The Rules of the Game: 2008

(new rules are marked in blue)

Start & End Date
Submitting Entries
Rosters
Eligibility
Roster Movement
Reporting Deaths
Scoring
Updates
Prize Money
Disputes

Start & End Date

You Bet Their Life 2008 begins 12:00 a.m. (EST) 1 January 2008.

The game ends 11:59 p.m. (EST) 31 December 2008.

Submitting Entries

Each entrant must submit a team name (preferably something death related) and 2 rosters, active and taxi, of team members. Entrants may create as many teams as they wish, paying the entry fee for each team.

Entries must be postmarked by 1 January 2008, or if submitted via email, must be sent on or before that date. Once you have submitted your entry, it becomes official.

Each entry costs US $25.00. Checks must be received by 15 January 2008. An additional charge of $20 will be levied for bounced checks. Payment via PayPal is acceptable.

Entry forms and additional information can be found here.

Rosters

Roster #1 - Active Roster. This roster is your primary list of famous people you think will die during 2008. The active roster can contain no more than twenty-five (25) names.

Roster #2 - Taxi Squad. This is a list of five (5) additional famous people. During the course of 2008 as people on your active roster die, you can replace them with those on your taxi squad.

Eligibility

To be included on either an active roster or a taxi squad, the team members must meet the following criteria:

They must be human.
They must be alive as of the start of the game.
They must be famous or infamous in their own right (See next paragraph).
Persons on death row at the start of the game will score no points if they are executed. Persons held hostage at the start of the game will score no points if they are killed by their captors or in a rescue attempt. Such persons will score points if they die from other causes.
They cannot be recipients of animal or artificial vital organs as of the start of the game. (Note: Pacemakers and heart valves are NOT vital organs, e.g., Dick Cheney is eligible.)
No name can appear more than once on a team's rosters. (Players submitting multiple teams can duplicate names among the teams.)

To be considered famous or infamous in their own right, a pick must meet the following criteria:

Fame: Celebrities must have done something (written a book, recorded a song, won an Olympic medal, hosted a TV game show, etc.) to be considered famous in their own right. Their fame cannot derive solely from a relationship to another famous person. Spouses and family members of famous people who receive significant press coverage during their lives are considered famous in their own right (e.g., Nikki Hilton, Prince Philip, and any of the Kennedys are eligible; Derek Jeter's mother, Dorothy, is not). Simply living to a ripe old age is not sufficient as a claim to fame. Therefore, the oldest person in the world is not eligible unless they happen to have done something else in their life to justify celebrity.

Notoriety: Their death must be recognized by a major media organization (e.g., Associated Press, New York Times, London Times, Washington Post, CNN). Local celebrities from cities like New York and Washington are not eligible even if their deaths are reported in the Times or the Post, unless out-of-town news organizations also carry the obituary. Given the penchant of AP to report the death of just about anyone associated with the news industry, any news person must have a national following or received a major news award during their lifetime to be eligible. The Rules Committee decides that major media organizations have failed to report a death of a famous person. The Rules Committee will make a judgment of fame comparing that person with others who have died and been reported. (The point of this rule is to cover the occasional case where a famous person is inexplicably ignored by major news organizations.)

Missing persons are eligible, but if it is determined during the course of the year that they were dead at the start of the game or if their fate is still unknown as of 1 January 2009, they will score no points. (If you want to waste a pick on Jimmy Hoffa no one will stop you.)

Entrants are responsible for their own rosters. If an Active Roster includes someone who is already dead at the start of the game, if a name appears more than once, or if a roster is short one or more names, the only remedy is replacing the ineligible name with a Taxi Squad member. Errors on Taxi Squad rosters have no remedy.

The Rules Committee is the sole judge of eligibility. A pick will be determined to be eligible or ineligible only at the time of their confirmed death (The Stroger Rule). Decisions of the Rules Committee are final. We cannot issue advisory opinions on whether or not a person is eligible.

Roster Movement

When someone from the Active Roster dies, they can be replaced by someone on the Taxi Squad. The empty spot on the Taxi Squad will remain that way for the rest of the year. No new names will be added to the Taxi Squad during the year.

Reporting Deaths

When someone from either roster dies, please contact tableslam17@yahoo.com immediately to inform me of the following:

Team name (Yes, I can cross-reference your email address and figure out who you are, but it is a lot easier if you just remind me who you are.)
Name of the deceased
Date of the death
Source of the information (e.g., AP, CNN)
If the person was on your Active Roster, which person you intend to move up from the Taxi Squad.
Including the text of or link to the obituary is appreciated, but is not required.

Responsibility for reporting deaths is on the entrant. (If multiple entrants have picked a name, only one has to report the death for all to get credit, but You Bet Their Life.com is not responsible for crediting deaths not brought to our attention.) However, the administrator will, in fairness, monitor major sources for possible deaths on a regular basis.

Deaths can be reported any time before 15 January 2009. On 15 January 2009, the results will be declared final. The 15 January 2009 date is for reporting only - rigor mortis must have set in during 2008 to score points. This allows for the fact that obituaries are often delayed several days.

Scoring

Points will be awarded for each death according to the following schedule:

One (1) Active Roster - 20 points
Two (2) Active Rosters - 18 points per entrant
Three (3) Active Rosters - 16 points per entrant
Four (4) Active Rosters - 14 points per entrant
Five (5) Active Rosters - 12 points per entrant
Six (6) Active Rosters - 10 points per entrant
Seven (7) Active Rosters - 8 points per entrant
Eight or more (8+) Active Rosters - 5 points per entrant

If the cadaver appears on only one Taxi Squad, it is worth 5 points. If it is on any other roster (Active or Taxi), as well as your Taxi Squad, it will be worth only 3 points to you. For example, if a corpse appears on one Active Roster and one Taxi Squad, 20 points and 3 points will be awarded, respectively.

Special Awards:

The Jeanne Calment Award for the Oldest Stiff of the Year - four (4) points.
The Charles Lindbergh III Award for the Youngest Stiff of the Year - four (4) points.
The Harry Helmsley Award for the First Stiff of the Year - four (4) points.
The Frank Zappa Award for the Last Stiff of the Year - four (4) points each.
The Kurt Cobain Award for Any Death That is a Confirmed Suicide - ten (10) points.
The Ace Bailey Award for Any Death That is of Un-Natural Causes (other than suicide) i.e. homicide, natural disaster, auto accident - ten (10) points.
The Mickey Mantle Under 65 Award for the Death of Anyone Under the Age of 65 - four (4) points.
The Luther Vandross Under 55 Award for the Death of Anyone Under the Age of 55 - four (4) points (in addition to the 4 points for being under 65, for a total of 8 points).
The River Phoenix Under 45 Award for the Death of Anyone Under the Age of 45 - four (4) points (in addition to the 4 points for being under 65 and the 4 points for being under 55 for a total of 12 points) .
The Metabolically Challenged Award for Ending the Year With Everyone On The List Alive - $25 (return of entrance fee) for any team that fails to score a single point during the year.

So, the maximum number of points that can be awarded for a single death is 50--for a solo hit by a suicide/homicide under 45 years of age who is either the first or last stiff of the year and also the youngest (20 points for a solo hit; 10 for the suicide/homicide; and 4 points each for being first/last, the youngest, under 65, under 55 and under 45).

Updates

Updates will be posted on the update page of this website as required (usually once every week). Entrants will be notified via the forum when updates are posted.

Prize Money

After deducting the administrative costs of running the game, the remaining money will go into the kitty to be split among the winners. Anticipated administrative costs are $200. The costs incurred are for domain registration ($25), web hosting fees ($75), bank fees ($50) and miscellaneous expenses ($50).

The money in the kitty will be distributed according to the following schedule:

First place will receive 40% of the kitty
Second place will receive 15%
Third place will receive 12.5%
Fourth place will receive 7.5%
Fifth place will receive 6%
Sixth place will receive 5%
Seventh place will receive 4%
Eighth place will receive 3%
Ninth place will receive 2.5%
Tenth place will receive 2%
Eleventh place will receive 1.5%
Twelfth place will receive 1%

In case of ties, entrants will split the cash at that prize level and the next level(s) down. For example, if two players are tied for 2nd place, they will split the 27.5% (13.75% each) that constitutes the second and third place money.

If less than forty two teams participate, the minimum amount awarded for any prize will be $25 (return of entrance fee). In this case, these minimal amounts (along with any Metabolically Challenged Awards) will be deducted from the kitty first and the amounts for the other prizes adjusted accordingly.

Anyone who causes or contributes to the death of a celebrity on their list, is not eligible for prize money. So, no taking matters into your own hands! And if you must stalk somebody, chose a celebrity who is not on your list.

Disputes

If a pick is deemed ineligible due to lack of Fame or Notoriety, the team or teams will be notified of the decision and given a chance to research the stiff's history and obituaries for evidence that could overturn the ruling. The Rules Committee will then vote on the eligibility based on the team leader's evidence. The team will then be notified via e-mail of the panel's decision. The Rules Committee is the sole judge in any dispute. The decisions of the Rules Committee are final.

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