Game: SDMB Parimutuel Sports League

The Game Room
1

Explanation: The game will take place during the year of 2011 and end in early January 2012 (After the NCAA football championship). Players will place bets on various sports events(listed below) from a mythical bankroll that they will start the game with. Payouts on winning bets will be payed on parimutuel basis. The winner will be the player with the most money at the end of the game.

Rules:

  1. Players will start the game with $500.

  2. Players must wager a total of at least $500 during the game. If they wager less than $500, the amount they are short will be deducted from their final total. (e.g. If a player only makes $400 in wagers, then $100 will be subtracted from their final total.)

  3. Bets must be placed before a deadline that will be given in the thread. Approximate deadlines will be listed below, but exact deadlines will be given as the event approaches.

  4. Bets will be placed by sending me a PM on the Straight Dope Message Board with the amount and type of bet along with who you are betting on.

  5. Bets must be in even dollar amounts. Payoffs will be to the nearest penny. There will be no “rake” or other deductions from the betting pool.

  6. After each event, the amount of money each player has will be posted.

  7. The following events are definitely included:

    NFL Playoffs
    Approximate Deadline - Before start of first playoff game.
    Betting Pools Available - Final Four, Final Two, Champion

    NCAA Mens Basketball
    Approximate Deadline - Before start of first game in round of 64.
    Betting pools availabe - Final Four, Final Two, Champion

    NBA Playoffs
    Approximate Deadline - Before start of first playoff game.
    Betting pools available - Final Four, Final Two, Champion

    NHL Playoffs
    Approximate Deadline - Before start of first playoff game.
    Betting pools available - Final Four, Final Two, Champion

    MLB Playoffs
    Approximate Deadline - Before start of first playoff game.
    Betting pools available - Final Four, Final Two, Champion

    NASCAR Sprint Cup
    Approximate Deadline - Before start of first race of end of season Chase.
    Betting pools available - Top 5 at end of season, Top 3 at end of season, Season Champion

  8. The following sports will definitely have an event included. I would like players to suggest which option they prefer for an event from each.

    Tennis (Both Men’s and Women’s)
    Possible events - 1. Any one grand slam tournament(Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, US Open).
    2. Some official end of season ranking.
    3. A point ranking based on finishes in each of the four grand slam events.
    This one needs to be decided soon, since if the Australian Open is included in any way, then bets will need to be placed within the next couple of weeks.

    Golf
    Possible events - 1. Any one major tournament(Master’s, US Open, British Open, PGA).
    2. Official end of season ranking for the year.
    3. A point system based on finishes in each of the four major events.

    College Football (2011-2012 Season)
    I want to include college football, but I am not sure what the betting pools should be or what the deadline for bets should be. Please make suggestions.

  9. The following sports can be included if there is enough interest.
    NCAA Baseball
    WNBA
    LPGA
    MLS

    If you want any of these included please let me know.

  10. I will try to have fairly frequent updates showing how much has been bet on the various entities, but payoffs will be based on actual amounts bet, regardless of whether there has been a recent update.

  11. Players may join the game anytime during the year, but they still must wager a total of $500 before the end of the game or be penalized as in rule 2.

Other information:

For those not familiar with parimutuel betting, here is an example of how things would work. Let’s say that a total of $400 was bet on various teams to make it to the Final Four in the NCAA basketball tournament. Assume that Michigan State, Duke, Butler, and West Virginia make the Final Four. The amount bet on each of these teams to make the final four is $25 for Michigan State, $75 for Duke, $10 for Butler, and $18 for West Virginia. We would subtract the $128 bet on these four teams from the $400 total to leave $272. This $272 is divided by 4 (4 teams) giving $68. So the payoff for Michigan State would be (68 + 25)/25 = $3.72 for each dollar bet. The payoff for Duke would be (68 + 75)/75 = $1.91 for each dollar bet. The payoff for Butler would be (68 + 10)/10 = $7.80 for each dollar bet. The payoff for West Virginia would be (68 + 18)/18 = $4.78 for each dollar bet.

The pools are totally separate, so the bets for Final Two would have no effect on the Final Four pool. So, while not likely, it is theoretically possible for a team to have a higher payout for Final Four than for Final Two.
To join the game, you just need to send me a PM with your bet. You should post in the thread, though, stating that you are playing so other players will know.

I will currently accept bets on any of the events listed in number 7 above. The NFL playoffs are the next event. A deadline for bets will be set once playoff game times are decided.

Please post or PM with any questions.

2

That parimutuel explaination makes less than no sense to me. Sorry.

3

I apologize if I was not clear.

The primary point is that the money the losers bet will be distributed to the winners. The amounts bet will be the only thing determining the payoffs.

In horse racing, you have bets to Win, Place, or Show. This is similar except the bets might be Win(Champion), Final Two, or Final Four.

If there is some particular point in my payoff calculation example that did not make sense, ask and I will try to clear it up. It is not a requirement that you know how the payoffs are calculated, though, in order to participate.