# Celebrity Death Pool 2015 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** death-pool\ **Created:** [December 1, 2014, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2015/705993 "2014-12-01T02:10:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 88
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2015, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2015/705993/1743 "2015-08-26T05:04:11Z")
I’m pretty sure no one had him since he’s a fairly low level celebrity, but [Sasha Petraske](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/22/nyregion/sasha-petraske-bar-owner-who-revived-luster-to-cocktail-culture-around-the-world-dies-at-42.html), who’s credited with reviving cocktail culture, died last Friday. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2015, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2015/705993/1744 "2015-08-26T10:19:17Z")
Actor Rod Taylor, star of _The Birds_ and _The Time Machine_, [has died at 16 points.](http://www.inentertainment.co.uk/20150109/hitchocks-the-birds-star-rod-taylor-has-died/) ---
**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:** [August 26, 2015, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2015/705993/1745 "2015-08-26T11:52:23Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Actor Rod Taylor, star of _The Birds_ and _The Time Machine_, [has died at 16 points.](http://www.inentertainment.co.uk/20150109/hitchocks-the-birds-star-rod-taylor-has-died/) He died 8 months and 1,138 posts ago. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2015, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2015/705993/1746 "2015-08-26T12:39:10Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > He died 8 months and 1,138 posts ago. Not even HG Wells’ _Time Machine_ could change that fact. ---
**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:** [August 26, 2015, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2015/705993/1747 "2015-08-26T16:09:29Z")
Nonetheless, as **Fear Itself** duly noted, Rod Taylor has indeed died. And, not unlike generalissimo francisco franco, he is still dead. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2015, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2015/705993/1748 "2015-08-26T17:34:56Z")
[The Whiteboard](http://www.the-whiteboard.com/), a webcomic about paintball players, has announced that Bob Gurnsey, the developer of the game, died August 24. ---
**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:** [August 26, 2015, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2015/705993/1749 "2015-08-26T21:39:01Z")
Civil rights member Amelia Boynton has died, and the lucky people who picked he’d for this list must now surrender 4 points. > **[Amelia Boynton Robinson, Civil Rights Matriarch, Dies At 104](https://fox40.com/news/amelia-boynton-robinson-civil-rights-matriarch-dies-at-104/)** > > (CNN) — Amelia Boynton Robinson, a matriarch of the civil rights movement immortalized in a photograph taken on Bloody Sunday, has died. She turned 104 on August 18, though some in her closes… ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2015, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2015/705993/1750 "2015-08-26T23:24:34Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Civil rights member Amelia Boynton has died, and the lucky people who picked he’d for this list must now surrender 4 points. > > [http://fox40.com/2015/08/26/amelia-boynton-robinson-civil-rights-matriarch-dies-at-104/](http://fox40.com/2015/08/26/amelia-boynton-robinson-civil-rights-matriarch-dies-at-104/) If we were scoring like that, **Andrew 21** would have _ **-75** _ points, instead of zero! 🙂 ---
**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:** [August 26, 2015, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2015/705993/1751 "2015-08-26T23:59:48Z")
Perhaps you should use that method for next year. See who owes points from a consistently overdrawn account ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2015/705993/1752 "2015-08-27T09:01:29Z")
I recently ran across a death pool in which they score like that, taking off points for people above 100. ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2015/705993/1753 "2015-08-27T12:06:12Z")
Should we try that? Not for realsies, but keep a second score card just for funsies? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2015/705993/1754 "2015-08-27T12:19:39Z")
> [@anyrose](#): > > Should we try that? Not for realsies, but keep a second score card just for funsies? “Realsies”? “Funsies”? :dubious: ---
**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:** [August 27, 2015, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2015/705993/1755 "2015-08-27T12:25:43Z")
[Frank Petersen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_E._Petersen) died a couple of days ago. He was the first black Marine aviator and the first black Marine general. 38 years of service, combat in 2 wars, 350 combat missions. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2015/705993/1756 "2015-08-27T12:27:15Z")
> [@anyrose](#): > > Should we try that? Not for realsies, but keep a second score card just for funsies? One of the things that makes the Death Pool interesting is the basic tension between getting the _fewest_ points from the people normally _most_ likely to die soon - the oldest people - and the _most_ points from those normally _least_ likely to die soon, the youngest people. So the way you play it is a mixture of choosing between persons who are fairly likely to die soon due to age and its ailments, but for a small payoff (e.g. Jimmy Carter), gambling on relatively young people who might not die soon but would be a serious payoff if they did (e.g. Lindsay Lohan), and doing research to try to identify some people who, despite their relative youth, clearly have a limited life expectancy anyway (e.g. cricketer Martin Crowe). And it tends to be a different mixture for everyone, so you get very different lists, which is what makes the game interesting. But if you’re competing, formally or informally, for the score furthest below zero, it would all be about picking the supercentenarians of the most advanced age, because they’d simultaneously be the persons most likely to die soon, and the ones you’d get the most negative points for. So the lists of everyone engaged in that competition would look pretty much the same. I’m not saying you shouldn’t do it anyway, but I’m just saying why it might not be all that interesting to do. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2015/705993/1757 "2015-08-27T14:38:37Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > [Frank Petersen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_E._Petersen) died a couple of days ago. He was the first black Marine aviator and the first black Marine general. 38 years of service, combat in 2 wars, 350 combat missions. Rest well, General Petersen, and tell Chesty that we’ll regroup with you and him in heaven soon enough. Semper Fi. ---
**Author:** ![Fleetwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fleetwood/32/271_2.png) [@Fleetwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fleetwood)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2015/705993/1758 "2015-08-27T18:52:13Z")
Darryl Dawkins has reportedly shattered his last [backboard](http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/news/index.ssf/2015/08/darryl_dawkins_dead_at_58_repo.html). ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2015/705993/1759 "2015-08-27T20:26:41Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > Rest well, General Petersen, and tell Chesty that we’ll regroup with you and him in heaven soon enough. > > Semper Fi. His death was front page news here in Topeka, since this was his hometown. Gen Petersen was in the same high school graduating class as my mother, although they didn’t know each other. It was a _big_ school, plus, in those days, black and white students, while going to classes together, didn’t really socialize. In fact, my mother’s yearbook has pictures of their seperate homecomings. Sports teams were also segregated. That ended just a couple years after Mom finished school. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2015/705993/1760 "2015-08-27T20:28:32Z")
> [@Fleetwood](#): > > Darryl Dawkins has reportedly shattered his last [backboard](http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/news/index.ssf/2015/08/darryl_dawkins_dead_at_58_repo.html). He caught the last flight to Lovetron. ---
**Author:** ![lel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8797f3/32.png) [@lel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lel)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2015/705993/1761 "2015-08-28T04:45:31Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > If we were scoring like that, **Andrew 21** would have _ **-75** _ points, instead of zero! 🙂 And I’d have the lowest positive score. Wait, I still have the lowest positive score. Isn’t that some sort of accomplishment? ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2015/705993/1762 "2015-08-28T18:59:17Z")
> **[Al Arbour, Hall of Fame Islanders coach, dies at 82](https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nhl/2015/08/28/al-arbour-hall-fame-islanders-coach-dies-82/71309910/)** > > He led the Islanders to four consecutive Stanley Cups in 1980-83. Hockey Hall of Famer Al Arbour is considered one of the greatest coaches in NHL history, and he is one of the most beloved coaches in NHL history. Those two distinctions don’t always go hand-in-hand. When Arbour, 82, died Friday, the NHL lost a decorated coach who was viewed as a father figure by many of the NHLers who played for him over his 22-season coaching career. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2015/705993.md?page=87) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2015/705993.md?page=89)