My new game idea. Sound fun? Any pitfalls I haven't thought of?
Wager War / Bet Battle (not sure yet about the title)
This is a new game to be played during real WTA tournaments.
How do I play?
Each player starts with 100 points. The objective is to maximize your points through a series of wagers.
The game is played by sending PMs to the manager. Each day of matches is a round of play. In your PM you state:
- which players you are betting on
- and how much you are betting on them, expressed as a percentage
Some additional rules:
- you can only bet on one player per match
- you can only bet on matches that haven't started
- when you place a bet, you have to bet a minimum of 5%
- the sum of the percentages can't exceed 100% (but it can be lower)
- on the first day you have to place at least one bet
Sounds easy. How are the points divided after the matches are played?
This is best explained through example.
Suppose players 1 to 8 bet a total of 400 points on a specific match. 80 points were bet on the winner and 320 points were bet on the loser of the match.
Players 3 and 5 were the only ones to pick the winner.
Player 3 bet 30 points on the winner.
Player 5 bet 50 points on the winner.
Player 3 gets (30/80)*400 = 150 points back.
Player 5 gets (50/80)*400 = 250 points back.
What if no one bet on the winner of the match?
For that match, the losers get their points back.
And what if no one bet on the loser of the match?
Then the winners simply get their points back.
What if I lose all my points?
Then you are done for that week. As the points are switching owners, there will always be players remaining.
Why bet with percentages? Why not just points?
You won't know how many points you have until the manager updates, so this way you can still keep sending your bets even when the manager is slow.
Okay. Can you also give an example of what to PM?
Suppose the OOP for day 2 is:
Lucie Hradecka vs. Serena Williams
Jelena Jankovic vs. Iveta Benesova
Flavia Pennetta vs. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Eleni Daniilidou vs. Samantha Stosur
Gisela Dulko vs. Shuai Peng
Roberta Vinci vs. Nadia Petrova
Yanina Wickmayer vs. Bojana Jovanovski
Shuai Zhang vs. Maria Kirilenko
An example PM would be:
Code:
Day 2
Hradecka 12%
Jankovic 20%
Peng 10%
Petrova 5%
Zhang 40%
This player would be betting 87% of their total. The remaining 13% moves on to the next day.
What if I forget to PM?
It would be like not betting on anyone, which is allowed after the first day.
What if I accidentally bet more than 100%?
If the manager catches it in time they will alert you, if not then the bets don't count.
Can I join in the middle of the tournament?
Sure, but you get a 10 point penalty per day that you're late. So if you join on day 3, you start with 80 points. And you have to place at least one bet the day that you join.
So who wins in the end?
Obviously the player who has acquired the most points after the final is the winner of the tournament.
Is there a ranking system?
Yes. If you end the tournament with more than 100 points, you will get ranking points. How many depends on your placement in that tournament and the importance of the tournament.
Awesome. When do we start?
There will be a test run soon to see how it goes, probably in one of the MMs after the US Open.