This approach would not have worked well in 2008. Of the top 13 picks, only one died (Suzanne Pleshette, in 10th place).
Fidel Castro
Ariel Sharon
Farrah Fawcett
Britney Spears
Amy Winehouse
Elizabeth Taylor
Kirk Douglas
Billy Graham
Muhammad Ali
Suzanne Pleshette
Elizabeth Edwards
Dick Cheney
Lindsay Lohan
Of those, 8 of them are in this year’s top 13 and ties.
Well, I only had one celebrity die from my list this year(Charlton Heston) and never more than tree. At least this is a different approach.
And I may change my mind before the 31st. But Phelps will be on the list, no matter what I do. I want to get some satisfaction when that jerk finally joins the choir invisible.
Not to disparage your reasoning, but I think that a great deal of people are going to get some satisfaction when that jerk passes on. Whether they’ve got him on their Death Pool list, or not. 
Just a few changes from last year (not that I needed to…)
Fidel Castro
John Glenn
Henry Kissinger
Michael Jackson
Adam “Pacman” Jones
Dick Clark
Ed Koch
Sid Caesar
Bob Dole
Billy Graham
Mickey Rooney
Ted Kennedy
Walter Cronkite
Alternates:
Pervez Musharraf
Angela Lansbury
Peter Falk
Amy Winehouse
Hugh Heffner
James Garner
Harry Morgan
Martin Sheen
Kelsey Grammer
Fidel Castro
Ted Kennedy
B. B. King
Clint Eastwood
Queen Elizabeth
George Steinbrenner
Lou Holtz
Just fixing the spelling
Or not.
Inserting Ali as a substitute for the departed Harold Pinter.
Alternative:
Donald Rumsfeld
Fidel Castro
Robert Mugabe
Michael Jackson
Keith Richards
Dick Cheney
Chevy Chase
Ludacris
David Lee Roth
Ben Stein
Randy Couture
Courtney Love
Ron White
Salman Rushdie
Donald Rumsfeld
Michael Jackson seems to getting a perverted sense of popularity here. And to think he thought he lost his peeps.
Bah, a bunch of johnny-come-latelies. I have had him on my list since 2003. Now that it looks like I might actually get some points from him, everyone jumps on the bandwagon. 
Nor do you get a prize for having three die. I will replace Eartha Kitt with William Schallert.
Looks like you’ve lost your magic touch of immortality. I will replace Eartha Kitt with Dick Clark.
You say that like it’s a bad thing.
Well, I was thinking about changing the DP rules to allow dopers to be nominated, then bribing you to pick me. But that’s starting to look like a death sentence - I’d be gone by the end of the year.
Fidel Castro
Hulett Smith
Britany Spears
Tone Loc
Dick Cheney
Ron White
Patrick Swayze
Henry Kissinger
Bob Dole
Walter Cronkite
Jimmy Carter
Sirhan Sirhan
George H.W. Bush
*Hulett Smith is a former Governor of the State of WV from 1965-1969
Hey - why not? “Premature Expiration” - award for the most people on the next year’s list to die during the current year 
Fair enough! I had her in the 2008 pool too.
Gary Coleman
Barbara Bush
Patrick Swayze
George Steinbrenner
OJ Simpson
Mike Tyson
Queen Elizabeth II
Doug Stanhope
Katt Williams
Andy Dick
Willie Nelson
Amy Winehouse
Ted Kennedy
Thanks amarone! I was comin’ in with a revised list. Sniff I really am sad about Eartha Kitt.
1.Fidel Castro
2. Clint Eastwood
3. Patrick Swayze
4. Amy Winehouse
5. Ted Kennedy
6. Barrack Obama
7. Stephen Hawkins
8. Barbara Bush
9. Caroline Kennedy
10. Lindsey Lohan
11. Judi Dench
12. Julie Christie
13. Queen Elizabeth
Alternates
Dick Cheney
Larry King
Ariel Sharon