2017 WoV Picks Game (Discussion Thread)

Greetings!

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

WizardofNothing is donating a guaranteed $50 to the contest, but will increase his donation to $500 in the event that we have fifty (50) total players. Anyone can play, so if you have some friends, get them to join the Forum and participate in the game so we can get up to fifty participants!!!

I am donating $250 to the contest, but will up it to $500 if we hit fifty or more players:

If we hit fifty players, WoN's/My donations will break down as follows:

First Place: $300 + All Entry Fees ($250 Donated by WizardofNothing, $50 Donated by Me)
Second Place: $200 ($150 Donated by WizardofNothing, $50 Donated by Me)
Third Place: $150 ($100 Donated by WizardofNothing, $50 Donated by Me)

Most Average: $175 (Closest Record to .500, Donated by Me)
You Suck: $175 (Worst Record, Donated by Me)

The entry fee for this year shall be $25 per player, one player, one entry.

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

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

WizardofNothing's $50 will be added to first place.

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

I will only be defending my donation, essentially. I can win any of the prizes, but I CANNOT win any Entry Fees. What that means is that, if I come in First Place, all Entry Fees 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.

Furthermore, I will PM all players who expressed interest last year in either the Discussion thread for the regular game or the Discussion thread for the Playoff version.

I expect to send all of these invites within the next seven days.

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

Payments MUST be received prior to kickoff on September 10th, 2017 (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 9th, 2017. 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 16th, 2017 or earlier.

Entries cost $25 each. Each individual player may only enter once, however, if members of your household would like to enter and create a separate screen name, then that is fine.

HOW TO PLAY:

The Rules will be as follows:

Format:

Winner Take All for Prize Pool (There are also two consolation prizes)---If WoN donates $50

OR

1st-3rd will all get paid if we have 50+ players, and we will continue to have the, 'Most Average,' and, 'You Suck,' 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 10:00 EST on that Sunday, if a Sunday game starts earlier than that, then you must have the Picks in before kickoff.

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 10:00 a.m. EST Sunday, all picks will be openly posted by me between then and 13:00 Sunday. (Usually)

***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 10th, Lines will be posted on Thursday, September 7th.

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)

5.) Place your handle, without spaces, above your set of Picks followed by a colon(:)

So, a full set of picks might appear:

Mission146:
Patriots -15
Patriots OVER 52
Jaguars +12
Jaguars UNDER 42
Jets +4-Confidence

Let's have a great time, as always!

CHANGES TO THE GAME

Greetings!

I would like to take this opportunity to briefly highlight the differences between this year's game and last year's for those who have played before:

1.) The entry fee has been increased from $20 to $25.

2.) Last year, second and third place received nothing, that will not be the case this year if we have at least fifty players. Here is how the payouts will break down depending on the number of players:

LESS THAN FIFTY:

First Place: $150 + All Entry Fees ($100 donated by me and $50 donated by WizardofNothing)
Most Average: $75 (Closest record to .500, Donated by Me)
You Suck: $75 (Worst Record, Donated by Me)

FIFTY OR MORE PLAYERS:

First Place: $300 + All Entry Fees ($250 Donated by WizardofNothing, $50 Donated by Me)
Second Place: $200 ($150 Donated by WizardofNothing, $50 Donated by Me)
Third Place: $150 ($100 Donated by WizardofNothing, $50 Donated by Me)

Most Average: $175 (Closest Record to .500, Donated by Me)
You Suck: $175 (Worst Record, Donated by Me)

3.) METHODS OF PAYMENT OF ENTRY FEE

I will accept payment of the Entry Fee by the following methods, and will PM with more specifics:

1.) Electronic Transfer via the SquareCash App.---Preferred
2.) Electronic Transfer via the Venmo App---Preferred
3.) Amazon Gift Card---Preferred
4.) Personal Check
5.) Postal Money Order

Greetings!

The last thing for right now is that I would appreciate some help in pushing hard for at least fifty total players, given WizardofNothing's proposed donation, there is some serious added value in achieving this number of participants. His total donation will go from $50 to $500 if we end up with fifty or more players.

The entry fee is $25 and at exactly fifty players WizardofNothing will be donating $500, so that comes out to $10/player, which represents 40% of the entry fee.

Anyway, that's pretty huge in terms of added value. I believe my donation will be $250 no matter what happens, but I might decide to match WizardofNothing's $500. If I do, the extra $50 will be divided equally between (1st-3rd Place, Most Average and 'You Suck,' consolation prizes).

Actually, I'll tell you guys what: My additional $250 donation is also conditional upon us having fifty or more total players, if we get that many, then I'll do it.

That's an extra $700 donated to the total payout if we hit fifty or more players for $1,000 total. That would be 80% of the entry fees based on fifty players!!!

I'm in again, and will see if a buddy or two might want to join and play.

ADDENDUM:

I have a few procedural things to address:

1.) I will usually PM a Picks Reminder sometime between Midnight-Noon on the Saturday before the Sunday upon which the Picks are due, However, these reminders are a courtesy and you are responsible for submitting your Picks in a timely fashion whether or not you receive a Reminder.

2.) If you do not wish to receive reminders, feel free to let me know. I can't promise you won't get them anyway, though. I usually just have a list of all of the participants in the game and cross off those from whom I have received Picks and then PM the rest in as close to an automated manner as a human being can come.

3.) Picks are due by 10:00a.m. EST on Sunday, and there will be NO MORE EXCEPTIONS to that Rule. It doesn't matter whether or not I have posted the Picks already, any Picks after 10:00 a.m. EST on Sunday are invalid.

4.) You may change your Picks as long as your corrected Picks are sent by 10:00a.m. EST on Sunday, but please try not to make a habit of it.

5.) Unless you are responding to a Reminder directly, please make it VERY CLEAR in your PM SUBJECT that your PM contains your Picks. The reason why is that I do not want to see any Picks prior to making my own.

6.) I will ABSOLUTELY be enforcing the formatting Rule starting with Week 3. You have no idea how much time proper formatting saves me. Again, here is the procedure for properly formatted Picks:

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)

5.) Place your handle, without spaces, above your set of Picks followed by a colon(:)

So, a full set of picks might appear:

Mission146:
Patriots -15
Patriots OVER 52
Jaguars +12
Jaguars UNDER 42
Jets +4-Confidence

Thank you!

Quote: Johnzimbo

I'm in again, and will see if a buddy or two might want to join and play.

Excellent, glad to have you playing again! We definitely need to get to at least fifty players!

The details for payment will be included in the Reminder PM's, which you will still receive. I'm going to send those out to everyone who played last year at some point within the next twenty-four hours. To all New Members (within the last year) with at least ten posts, I'll get around to that sometime this week. I don't know when specifically, but it will be this week. Whenever I have three-four free hours, basically.

REMINDER:

I KNOW I HAVE SAID THIS ALREADY, BUT YOU'RE HEARING IT NOW AND WILL ALL PROBABLY HEAR IT AGAIN IN A PM OR TWO:

BEGINNING WITH WEEK 3, IF YOUR PICKS ARE NOT PROPERLY FORMATTED THEY WILL BE INVALID. FOR THE FIRST TWO WEEKS, I WILL SEND A PM CONFIRMING YOUR PICKS (THEY'LL BE IN THE THREAD, ANYWAY) AS WELL AS PRESENTING YOUR PICKS TO YOU IN A PROPERLY FORMATTED FASHION. I WILL ALSO EXPLAIN WHAT WAS INCORRECT ABOUT THE WAY THEY WERE FORMATTED.



I hate to be a stickler on this, but since I project that we will have 50+ players, I honestly don't have two hours every single week (especially since Picks are not due until 10:00a.m. Sunday anyway) to be correcting Picks so I can post them in a properly formatted way. It is essential that I just be able to copy/paste straight from the PM to the post containing the Picks.

I'm in. And hoping to not defend my title -- 2016 You Suck champion.

Mission, would wifey be able to play? She does not have a name on here but could make one but I don't want that to be an issue with IP things and socks and all.

Eta. I k ow your rules said members in same house but just want to verify that is allowed by forum rules.

Quote: GWAE

Mission, would wifey be able to play? She does not have a name on here but could make one but I don't want that to be an issue with IP things and socks and all.

Eta. I k ow your rules said members in same house but just want to verify that is allowed by forum rules.

That's correct, Forum Rules prohibit one Member from having multiple accounts, but I don't believe it was ever intended that two people residing in the same house would be prohibited from having individual accounts.

Furthermore, we would also be aware of the handle corresponding to your wife's account. As a result, we would expect to see the same IP Address coming from those two accounts and that would not be a problem. I can't speak for everyone else, but I only go to looking at IP addresses if I actually strongly suspect someone of being a sock AND they violate some other rule, anyway.

I'm in! Let's see if I can beat 60% this year.

I would say , since I'm donating the bulk, that gwae wife SHOULD BE - able to play

Quote: Wizardofnothing

I would say , since I'm donating the bulk, that gwae wife SHOULD BE - able to play

I happen to agree with you anyway, but we're actually each donating $500 if we get fifty (or more) players.

Ok I will see if she is in.

I'm in.

Mission, I will again volunteer my services, to be the official scorekeeper during the season long contest.

As I did last year, I expect I can again post the weekly results and the current overall standings a few minutes after the Monday Night game.

The amount of work is minimal to me. All I have to do is cut and paste your post containing everyone's picks into my spreadsheet. After the games are finished I click a button that downloads the scores of the games to the spreadsheet automatically. I then click another button that grades everyone's scores and creates a text file to post in the forum, that colorizes the wins (green) and the losses (red), and also creates a forum table with the current standings.

The ONLY manual entry is entering each week's spread that we are using, and OVER/UNDER totals, into the spreadsheet initially.

There is one thing that you may want to address in the rules... the penalty for an illegal entry.

With the additional ways to win that we introduced last year, (Most Average and You Suck prizes) recall we quickly realized that late in the season it could be to one's advantage to enter, for example, two opposing picks, something that is normally against the rules. (With the idea that each of these picks will cancel each other out, and thus maintain your current percentage, which could be desired.)

It could also be an advantage, for example, to only enter four picks.

I don't feel submitting an "illegal" entry is in the spirit of the game and feel certain at least a few others feel the same way.

Refresh my memory, but didn't last year we simply decide that any invalid entry would simply disqualify one from winning the Most Average and You Suck prizes, but still permit that player to win the overall prize?

I'm in. And my program from previous years should still work.

Quote: miplet

You can get the current lines in the same format that Mission148 uses by going to here. Copy all the text (ctr-a, ctr-c in windows). Then go to here, and paste (ctr-p) all the text in the box and click submit. If you did this now, you would get:

Packers (-7) @ Bears (+7) O/U 49
Chiefs (+1) @ Texans (-1) O/U 41
Browns (+3.5) @ Jets (-3.5) O/U 39.5
Colts (-2.5) @ Bills (+2.5) O/U 45
Dolphins (-3.5) @ Redskins (+3.5) O/U 43.5
Panthers (-3) @ Jaguars (+3) O/U 41
Seahawks (-4) @ Rams (+4) O/U 40.5
Saints (+2.5) @ Cardinals (-2.5) O/U 48.5
Lions (+3) @ Chargers (-3) O/U 46
Titans (+3) @ Buccaneers (-3) O/U 41
Bengals (-3) @ Raiders (+3) O/U 43
Ravens (+4.5) @ Broncos (-4.5) O/U 48
Giants (+6) @ Cowboys (-6) O/U 51.5
Eagles (-3) @ Falcons (+3) O/U 55
Vikings (-2.5) @ 49ers (+2.5) O/U 41.5

To compare the current lines to the WoV lines, just click on the compare lines button. If you did this now you would get:

Jets -3 (-3.5)
Jaguars UNDER 41.5 (41)
Cardinals OVER 48 (48.5)
Broncos UNDER 48.5 (48)

The number in parenthesis is the current line.
Let me know of any errors ,questions, comments, or suggestions.
http://miplet.net/nfl list all the files used for all you hackers out there.

I'm passing this year. I thought the handling of the situation last year with Joel Deeze was horrendous, and totally unfair.

Good luck on getting 50. Best of luck to all.

I'm in. I look forward to this game very much.

Quote: SM777

I'm passing this year. I thought the handling of the situation last year with Joel Deeze was horrendous, and totally unfair.

Good luck on getting 50. Best of luck to all.

SM, I'm curious... how would you have handled it? What would have been your ruling, if you were Commissioner?

As I recall, JoelDeze submitted just four picks that very first weekend, instead of the mandatory five. He did so because he was a new player and interpreted the rules incorrectly. (One of his picks was a Confidence Pick.)

As I also recall, Mission allowed his four picks. Joel wasn't penalized for not submitting a fifth pick.

I myself don't see how this was horrendous or totally unfair, to anyone, in that first week.

I'd like to try this. Please PM me the info.

Greetings!

I'm going to go ahead and address the things that have come up in this thread. I will also be sending all invitations and payment info PM's tomorrow, sorry I'm a bit behind recently.

POSTING RESULTS:

That's awesome, Ed, and I thank you again for doing that!

RULES REGARDING MISPICKS:

When it comes to making deliberately offsetting Picks, any deliberately offsetting Picks or multiples of the same Pick will be considered patently against the Rules. The Official Rules concerning mispicks shall be as follows:

1.) If you have sent Picks that contain any mispicks and HAVE NOT used your Skip Week, then the Week upon which you sent the mispicks shall automatically constitute your Skip Week and your picks will not be considered for that week at all.

2.) If you have sent Picks that contain any mispicks and HAVE used your Skip Week, then your Standings will automatically reflect a record of 0-5 for the week in question and you will be ineligible to win any prizes other than 1st Place (or 1st-3rd given sufficient players).

In short, mispicks effectively now constitute a Skip Week.

JOELDEZE RULING:

I am basically mirroring what EdCollins said on that one if we're talking about that Week 1 thing. JoelDeze was under the impression that making a Confidence Pick counted as two Picks both for the purposes of Standings as well as the purposes of making five unique Picks. The decision that was made was to allow JoelDeze's four Picks (inclusive of one Confidence Pick) to stand as opposed to forcing him to use his Skip Week.

I really don't see what was, 'Horrendous,' about the decision as I cannot see what possible advantage allowing that set of Picks gave JoelDeze. It was Week 1.

However, there shall be no further such rulings of that nature. Any inadequate (for any reason) set of Picks shall henceforth result in the use of one Skip Week, assuming a player has one to use. If the player does not have one to use, any fouled set of Picks will result in a 0-5 week and the inability to win any consolation prizes.

Thus, fouling a set of Picks for any reason results only in a disadvantage.

Quote: Mission146

That's correct, Forum Rules prohibit one Member from having multiple accounts, but I don't believe it was ever intended that two people residing in the same house would be prohibited from having individual accounts.

Furthermore, we would also be aware of the handle corresponding to your wife's account. As a result, we would expect to see the same IP Address coming from those two accounts and that would not be a problem. I can't speak for everyone else, but I only go to looking at IP addresses if I actually strongly suspect someone of being a sock AND they violate some other rule, anyway.

I do look at all new accounts, taking into consideration the content of any posts and usually send a PM inquiry if there's any question about intent. I'm sure we could accommodate family member accounts; we have several accounts with roommates/family/workmates whatever. A pre-emptive PM to me or Mission might also help if you're concerned.

I agree with Ed. I didn't play last year so I went back and read all 50+ pages of last years discussion thread and didn't see anything that seemed unfair or horrendous.

Hey Buddy I am in again, thank you for putting this on. This is some of the most fun I have gambling all year, all for a huge $25 buy in.

Nice, glad to hear you say so!

Greetings!

This is just a notification that I have sent PM invites to everyone who played in the WoV Picks Game last year, the Playoff Picks Game last year or expressed interest in either of those two Discussion threads (or this one).

The result was that I sent a total of 39 PM's, and I expect that at least thirty of those will result in people playing.

I am going to now send a different version of the PM to all Members who joined the Forum on or after August 20th, 2016 and who have ten (or more) lifetime posts and are not banned. I will let you know how many PM's result from that, but will say that such PM's probably only result in one player per 40-50 PM's, or so.

Remember that the total in donations goes from $300 to $1,000 in the event that we have fifty or more unique players. That being the case, I would advise everyone to try to attract more players. Like I said in the Invite PM, I'm not going to work harder than I do any other year just to give more money away, so the invite process (on my end) is the same as last year.

I guess one other thing I can do is go through and invite anyone (not banned) who played in the 2012-2015 versions of this game, but did not play last year. I will do that much.

ADDED: I did what I said I would in the preceding paragraph and am about to send the PM's, it appears we have 27 (non-banned) Members who have played at some point between 2012-2015, but did not play last year. I am very surprised the number is that high, and I sincerely hope that everyone is okay and that some of them will decide to play again. I've always felt like we've had a high player retention rate, and we do, but not as high as I thought.

Greetings!

This is the notification that the PM's to the 27 non-banned Members who played between 2012-2015, but not last year, have been sent. I am now going to proceed to PM a modified invitation to the game to all Members who joined August 20th, 2016 (or later) and have at least ten lifetime posts. I will let you know how many total PM's that is shortly.

Interested & Players Last Year: 39 PM's

Players 2012-2015 Who Did Not Play Last Year: 27 PM's

Total (So Far): 66 PM's

THANKS to everyone who made this so much fun last year.

Count me in, plus MrsQ too !

Greetings!

(First of all, nice to hear yourself and Mrs. Q will both be playing, JohnnyQ!)

This is a notification that I have PM'ed people who met the criteria outlined for receiving an invitation to the game though they had not played or previously expressed interest. 99 such PM's were sent last year, but I kept a little closer to my own criteria for this year, so 85 PM's were sent this year.

Interested & Players Last Year: 39 PM's

Players 2012-2015 Who Did Not Play Last Year: 27 PM's

New Invites: 85 PM's

Total Invites Sent: 151 PM's.

The final total for invitation PM's that I have sent is 151. I don't know how the PM's to 2012-2015 players will go because this is the first time I've PM'ed previous players other than the year immediately prior.

"Cold calling," PM's to completely new people have a tendency to not work terribly well. I would be surprised if we see three or more players from that and I expect only one or two.

Greetings!

EdCollins is the first player this year to pay his Entry Fee. If you want to keep track of Entry Fee Payment, there is a post in the Official thread that will be updated as payments come in. I will probably post a summary in this thread once every day or two.

Count to Fifty Paid Players: 3 (47 more needed)

Quote: EdCollins

SM, I'm curious... how would you have handled it? What would have been your ruling, if you were Commissioner?

As I recall, JoelDeze submitted just four picks that very first weekend, instead of the mandatory five. He did so because he was a new player and interpreted the rules incorrectly. (One of his picks was a Confidence Pick.)

As I also recall, Mission allowed his four picks. Joel wasn't penalized for not submitting a fifth pick.

I myself don't see how this was horrendous or totally unfair, to anyone, in that first week.

You say that because it was week 1, and JoelDeeze didn't win any prizes. Had it been week 15, and someone was submitting a confidence pick for the first time and made this mistake, it could certainly change the outcome of people winning money. The rules were clear to everyone, and the person who wrote them didn't enforce them properly. It would've been nice for everyone to be given a freebie like that.....

The rules should be enforced as written when you're taking money from people.

If I recall correctly, another member who didn't submit picks in time was let slide as well. Again, imagine if that person had gone on to win by 1 game..... Keep allowing the rules enforced for everyone to be broken by a few, and there will be a point at which it does indeed change who wins money and who doesn't. And I don't want to be that guy when it happens again this year.

Quote: SM777

Had it been week 15, and someone was submitting a confidence pick for the first time and made this mistake, it could certainly change the outcome of people winning money.

I see. Thank you for taking a moment to answer.

Had it been Week 15, I can pretty much guarantee you the ruling would have been different. It was only because it was very early in the contest (Week 1), with a new player, who had never submitted picks before, that the ruling was made as it was. One less pick for him was completely irrelevant at that point.

Quote: SM777

If I recall correctly, another member who didn't submit picks in time was let slide as well. Again, imagine if that person had gone on to win by 1 game.....

I don't recall that. However, if you're correct, I suspect it was also irrelevant. So their late picks were allowed and they end up winning the contest by one game? So what? Allowing their picks (as long as they were time-stamped before the games began) could also have meant they might lose the contest and miss out by one (or more) games!

I'm not a big fan of playing "What If."

I still shake my head when I hear blackjack players complain the player at Third Base "is killing them." I never complain or even care (or even notice) what the player at Third Base does. Whether he stands or hits or doubles is irrelevant to me. In the long run, his play, whether it was good or bad, will "help" me as much as it "hurts" me.

Count me in please PM payment details


RD

Quote: SM777

You say that because it was week 1, and JoelDeeze didn't win any prizes. Had it been week 15, and someone was submitting a confidence pick for the first time and made this mistake, it could certainly change the outcome of people winning money. The rules were clear to everyone, and the person who wrote them didn't enforce them properly. It would've been nice for everyone to be given a freebie like that.....

There is absolutely no way that set of Picks would have been allowed had it been Week 15, or anything like that. In fact, had JoelDeze not been a brand new player, they wouldn't have been allowed.

I allowed those Picks for one reason and one reason only, because the difference between four Picks (five games) or five Picks (six games) is not such that anyone could possibly know how that would affect him/her in Week 1. For instance, if JoelDeze had lost by one one-thousandth of a percentage point, then that Week 1 Pick (if a winner) would have won him the game.

Also, there is something of a history of judgment calls having to be made here and there with this game. The goal is that the game gets better every year as these situations pop up. I didn't want to have to sit around for cumulative days and come up with a forty-seven page list of Rules that accounts for every possible contingency.

However, you are not wrong, and a set of fouled Picks this year will result in an automatic use of one's Skip Week. If one has already used the Skip Week, then a fouled set of Picks shall result in an automatic 0-5 record for that week and the inability to win either of the consolation prizes.

In other words, you disagreed with my decision and I have responded by modifying the Rules such that no judgment call will ever need to be made again.

Quote:

The rules should be enforced as written when you're taking money from people.

Let's get something straight, I'm not taking money from anybody. I donate money to this contest every year and defend my own donation. I am incapable of profiting as a result of this game. The Rules even say that if I finish in First Place, Second Place receives all the Entry Fees. If Second Place were to suggest that I should receive them...I would probably discuss the possibility of splitting them, but there's no way I'd take them all.

Quote:

If I recall correctly, another member who didn't submit picks in time was let slide as well. Again, imagine if that person had gone on to win by 1 game..... Keep allowing the rules enforced for everyone to be broken by a few, and there will be a point at which it does indeed change who wins money and who doesn't. And I don't want to be that guy when it happens again this year.

Once again, I have Amended the Rules such that no picks after 10:00a.m. EST on Sunday will be valid. 10:01, doesn't matter, invalid Picks. I'm taking a hard line stance on these things now largely in response to the controversy that each judgment call results in.

Quote: Mission146

I will accept payment of the Entry Fee by the following methods, and will PM with more specifics:

1.) Electronic Transfer via the SquareCash App.---Preferred
2.) Electronic Transfer via the Venmo App---Preferred
3.) Amazon Gift Card---Preferred
4.) Personal Check
5.) Postal Money Order

Is Amazon.com eGift Card acceptable?

Quote: terapined

Is Amazon.com eGift Card acceptable?

Absolutely, that's actually what I meant.

I'm interested. My brother has been playing for a few years, and sounds like a lot of fun for only $25.

Sounds great! If you understand all the rules, I'll PM you the payment options!

IMPORTANT NOTICE:

There have been a few people to PM me Amazon Gift Card codes and send money via SquareCash to the same account as last year. All of that is perfectly copacetic, but:

I NOW LIVE AT A DIFFERENT ADDRESS. DO NOT MAIL ANY FORMS OF PAYMENT TO THE ADDRESS THAT YOU USED LAST YEAR. IF YOU WISH TO PAY BY CHECK OR POSTAL MONEY ORDER, THERE IS A NEW ADDRESS.

If you've already mailed to the old, there's a chance it will get Forwarded, but I wouldn't count on it. Something got sent to me from Cleveland (less than four hours from me) with Insurance and Certified on it and STILL took fourteen days to arrive...so I wouldn't count on them to forward anything.

PAYMENT UPDATES:

Here is the periodic payment update:

I have now received payment from nine total players, which is fine, because there are over two weeks left until payment is due in order for someone to make Week 1 Picks. If you include myself and WizardofNothing (entry w/donation) we are up to ten players who are considered as paid.

There are also a few players who have made payment arrangements but have yet to satisfy payment. I haven't really been keeping track of those because a few such people did not end up playing last year, so there's no real reason for me to keep track of anything other than payment received.

Quote: Mission146

PAYMENT UPDATES:

Here is the periodic payment update:

I have now received payment from nine total players, which is fine, because there are over two weeks left until payment is due in order for someone to make Week 1 Picks..

Only 9 so far
WTF
This is hugely positive EV
People on this board struggle to find anything in Vegas where they can grind out a very slight edge
and
We have this wonderful hugely positive EV contest
Cmon WOV members, get it together

Im back in this year. Shooting for that last place finish!

I'm not terribly concerned, I think that the Entry Fees came in pretty slowly last year, as well, with a huge rash of them coming in during the last week. As I recall, I even sent out reminder PM's to people who had arranged a form of payment (but not sent yet) as well as players from the previous year who hadn't responded to the first PM.

Mr. Average is back to defend his title. (That's me)

My son transfers money via Venmo. Can you accept venmo?

Somewhere in here Mike has stated he is hoping to beat 60% this year again. I will bet giving 2-1 odds that he does not. Anyone interested?

Quote: terapined

Only 9 so far
WTF
This is hugely positive EV
People on this board struggle to find anything in Vegas where they can grind out a very slight edge
and
We have this wonderful hugely positive EV contest
Cmon WOV members, get it together

Yep, that occurred to me ! What's not to love ?

Also, it's easy and fun following the standings with-in the contest through-out the season.

Quote: SOOPOO

Mr. Average is back to defend his title. (That's me)

My son transfers money via Venmo. Can you accept venmo?

Somewhere in here Mike has stated he is hoping to beat 60% this year again. I will bet giving 2-1 odds that he does not. Anyone interested?

PM sent as to the payment.

Do you mean that you are Laying 2:1 Odds? He's over 60% lifetime on this game as well as over 60% 3/5 seasons.

I will bet my $100 to win your $200. Easy bet to take. Do we need to escrow? I don't see any reason that I think you should need to escrow if you don't think I do.

Quote: Mission146

PM sent as to the payment.

Do you mean that you are Laying 2:1 Odds? He's over 60% lifetime on this game as well as over 60% 3/5 seasons.

I will bet my $100 to win your $200. Easy bet to take. Do we need to escrow? I don't see any reason that I think you should need to escrow if you don't think I do.

Bet is made. If he makes exactly 60%, it is a tie. Above 60% you win. Below 60% I win. I will let you be the final judge in case there is any question. No escrow needed.

Quote: SOOPOO

Bet is made. If he makes exactly 60%, it is a tie. Above 60% you win. Below 60% I win. I will let you be the final judge in case there is any question. No escrow needed.

It is done, the Rules of this game are the Rules of this bet. Since Wizard has default Picks in place, he can never have an 0-5 week.

I don't know if you knew about his Default Picks and were hoping he could No Pick himself into an 0-5 week. If you didn't know that such can't happen, I'll give you one chance to drop the bet. I'm all for this bet, myself, he runs 60% even using the occasional set of defaults.

Mission, I'm willing to offer you the same exact same bet the SOOPOO is offering you, for any amount up to $100.00. (I will risk as much as $200.00 to your $100.00.)