# 2023 SDMB Celebrity Death Pool

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2023-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/975831>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Tags:** death-pool\
**Created:** [December 1, 2022, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2023-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/975831 "2022-12-01T04:02:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 93

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**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\
**Post date:** [November 3, 2023, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2023-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/975831/1841 "2023-11-03T22:18:52Z")

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> [@John\_DiFool](#):
>
> I’d like to try a Life Pool next year,

Start a thread in the Game Room to hammer out how it would work.

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**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\
**Post date:** [November 3, 2023, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2023-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/975831/1842 "2023-11-03T23:23:28Z")

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I’d like a life pool too.

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**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2023, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2023-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/975831/1843 "2023-11-04T05:30:18Z")

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> [@silenus](#):
>
> I’d take part in a Life Pool.

Judging from my success over the years, that is exactly what I’ve been doing!

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**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2023, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2023-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/975831/1844 "2023-11-04T05:37:09Z")

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Sounds like a quick way to kill off a bunch of celebrities.

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**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2023, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2023-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/975831/1845 "2023-11-04T07:06:30Z")

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Play the same list in both pools. You might get lucky in one of them.

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**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2023, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2023-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/975831/1846 "2023-11-04T11:40:07Z")

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> [@eschereal](#):
>
> Start a thread in the Game Room to hammer out how it would work.

There was a thread about this several years ago. Didn’t get much interest.

[Celebrity “life” pool? - The Game Room - Straight Dope Message Board](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-life-pool/776123/1)

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**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2023, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2023-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/975831/1847 "2023-11-04T12:49:19Z")

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> [@Railer13](#):
>
> > [@eschereal](#):
> >
> > Start a thread in the Game Room to hammer out how it would work.
> 
> There was a thread about this several years ago. Didn’t get much interest.
> 
> [Celebrity “life” pool? - The Game Room - Straight Dope Message Board](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-life-pool/776123/1)

I don’t want to derail this thread so I’ll answer there.

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**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2023, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2023-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/975831/1848 "2023-11-04T14:28:16Z")

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> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#):
>
> Come on, let the poor woman go!

Preferably this year! I can’t believe I have an anemic 61 points this late in the year. (I also can’t believe that’s good for a tie for 6th at the moment, and that your 136 points is increasingly likely to hold up for the win. Used to be you’d need 300 points or so for a win.)

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**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2023, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2023-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/975831/1849 "2023-11-04T22:04:25Z")

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I’m currently tied for 46th place with 7 points. This is supposed to be a Death Pool, not a Stubborn Old Cusses Who Refuse to Die pool!

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**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2023, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2023-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/975831/1850 "2023-11-04T22:08:27Z")

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[![](https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/mobile/000/027/763/07B89120-B48D-45FB-AF1D-49AF6CD16790.jpg) ](https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/mobile/000/027/763/07B89120-B48D-45FB-AF1D-49AF6CD16790.jpg)

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**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2023, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2023-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/975831/1851 "2023-11-04T22:20:40Z")

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> [@Reeses\_Monkey](#):
>
> Stubborn Old Cusses Who Refuse to Die pool

I vote that if we do start a life pool, we use this as its official title.

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**Author:** ![lel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8797f3/32.png) [@lel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lel)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2023, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2023-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/975831/1852 "2023-11-05T01:08:49Z")

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Some of us guarantee that people will live by picking them for our death pools. This is by far the best score I’ve ever had, and it’s anemic.

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**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2023, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2023-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/975831/1853 "2023-11-05T01:58:31Z")

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Thanks for the vote of confidence!

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**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2023, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2023-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/975831/1854 "2023-11-05T02:47:11Z")

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> [@RTFirefly](#):
>
> Used to be you’d need 300 points or so for a win.

I was curious, so I looked up the [2013 pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2013/642655/2135). CAMJAY77 indeed won with 385 points, with #2 at 335. I looked up the picks, and basically every one was diagnosed with a serious illness in 2012–at least 3 were pancreatic cancer, plus various other cancers, a brain tumor, etc. Many were relatively young, often in their 60s. A lot of nobodies, too, but that doesn’t matter as long as it makes the news somewhere.

Well, that’s obviously exactly the right strategy. I’d suggest that people just aren’t playing for keeps these days. Though it’s possible that 10 years of improving cancer treatments have made this a tad less of a reliable method.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2023, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2023-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/975831/1855 "2023-11-05T03:51:51Z")

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You people have _points_, and are complaining?

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**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2023, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2023-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/975831/1856 "2023-11-05T03:56:55Z")

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Yes, complaining about anemic scores, when some of us have nonexistent scores?

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**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2023, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2023-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/975831/1857 "2023-11-05T06:04:48Z")

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In 2009 Farrah Fawcett, Patrick Swayze and Michael Jackson all died fairly close to each other, and some had all three.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2023, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2023-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/975831/1858 "2023-11-05T06:27:59Z")

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Fawcett and Jackson died on the same day.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2023, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2023-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/975831/1859 "2023-11-05T07:02:54Z")

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Being the sicko that I am I have gone back and figured out how many points someone could have got if they had C.S. Lewis, Aldous Huxley, and JFK in a Death Pool list. One hundred twenty one points.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2023, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2023-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/975831/1860 "2023-11-05T08:25:12Z")

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> [@Baker](#):
>
> In 2009 Farrah Fawcett, Patrick Swayze and Michael Jackson all died fairly close to each other, and some had all three

Jackson was a pretty good longshot guess, but Fawcett had anal cancer and Swayze had the old reliable stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Find 13 living celebrities with pancreatic cancer and you’re gonna have a good run. Doesn’t matter if it’s some football coach or newscaster from Bakersfield.

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