2004 Celebrity Death Pool
 

Here it is. The first annual Celebrity Death Pool. Here are the rules:

• Each player submits 10 celebrity picks to me via PM (do not post them here).
• 9 of those celebrities can be anyone (famous) that you choose. The tenth is a wild card pick. Wild card picks must be younger than 50 (during the entire calendar year 2004), not known to have any serious disease, and not seeking treatment for any sort of addiction (or out of rehab for any addiction for less than 5 years). If a wild card pick dies of a long-term ailment (e.g. cancer) that was not disclosed to the public, that celebrity's status will be changed from wld card to regular pick (so you still get the point for a hit, but no wild card bonus). This should keep str8 from trading on his Hollywood insider status.
• I will be the final arbitor as to whether someone qualifies as famous. If you have a local celebrity that you wish to pick, or someone who I might not be familiar with, please include an explanation of why the person should qualify as famous for me. I will be playing along with all of you but I will not be eligible for any gift certificate awards. I am playing purely for pride.
• All picks should be submitted to me by Sunday Feb. 29 at midnight CST.
• Death Pool will begin on March 1, 2004 at 12:01 a.m. CST. Pool will close December 31, 2004 at midnight CST.
• I will post a listing of all picks here once they have been tabulated. If you wish to pick anyone of questionable celebrity status, get your list to me early to make sure I accept all picks.
• Person picking the most celebrity deaths during the pool duration will win a $50 gift certificate from lawtalkers.
• If any wild card picks hit, $25 gift certificate from lawtalkers. [Note: if there end up being more than 2 wildcard hits, lawtalkers reserves the right to split prize into smaller amounts]
• Ties in final number of deaths picked will result in split prize.
• In the event of any need for rules clarification, I will post those here. In the event of any dispute as to how the rules should work, I will take a vote from the administrators of the site.

That's it. If you pick someone and they die before the pool period starts, you may resubmit a new entry, but no geezer who drops before the beginning time of the pool will count as a hit for you.

I will post here during the year as hits occur.

2004 Celebrity Death Pool
 

Sorry. One more rule. Your wild card pick cannot have an inherently dangerous job that involves a high likelihood of death. For example, James Bond (were he not fictional) or the leader of the PLO (were he not too old to be eligible for wild card status anyway). Hopefully I've gotten all the rules out there now. Since this is the first running of the game, I appreciate your patience with the pool coordinator as she sorts this sort of thing out...

One More Clarification
 

You are an inventive bunch. Another point of clarification is required (by the way I am relying on the rules of the pool that I am participating in IRL):

Celebrity means someone who is famous for something he/she did. It does not include someone known for some event that occured to non-famous person (e.g. baby trapped in well, victim of abusive priest). Therefore Kobe's accuser and Wacko Jacko's accuser do not count. Sorry.

My Picks
 

Wilford Brimley
Gerald Ford
Hal Holbrook
Lena Horne
Ann Jillian
Jerry Lewis
Sydney Pollack
Omar Sharif
Maureen Stapleton
Gavin Newsom

My Picks
 

Mary Kate olson
Ashley Olson
Atticus Grinch- somehow "Too healthy" IYKWIM (bonus)
Manuel noriega
Wendy O williams
God
the music
Justin timberlake
Hume Cronyn
Ralph Nader

[Edited by ncs to remove Jack's picks]

My Picks
 

A bit late on a couple of those, dontcha think? I've got a couple of extras in mind if you need assistance.

PMs please
 

If you have picks to submit, please send them to me via PM. I am accumulating the master list from the PMs that are sent to me with picks.

There are currently 15 participants. I'll publish a list of all picks here on or after March 1.

2004 Celebrity Death Pool
 

Cool. Should we post them here, or PM them to you?

2004 Celebrity Death Pool
 

Confidential to Billy:
PM them, and feel free to pick the ones I posted here- they aren't my real picks! they were simply an attempt to mislead.

2004 Celebrity Death Pool
 

Ohthankgod. I thought you knew something I didn't.

2004 Celebrity Death Pool
 

You're . . . you're . . . you're alive!

Uh, Hank . . .

2004 Celebrity Death Pool
 

softball let past- Atticus owes me one break on low volume board.

2004 Celebrity Death Pool
 

You really like the Olsen twins, eh?

2004 Celebrity Death Pool
 

Oddmakers beware. I haven't gone twosies in three days. Fuckin' houseguests.

2004 Celebrity Death Pool
 

Whiff!!! yes he does "like" the olson's, but did you forget his necro-tendancies?