Member Contests For 2012

[xman5]

As the start of the 2012 season is approaching I just wanted to let you know that I will be able to do the weekly contests for this year . The intent is keep the contest the same rules as last year.

Additionally I had an idea for a second weekly contest. The contest would be weekly and would be a Betting based contest (ie like you were betting on the horses).

Each week you would get a set amount of money to bet, say $100. At the beginning of the week Odds for each player would be posted. Odds would come from published odds from one the the Online bookmakers. You basically can make single bets on players or make a 4way bet using your $100 for the week.

There may be some tweeking involved, ie should the bet be to tournament win or top 5 finish. Don't want to make it too hard and also don't want to make it too easy. Also don't want to make it too hard on the guy doing the computations.

Weekly winner is the one the makes the most that week, and the season winner to the person that makes the most for the season.

Your feedback and ideas are appreciated. I think that this could be an interesting format.

The main contest will carry on as before.

[MarinePaul]

I like the idea of having our own money list. Sounds like a fun format.

[Buzzer]

The contests are fun. I like what you are proposing, but I hope you are going to give more "betting" details. If we will be betting "like the horses", will there be "across the board" betting. exacta, trifecta, etc. Will the number of players in the betting field be limited?
I suspect that there are a few players who are not familair with "horse betting" so maybe a glossary will be needed.
Again, what you are proposing sounds like fun.

Viva Annika

[xman5]

Originally Posted by Buzzer

The contests are fun. I like what you are proposing, but I hope you are going to give more "betting" details. If we will be betting "like the horses", will there be "across the board" betting. exacta, trifecta, etc. Will the number of players in the betting field be limited?
I suspect that there are a few players who are not familair with "horse betting" so maybe a glossary will be needed.
Again, what you are proposing sounds like fun.

Viva Annika

That was probably a poor (and completely wrong) choice of words. Should have said sports betting. What I really meant was that you would select player or players that you think will have a chance to win the tournament, they would have specific odds, and you would place a wager on the player or players that you have selected. A 4way bet is a selection of four players. If one of them wins then you win, at a reduced payout.

Winning might be too narrow a result. Instead of winning, we might go with the player finishing top 5 as a winning result.

What you are describing is true Parimutual (horse) betting. That is a posability too. I also like that Idea too. Here is how that could work.

You can pick a player to win, place (2nd) and show(3rd). We might have to extend that to more places, like 5.

Exacta Select 1 & 2 in order. Trifecta 1-3 in order.

There are no predetermined odds in this case. Payouts in this case are based on the actual wagering for the pool of the money wagered.

Instead of individual players, the players would be put into groups with maybe 10 groups max to bet on. The setup of the groups could vary. 1 top heavy with stars, 1 with long shots etc.

The problem could be that it might not be easy to do the results, but I like the Idea a lot.

[xman5]

OK Here is a simplified example of a Parimutual Contest.

Start each week with $100

Only Possible bets are Win (1), Place (2), Show (3), Exacta(1-2), Trifecta(1-2-3)

11 Players in the Field

1 Yani Tseng
2 Cristie Kerr
3 Na Yeon Choi
4 Stacy Lewis
5 Suzann Pettersen
6 Brittany Lincicome
7 Angela Stanford
8 Ai Miyazato
9 Paula Creamer
10 Amy Yang
11 Field (of Mika Miyazato,Anna Nordqvist,Azahara Munoz,Sun Young Yoo)

Field counts as all of the ones in the group.

I bet $50 Tseng to Win
I bet $10 Lewis to Place
I bet $40 Creamer to Show

Thats all my $100

At the end of the tournament the 11 players final positions are the ranking.
So if Tseng was the higher finisher of the above 11 then she is our 1st place. If the next higest finisher was Stanford then she is our second place, and the next higest finisher was Yang then she is our third place.

My $50 bet on Tseng to Win is a winner.

Lets say a total of $1000 was placed in the Winner Pool (ie that amount was bet on someone to win) and $400 was wagered on Tseng.The payout is 1.5/1 plus your original wager (or 2.5 decimal).


Starting Balance = $100
I bet $100 Balance=0
I recv $125 for my winning bet Balance=$125
I am up $25 and have $125 in my pocket.

Or to look at it another way

I lose $10 on my bet to Lewis to place.
I lose $40 on my bet to Creamer to Show.
I am paid $75 on my winning bet

I am up $25 and have $125 in my pocket


Only one other player did better then me, up $40 for $140.
he wins the week and I am second for the week. My total for the year is $125.

[xman5]

Example of an Odds betting contest. This is a little easier to manage and more simplified to play.

You start with $100 to bet. Odds for each player are posted. You place a wager on the player or player(s) that you think will win the tournament up to your $100 total.

A win will be considered a top 5 Finish by the player.

I start with $100.

The odds are posted.
In this example I use the actual odds for this weeks PGA tournament The Farmers. This is a partial list.

Phil Mickelson 14/1
Nick Watney 14/1
Hunter Mahan 18/1
Brandt Snedeker 20/1
Ben Crane 25/1
Rickie Fowler 28/1
Bubba Watson 28/1
Ernie Els 33/1
Charles Howell III 33/1
Geoff Ogilvy 33/1
Keegan Bradley 33/1
Dustin Johnson 28/1


I bet $20 Watney, $20 Crane, $60 Bubba.

Bubba and Crane miss the cut.
Watney finishes 4th. I am Simply paid 20*14=280+20=300
I lose 80 from my 2 losing bets.

I finish the tourment wih $220. No one has more for the week. I win the weekly tournament.

I little easier to play.

[ctmurray]

This one above seems easier for me to follow.

[IceCat]

My suggestion would be to expand the PakPicker game we've been playing over at SeoulSisters.com for many years to include submissions from the regulars over here. The rules are pretty straightforward and spelled out below:

Seoul Sisters Golf // View topic - PakPicker Rules & Scoring Formula

Originally Posted by simie

The PakPicker events allow fans of the LPGA to compete in determining who can can come closest to predicting the top 12 finishers in each given LPGA event. Points are awarded to the top 10 PakPicker predictors each week (including ties), and aggregate totals are maintained over the entire season. The top PakPicker each week receives 10 points, the second finisher receives 9 points, and so on. At season's end, the participant with the highest aggregate point total is awarded the (virtual) PakPicker Season Trophy, and other awards are made (virtually, of ocurse) for Sportsperson of the Year and Rookie of the Year. Any PakPicker winning 3 weekly events in a given season gets to retire (virtually of course) a special PakPicker Trophy. Most precious of all is the (virtual) HappyFan Trophy, which is presented each year in recognition of extraordinary contributions to the PakPicker Forum during the course of the year. Happily, because all awards are virtual, winners not having an actual fireplace or trophy case will nonetheless be able proudly to exhibit their trophies.]

Here are the rules:

1. Each contestant lists in order the top twelve picks for the week, plus 3 alternates. The alternates are used, in the order listed, only if one or more of the 12 official picks do not start in that week's event. [This can happen due to (i) a golfer's withdrawal prior to teeing off on the first day, (ii) a picker's listing a golfer who was not entered in event in the first place or (iii) a picker's listing the same golfer twice in naming the 12 picks.] If an alternate is needed, the first listed alternate goes into 12th place, and other golfers move up one pick as required. Once a golfer tees off on the first hole on day one, that pick counts and no substitution is allowed. Contestants are urged to consult the LPGA website in determining which golfers are entered each week.

2. Entries (including any edits to an entry) must be entered by the date and time announced in each PakPicker starting thread, which is generally at midnight (New York time) preceding the first day of the event. Cut off times are altered for LPGA events held in Europe or the Far East. [The PakPicker Committee reserves the right (but is not obligated) to allow late entries where no prejudice has occurred, i.e. the entry is submitted before any golfer has teed off in the LPGA event.]

3. Points are scored in two ways. First, points are awarded for each top 12 pick that actually finishes in the top twelve (including ties), as follows: nine (9) points if the golfer finishes first, 8.25 for finishing second, 7.5 for third, and so on down to 0.75 for 12th place. Second, accuracy points are awarded with reference to how close the top-12-pick golfer's finish came to the exact finishing position predicted by the contestant. A maximum of six points is awarded for nailing the golfer's exact finish, a half point is subtracted for each place the actual finish is removed from the predicted finish. Thus, if a contestant lists "Kim, Birdie" to finish 12th when Birdie actually finishes second, that contestant will receive 9.25 points for that selection (8.25 points for finishing second and an additional 1 point for accuracy in predicting the actual finish-- 6 points minus 10 X 0.5 for missing Birdie's actual finish by 10 slots).

4. To make it easier for the PakPicker Committee to enter each contestant's picks (which is done manually by entries into an Excel spreadsheet), contestants are urged to list each golfer in descending order from 1 to 12, with a single golfer on each line listed, first, by the golfer's last name, and then including the golfer's first name if two or more golfers entered that week share the same last name. For example, please list "Kim, Birdie" rather than "Birdie Kim" of just "Kim" or just "Birdie" or some other nickname. Where there is any ambiguity in the golfer listed, the PakPicker Committee will do its best to determine the entrant's intention but reserves the right to eliminate that pick altogether and move an alternate on to the contestant's entry.

[IceCat]

To give you an idea of how such a contest would be scored, here were my submissions to last season's PakPicker for the US Women's Open:

• 1. Tseng, Yani
  2. Pettersen, Suzann
  3. Wie, Michelle
  4. Kim, In Kyung
  5. Kerr, Cristie
  6. Creamer, Paula
  7. Shin, Jiyai
  8. Pak, Se Ri
  9. Webb, Karrie
  10. Lewis, Stacy
  11. Seo, Hee Kyung
  12. Lincicome, Brittany
  
  Alternates:
  
  Inkster, Juli
  Pak, Jin Young
  Ahn, Sun Ju

I wound up with 44.50 points that week, good for a tie for sixth, with five of my Top 12 garnering points. In the placement points I got 8.25 points for Hee Kyung Seo (2nd), 7.50 points for Cristie Kerr (3rd), 5.25 points for Karrie Webb (T6) and 2.25 points apiece for In Kyung Kim and Jiyai Shin (T10). In the accuracy points I got 5 points from Kerr since I picked her 2 places away from her actual finish; a perfect score would be 6 for nailing the placement. From Seo I got only 1.5 points (9 places away), 4.5 each from Webb and Shin (3 places away) and 3 points from IK Kim (6 places away).


Kevin

[ctmurray]

This PakPicker sounds interesting as well.