders from one source per week. I will likely use VegasInsider and the Spreads & Over/Unders I post will be constant and may be picked at any time prior to 11:59p.m. EST the Saturday before the game.

3.) Sunday/Monday games will be the only games considered. Every player must pick exactly five winners against the Spread, exactly five Over/Unders, or a combination totaling exactly five.

4.) Players may, "Skip," one week without making any picks, but they don't have to. If a player accidentally fails to submit picks, that will constitute the, "Skip," week.

For players who join the contest in Week 2, Week 1 will constitute the, "Skip," week.

5.) If a player fails to make picks for more than one week, he/she forfeits any right to a consolation prize, but may continue to play. Every week of missed picks other than the allotted, "Skip Week," will result in an 0-5 record for all weeks missed.

6.) Picks will be PM'ed to me at any point prior to 11:59p.m. EST Saturday, all picks will be openly posted by me between midnight Sunday and kickoff.

***The exception to this Rule is that I will accept E-Mail Picks from banned Members, but only if they are banned. If you are banned, you can still receive PM's, so I will PM you my E-Mail address.

7.) At some point on Tuesday or Wednesday the picks, results and updated Standings will be posted by yours truly.

8.) CONFIDENCE PICK: You may make one, "Confidence Pick," per week, though you don't have to. Your, "Confidence Pick," must be made expressly clear in your PM. The CONFIDENCE PICK result will count either as two wins or two losses, if made.

TIME

1.) The first Sunday of the Season is September 11th, Lines will be posted on Thursday, September 8th.

PICK FORMAT

I WILL be enforcing a uniform Pick format this year for all Picks as of Week 3. For the first two weeks, if you send me Picks that are not in the correct format, I will acknowledge that I have received your Picks by re-sending them to you in the correct format. Since I'm throwing $250 into the prize pool of a game that I cannot win, I don't think I am asking for too much, here.

1.) No Line Breaks

2.) For Spread picks, simply put the team nickname and the spread. (Ex: Bengals +5)

3.) For Over/Unders, simply put the team nickname for EITHER team, and the Over or Under amount. (Ex: Bengals OVER 25)

4.) To designate a Confidence Pick, simply put a hyphen and, "Confidence," after the pick. (Ex: Bengals OVER 25-Confidence)

So, a full set of picks might appear:

Patriots -15
Patriots OVER 52
Jaguars +12
Jaguars UNDER 42
Jets +4-Confidence

Let's have a great time, as always!

Count me in again!

Quote: Johnzimbo

Count me in again!

Excellent, are you good with the new Rules?

So it's all or nothing? No 2nd/3rd place?

Quote: GWAE

So it's all or nothing? No 2nd/3rd place?

There never has been anything for second or third place. It had always been winner take all, and then last year, I added the two consolation prize types. The goal of the consolation prizes, more than anything, was just to keep all of the players interested for the majority of the season. Otherwise, it became clear to some that, with several weeks still to go in the season, they had almost no chance of winning anything.

I'm in

I'm in. I always look forward to this event.

Quote: Mission146

Excellent, are you good with the new Rules?

Absolutely

I am in again, don't care if it is the new or old rules, I am playing.

Also I need the PM reminders thank you in advance!

I'll try again.

New rules work for me. Did I miss where the escrow method was mentioned for the prepayments?

I'm confused. Is it 20 to enter, then at the end you also owe the winner by percentage? Or a flat league fee and then no money at the end?

I'm in.

Quote: beachbumbabs

I'm confused. Is it 20 to enter, then at the end you also owe the winner by percentage? Or a flat league fee and then no money at the end?

The percentage would go out the window

I'm in.

Of course I'm playing,
Any one want to start side betting? I can bet $20 that I'll do better than you; up to 5 people max.

I'll take it

Quote: Wizardofnothing

I'll take it

Was this a reply from my beat me side bet? If so please confirm.

Yes- I'll take the whole 100 if you want or just 20

Quote: Wizardofnothing

Yes- I'll take the whole 100 if you want or just 20

20 is good.

I'm in. I have to defend my crown.

Note that I'm in for the new rules only. ($20 paid up front, to be help by someone in escrow.)

Ok done

Quote: miplet

20 is good.

How will that work with the new rules and multiple entries by a single player. Does Mips have to beat all of your entries if you decide to enter more than one?

I am not a fan of having multiple entries by one player as it brings in the whole fantasy sport/cover multiple outcomes type strategies. That is not how a typical "Office Football Pool" works but if the consensus is to go that direction, so be it.

I am leaning towards sitting out this year and watching how the new rules work in 2016. Good luck to all!!

I'm in under either set of rules.

Miplet, I'll take your side bet of $20. If we use the old rules, it's pretty clear who is ahead. If we use the proposed new rules, and either of us enters more than once, we will need to designate which set of picks we are using for the purposes of settling the side bet.

Quote: MidwestAP

I'm in under either set of rules.

Miplet, I'll take your side bet of $20. If we use the old rules, it's pretty clear who is ahead. If we use the proposed new rules, and either of us enters more than once, we will need to designate which set of picks we are using for the purposes of settling the side bet.

I'm only doing 1 entry. If you are doing more than one, just let me know which one before the first kickoff.

I plan on doing two but will designate one a and b and will use the one designated a ---- as our wager

I'll also take head to head bets up to 200 if anyone wants them-

I'll probably play this year.

sending $20 is a vote for the new rules?

how do you send the $20? paypal?

define 'Most Average' and 'You Suck'

You suck is last place - most average is closest to 50-50

I'm in for the 20 entry fee.

I'll also play miplet head to head for 20.

I'll bet anyone head to head at 7-5 odds their way if I'm spotted 1.5 percentage points

Quote: beachbumbabs

I'm in for the 20 entry fee.

I'll also play miplet head to head for 20.

We have a bet. 🏈

I'm in for $20 as well.

If Miplet is still taking bets, I'll go head to head for $20.

And if wizardofnothing is still taking bets, I'll go in for $60 to make it an even $100 for me.

Will whoever is in charge of escrowing the main action (I assume Mission) be able to escrow side action as well?

I'll take the 60 bet- I will be making two entries into the contest- Entry (a) will be the one I am using head to head

Quote: wudged

I'm in for $20 as well.

If Miplet is still taking bets, I'll go head to head for $20.

And if wizardofnothing is still taking bets, I'll go in for $60 to make it an even $100 for me.

Will whoever is in charge of escrowing the main action (I assume Mission) be able to escrow side action as well?

Yes I'm still taking head to head bets. I don't think it's necessary to escrow our side bet but can if you want.

On side bets of 100 or under- I can't speak for mission but there could be too many to bother him with 20 and 40 here and there

I'll be in for $20. If i was tzar of this project, I would limit each person to one set of picks. To me the contest is more for bragging rights than money. For a person with 5 entries to play against the majority with one entry diminishes such bragging rights. But I'll be in either way, trying to defend my 'most average' title from last year.....

I'm in after coming oh so close last year.

I know this isn't up for a vote, but I would also prefer to limit it to one pick set per participant.

Quote: Wizardofnothing

I'll take the 60 bet- I will be making two entries into the contest- Entry (a) will be the one I am using head to head

I'll only have one entry so it's a bet.

Quote: miplet

Yes I'm still taking head to head bets. I don't think it's necessary to escrow our side bet but can if you want.

Quote: Wizardofnothing

On side bets of 100 or under- I can't speak for mission but there could be too many to bother him with 20 and 40 here and there

Okay, sounds good to me then!

I am in under old or new rules, but it does seem that with the new rules the cost to be competitive is $100. Those playing five entries have a huge advantage over those playing one.

you think?

Quote: jml24

I am in under old or new rules, but it does seem that with the new rules the cost to be competitive is $100. Those playing five entries have a huge advantage over those playing one.

So what. It's all relative. Buying five entries costs five times more to play.

If just you and I are playing, and I have five entries and you have just one, yes, I have a 5 to 1 advantage. But in the long run, we will break even. I'm not going to net any more than you will.

You will win on the average just 1 time in 6... but when you do win, it makes up for your losses.

Is the new game on if there are 22 individuals participating, or 22 total entries (e.g., WoN would count as 2 entries)? How will Mission "avert his eyes" from the other's selections before making his own picks?

I don't think mission is eligible to win - so it wouldn't matter- the 20 entries are exclusive of mine

Quote: Wizardofnothing

I don't think mission is eligible to win - so it wouldn't matter- the 20 entries are exclusive of mine

Mission is absolutely eligible, has been every year. He doesn't open any pm picks until he's published his own, and the pm time stamps reflect that each week.

He also mentioned earlier in this thread he would be defending his money.

Defending is different then winning.

Missions quote

***WizardofNothing is defending his donation and can win the game, which means he would keep his $250 and ALL entry fees if he wins under the new Rules. I am just defending my entries, which means that I can win any of the prizes, but if I come in first place, I will just keep my $250 and all entry fees will go to second place.

K. Missed how he said that.

I'd like to play, if eligible. I've been around more than a year but haven't played in the past.

Let me know.

New rules only.

Quote: PlayYourCardsRight

I'd like to play, if eligible. I've been around more than a year but haven't played in the past.

Let me know.

New rules only.

Mission is the commish, but I'm sure you're welcome to play. Yay! New meat! Heeheehee.

Quote: PlayYourCardsRight

I'd like to play, if eligible. I've been around more than a year but haven't played in the past.

Let me know.

New rules only.

Absolutely, PM's with payment arrangements will go out tomorrow.