I don't remember how I stumbled on this, but there are a whole lot of sites on the internet devoted to "Death Pools". One hub I looked at had over 50 separate sites where you could play, and another had even more. They are actual pools - like a football pool - where you make a list of people that you think will die this year, and put money on it. Some of them are just for fun. Some offer trophies. Some of them have been around for 20 years. Once I overcame my surprise, curiosity took it's place.
One of the sites I looked at gave points according to the age of the people you picked. Say you picked someone who was between 16 and 29 you would get 12 points, while a person between 70 and 79 years would only net you 7 points. You earn 1 extra point for a unique pick ~ if you were the only competitor to pick that person. You get 2 points for a celeb who dies on the 13th of any month. Three points for murder, suicide or other accident, and five points for a celeb who dies on their birthday or Christmas Day. Don't know why that site didn't award 4 points for anything. I imagine most of the sites award points this basic way. Anyhow, you total up your points at the end of the year based on that kind of criteria.
They have great names: "Dying for Dollars", "You Bet Their Life", "Cash for Cadavers", Celebrity Crypt", "Grave Expectations", and on and on. Gotta like the originality.
In no particular order, I made up a list of the celebrities that appear on alot of the lists. Some surprised me, some didn't:
Billy Graham, Jerry Lewis, Osama bin Laden, Fidel Castro, Kirk Douglas, Dolores Hope, Willie Nelson, Nancy Reagan, Mickey Rooney, Elizabeth Taylor, Mike Wallace, Muhammad Ali, George Bush Sr., Courtney Love, Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, and Nicole Richie. I saw Madonna and Howard Stern's names on a couple of lists.
Recently deceased people were on a lot of lists: Lady Bird, Tammy Faye, Brooke Astor, Luciano Pavarotti....
Merv Griffin and Anna Nicole weren't on many lists.
I don't know whether to think this is a sad commentary on life today, or whether it's just harmless fun. I think I'm leaning to "harmless fun" since I really enjoy being in pools. What do you think ~ would you ever participate in a Death Pool?
I love: Bacon
4 comments:
Sure why not? I don't think the celebrity will know OR care.
Not really - it sounds creepy to me and a little "wrong".
As long as I'm not on anyones list of expected deaths, I'm okay with it.
Hey, if your in the know, it's a good way to pick up a few bucks. I like the unique pick where you get extra points for picking someone no one else does. . . Surprise!! LOL
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