ACC Wager Competition Please?

[NYBri]

Jason, that was much fun last year. Could we do it again for the full ACC season?

That is all.

[JasonEvans]

Yeah, I think we can swing it...

Does anyone have any better suggestions for how to manage the process? The google doc seemed ok, but not ideal.

[NYBri]

Yeah, I think we can swing it...

Does anyone have any better suggestions for how to manage the process? The google doc seemed ok, but not ideal.

Not ideal, but certainly workable. There has got to be a way so that we can see everyone's progress.

the only thing I can think of is to set up a web page linking that links to everyone's page?

I think we would need some coding help to do that, tho.

[Troublemaker]

Yeah, I think we can swing it...

Does anyone have any better suggestions for how to manage the process? The google doc seemed ok, but not ideal.

Not ideal, but certainly workable. There has got to be a way so that we can see everyone's progress.

the only thing I can think of is to set up a web page linking that links to everyone's page?

I think we would need some coding help to do that, tho.

There are already websites that track competitions like that for us. Covers.com is probably the most popular site.

I don't want to be in charge (laziness) but someone should go there and "Create an Office Pool" towards the bottom of the page: http://contests.covers.com/

I've never done a Covers competition but I would imagine the office pool creator will have a choice as to what wagers will be allowed -- it would be great to be able to do both "against the spread" and "moneylines" (picking the winner straight up), but I will leave that up to the person who's not lazy, haha. You will probably be able to set a start date and end date (the ACC season). You probably can't limit the wagering to just ACC games, but that will just be understood by everyone competing.

So, anyone who wants to play this season will have to register with Covers.com using your DBR name preferably, much like how we do DBR March Madness brackets through Yahoo.

[uh_no]

Not ideal, but certainly workable. There has got to be a way so that we can see everyone's progress.

the only thing I can think of is to set up a web page linking that links to everyone's page?

I think we would need some coding help to do that, tho.

Sounds like we need to hit up the spring career fair at duke and get us some ugrad interns!

[JasonEvans]

There are already websites that track competitions like that for us. Covers.com is probably the most popular site.

I don't want to be in charge (laziness) but someone should go there and "Create an Office Pool" towards the bottom of the page: http://contests.covers.com/

I've never done a Covers competition but I would imagine the office pool creator will have a choice as to what wagers will be allowed -- it would be great to be able to do both "against the spread" and "moneylines" (picking the winner straight up), but I will leave that up to the person who's not lazy, haha. You will probably be able to set a start date and end date (the ACC season). You probably can't limit the wagering to just ACC games, but that will just be understood by everyone competing.

So, anyone who wants to play this season will have to register with Covers.com using your DBR name preferably, much like how we do DBR March Madness brackets through Yahoo.

I'm not completely understanding it, but we have a site set up on Covers.com

Here is the DBR Picking Contest Site. The password to join the group is: DukeBets

I'm not 100% certain of how it all works, but it appears you have to register to play, which does not seem like a huge barrier to entry. Go there and you can join the pool.

I am fairly sure I set it up to accept wagers on both point totals and point spreads. I don't think they accept money line wagers, sorry about that. It also seems that you wager in "units" (a pseudonym for dollars!) and that all wagers must be between 100 and 500 units, which will keep anyone from making too big a bet. So, it does have some limitations that I am not fond of, but that's the way it works.

Of note, unless there is some function I did not see, I am not aware of any way to tell it to only accept wagers on ACC games. I will merely state that if you bet on a game that does not feature 2 ACC teams there will be a penalty. You will lose your wager plus you will be assessed a 500 unit penalty,. I'm not aware of my abilities as administrator to alter "bank accounts" so enforcement may be difficult, but I'll figure it out.

The contest will start on this coming Monday, though I think you can join right away. Have fun everyone!

-Jason "always remember, what happens in Covers, stays in Covers... oh, and bet with your head, not over it" Evans

[rsvman]

How many units do we start with?

[JasonEvans]

How many units do we start with?

I think it just keeps track of how far above or below 0 units you are. So, you have an infinite number of units to wager... in amounts of no more than 500 at a time.

But, I am going say that if you get to negative 5000 units you are out of the contest and may not make any more wagers. Seem fair?

[Troublemaker]

I'm not completely understanding it, but we have a site set up on Covers.com

Here is the DBR Picking Contest Site. The password to join the group is: DukeBets

I'm not 100% certain of how it all works, but it appears you have to register to play, which does not seem like a huge barrier to entry. Go there and you can join the pool.

I am fairly sure I set it up to accept wagers on both point totals and point spreads. I don't think they accept money line wagers, sorry about that. It also seems that you wager in "units" (a pseudonym for dollars!) and that all wagers must be between 100 and 500 units, which will keep anyone from making too big a bet. So, it does have some limitations that I am not fond of, but that's the way it works.

Of note, unless there is some function I did not see, I am not aware of any way to tell it to only accept wagers on ACC games. I will merely state that if you bet on a game that does not feature 2 ACC teams there will be a penalty. You will lose your wager plus you will be assessed a 500 unit penalty,. I'm not aware of my abilities as administrator to alter "bank accounts" so enforcement may be difficult, but I'll figure it out.

The contest will start on this coming Monday, though I think you can join right away. Have fun everyone!

-Jason "always remember, what happens in Covers, stays in Covers... oh, and bet with your head, not over it" Evans

You the man, Jason! So, I just registered an account -- it takes less than a minute, as expected, so no excuses for anyone who wants to play to not join. However, I don't see an option to add myself to the pool despite being able to view the pool and post on the pool message board.

Is there an option to open up the pool to new players that you need to click on? Then again, maybe I'm messing something up or missing something very simple.

[Hingeknocker]

You the man, Jason! So, I just registered an account -- it takes less than a minute, as expected, so no excuses for anyone who wants to play to not join. However, I don't see an option to add myself to the pool despite being able to view the pool and post on the pool message board.

Is there an option to open up the pool to new players that you need to click on? Then again, maybe I'm messing something up or missing something very simple.

I'm having the same problem. Excited to do this, though!

[NYBri]

Indeed. I'm registered, but don't see how to join the pool. Maybe you can't join until Monday.

[Troublemaker]

Indeed. I'm registered, but don't see how to join the pool. Maybe you can't join until Monday.

That might be it. It's possible if Jason moves the start date to today, we can start joining the pool.

Obviously no one should place a bet until a week from today when conference play starts with UVA-Lville and Wake-FSU.

[JasonEvans]

Hmmmmm... I am confused. My guess is that it will start letting you sign up and enter the pool on Monday. There does not seem to be much I can do in terms of controlling the pool. The site is pretty thin on user functionality.

[NYBri]

Hmmmmm... I am confused. My guess is that it will start letting you sign up and enter the pool on Monday. There does not seem to be much I can do in terms of controlling the pool. The site is pretty thin on user functionality.

Another situation is that outside folks might join and not understand the nature of the pool. But let's see how this unfolds. Thanks for doing this, Jason. You fulfilled the wish that began this thread and I'm grateful.

[Troublemaker]

Hmmmmm... I am confused. My guess is that it will start letting you sign up and enter the pool on Monday. There does not seem to be much I can do in terms of controlling the pool. The site is pretty thin on user functionality.

Yeah, sorry about that. It IS a very popular site but apparently low functionality.

I expect we'll be able to join on Monday.

[NYBri]

I wrote to covers support about how to join a pool. This was the exchange:

Original message
Brian wrote:

I have registered and wish to join the DBR ACC Picking Contest, but can’t find out how to do that.
Can you educate me?

Thanks,

Brian

Their response:

Mike replied:
Hello Brian,

That league is currently set to “Private” The commissioner of that league would need to send you an invite, with a password.

http://contests.covers.com/OfficePools/List

Let us know if you had any questions.

Regards,

I know that Jason set up the password, but waiting to see if he indeed needs to send an invite, or if we can log in on Monday.

[jhmoss1812]

Hey guys! I figured out how to join. Once you get to the league, click on "Make Picks". It will then ask you to enter the Password "DukeBets"

Even though I'm not a Duke fan (UVA), I really like the idea of this league. Hope you don't mind me joining in. Good luck!

[Troublemaker]

Hey guys! I figured out how to join. Once you get to the league, click on "Make Picks". It will then ask you to enter the Password "DukeBets"

Even though I'm not a Duke fan (UVA), I really like the idea of this league. Hope you don't mind me joining in. Good luck!

Of course not. You and Wahoos and others have been outstanding opposing fans. You're just as much a DBR member as anyone else.

Thanks for the tip!

[JasonEvans]

Hey guys! I figured out how to join. Once you get to the league, click on "Make Picks". It will then ask you to enter the Password "DukeBets"

I sporked jkmoss for solving this conundrum for us.

I will however reprimand anyone who makes a "took the UVA guy to solve the problem the Dukies couldn't" joke.