# The Celebrity Death Pool 2010 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** death-pool\ **Created:** [December 1, 2009, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2010/519574 "2009-12-01T11:44:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 87
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2010/519574/1721 "2010-09-28T20:06:50Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Never seen this show – is this Ramsey guy some kind of snide superior asshole like that British shit Simon on American Idol? That would be a compliment to him. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2010/519574/1722 "2010-09-28T20:17:48Z")
> [@amarone](#): > > > [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > > > Worse. I’ve only seen snippets of the show, but he makes Simon “Britsh Shit” Cowell look like Mr. Rogers by comparison. > > Tosh. He can be brutal with people who are screwing up through being lazy or arrogant, but he is a fantastic motivator of those who are trying. Mind you, you need to see the BBC America bersion. Fox edits him to seem to be more of a bastard. I think you misspelled “raving lunatic.” I think he’s great in Kitchen Nightmares where he goes into a failing restaurant and helps turn it around. ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Goat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Uncle\_Goat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Goat)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2010/519574/1723 "2010-09-29T03:07:03Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Also, Sally Menke died as well. She edits Quentin Tarantino’s movies. Tarantino edits his movies?!? NO WAY!! There hasn’t been a single frame of film exposed that QT didn’t assume was genius and had to be in his movie. She must of died from boredom. Poor dear. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2010/519574/1724 "2010-09-29T03:12:40Z")
> [@wolf\_meister](#): > > Since Gloria Stuart has passed on (age 100), if anyone chose her - no points. **Sigmagirl** had her. That puts her ahead of all the other people with zero points - I use number of deaths as the tie-breaker. ---
**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:** [September 29, 2010, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2010/519574/1725 "2010-09-29T03:16:33Z")
> [@amarone](#): > > **Sigmagirl** had her. That puts her ahead of all the other people with zero points - I use number of deaths as the tie-breaker. A veritable Judgment of Solomon. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2010/519574/1726 "2010-09-29T03:46:11Z")
My 2011 list [That is, the one out of three that I am 99% certain I am using] now has 20 people on it, waiting to get weeded. With my luck, 11 of them will die and my theme will be shot. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2010/519574/1727 "2010-09-29T09:11:22Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > I suppose, since he is driving people to their deaths, he is a major asset to the Death Pool. Perhaps I should research who some of his guests were for next years list. Gordon visited this guy’s restaurant in **2007** - that’s a bit of a long lag time. I’m thinking we can’t blame this one on Big Sweary. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2010/519574/1728 "2010-09-29T12:46:23Z")
> [@amarone](#): > > > [@wolf\_meister](#): > > > > Since Gloria Stuart has passed on (age 100), if anyone chose her - no points. > > **Sigmagirl** had her. That puts her ahead of all the other people with zero points - I use number of deaths as the tie-breaker. My strategy is working! 😛 (Of course, she could have died before her birthday on July 4, giving me a solitary point, which would have been kinda cool too.) ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2010/519574/1729 "2010-09-29T12:55:46Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > > [@amarone](#): > > > > **Sigmagirl** had her. That puts her ahead of all the other people with zero points - I use number of deaths as the tie-breaker. > > My strategy is working! 😛 > > (Of course, she could have died before her birthday on July 4, giving me a solitary point, which would have been kinda cool too.) I understand the concept of “number of deaths” being a tiebreaker. But, for the life of me, I can’t figure if that means you earned .9 .5 or .1 points here. [Like the Stars in Mario Party they must have a coin equivalent, not that I know what that is.] ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2010/519574/1730 "2010-09-29T14:10:11Z")
As long as it’s \> 0, it doesn’t matter to me! Maybe that will be my cunning plan next year: A list composed exclusively of centenarians. I could have the highest score ever for a person with no score at all. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2010/519574/1731 "2010-09-29T14:52:02Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > > [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > > > I suppose, since he is driving people to their deaths, he is a major asset to the Death Pool. Perhaps I should research who some of his guests were for next years list. > > Gordon visited this guy’s restaurant in **2007** - that’s a bit of a long lag time. I’m thinking we can’t blame this one on Big Sweary. Then I should look at his 2008 guests for my list next year. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2010/519574/1732 "2010-09-29T14:58:31Z")
It would artificially inflate (equally I might add) but why not start at 125 versus a 100 for the first number in the formula. That way **Sigma Girl** would get 25 points for her pick and presumably ahead of the person that pick a guy who croaked at 105 yrs old. Or perhapse picking someone and not scoring is a _badge of honor_? ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2010/519574/1733 "2010-09-29T15:16:11Z")
> [@Meeko](#): > > > [@Sigmagirl](#): > > > > My strategy is working! 😛 > > > > (Of course, she could have died before her birthday on July 4, giving me a solitary point, which would have been kinda cool too.) > > I understand the concept of “number of deaths” being a tiebreaker. > > But, for the life of me, I can’t figure if that means you earned .9 .5 or .1 points here. > > [Like the Stars in Mario Party they must have a coin equivalent, not that I know what that is.] For my spreadsheet to work, you get 0.01 for anyone 100 or over. That gets rounded out so you never see it. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2010/519574/1734 "2010-09-29T15:38:10Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > Or perhapse picking someone and not scoring is a _badge of honor_? You’ve found me out. In fact, I’ve re-revised my strategy: I want to pick people _older_ than 100 and hope to come out _with negative points_. (I know it doesn’t work that way, **amarone**.) ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2010/519574/1735 "2010-09-29T16:35:41Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > As long as it’s \> 0, it doesn’t matter to me! > > Maybe that will be my cunning plan next year: A list composed exclusively of centenarians. I could have the highest score ever for a person with no score at all. If Magic The Gathering can have [a Deck that wins on turn 0](http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Decks/ViewDeck.aspx?ID=83246&Page=1&PageSize=25), I wouldn’t doubt this could happen. Go for it. One wonders how the awards would work for a list so… fragile. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2010/519574/1736 "2010-09-29T16:36:35Z")
Film director [Arthur Penn](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/30/movies/30penn.html?_r=1&src=mv); no Segways or hay bales were reportedly involved. ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2010/519574/1737 "2010-09-29T16:54:39Z")
> [@Meeko](#): > > If Magic The Gathering can have [a Deck that wins on turn 0](http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Decks/ViewDeck.aspx?ID=83246&Page=1&PageSize=25), I wouldn’t doubt this could happen. Go for it. If you don’t speak M:TG : [spoiler] You choose to play second in a two player game. Your ability to “respond” to the first player allows the deck to work. The deck is constructed [not stacked mind you] with key cards each to their limit of 4 in a shuffled deck of 60. The deck allows you to start the game with a card in play. That card sets the dominoes for other cards, setting the stage for other cards. - A Goldilocks Environment to be sure, but it is there, and it is possible to probable. The card that starts the game in play makes the other player yield to you, and they must continue to yield unto you pass. Each card sets up and is used be the card after it. 32 Damage is dealt to your opponent. All players start at 20. You lose immediately at 0, to say nothing of -12. Because you do this before your opponent draws their first card [before their Upkeep, technically] you have won the game before Turn 1 started. [/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2010/519574/1738 "2010-09-29T17:23:24Z")
[Arthur Penn, film director, dies at 88.](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100929/ap_en_mo/us_obit_penn) 12 points. He directed _Bonnie and Clyde_ and _Little Big Man_, among others. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2010/519574/1739 "2010-09-29T18:13:49Z")
[Jimmy Carter is in a hospital in Ohio for a second day.](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39417717/ns/politics-more_politics/) ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2010/519574/1740 "2010-09-29T21:41:28Z")
Greg Giraldo, stand-up comic and judge on this year’s _Last Comic Standing_, is no longer standing. [Dead at 44](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Giraldo). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2010/519574.md?page=86) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2010/519574.md?page=88)