The WERA board has held a GP fantasy league contest for I think at least the last 6 or 7 years, but it has been sporadic in level of interest (read: players). We use the online game utility hosted at motogp.com. According to Papa, the game doesn't appear on the website till weds or thurs (or maybe even friday) before the first race. Basically, there is a drop down window where you pick rider finishing order for 1-15 spots and it scores you accordingly. the website gives prizes to the winners of each race and for the season total, but the were group has traditionally had a $50 buy-in with winner take all. You need to have confirmed selection some short time (15 or 30 minutes) before the start of the race, to be eligible for points for that round. In the interest of disclosure, I've won the last two years. However, the number of players has been relatively low (7 in 2017, 4 last year) and as Papa can attest, that's more to do with me not being foolish and missing placing a bet for a round than any great skill. Some years we have had as many as 9-10 player, and one year it was just me and 'foo. If there is interest, I can run the league and collect the buy-ins, keep track of scores, and try to light fires for shittalkin'. Let me know of your interest, and we can go from there (if it gets legs, we'll do a launch on Friday with registration names and collection of dues). --sapsis
I will say to anyone who is on the fence, you can always sign up on MotoGP this week and at least get your entries in for the first race, even if you're not ready to make a commitment yet. It's probably easier to negotiate a late entry into the BBS sub-league than to start one or more races behind.
Good point papa. I would be perfectly ok with getting players into the league after the first week to give them a taste of how the game works (presuming everyone else who wants in this week is ok with that too). I even like the idea of someone getting a 117 the first round and saying "Damn this is easy money...in!" because, well, those 117's are very few and far between for 99% of players. This year in particular, I think we might see some shuffling and mix-it-up in the top 10, so even really reliable 100+ scores that were relatively easy in the aliens era may not be. Then of course, there are the rain and crash-fest rounds, where sometimes 70 is a good score. Its a fun game, and adds to the excitement leading up to the weekend.
Its all documented right here: so far just me and B-Bird have declared. Even though odds of winning go down with more players, its more fun with more. I bet we can get Phil in again. He's a good player except the 20% of the time he fails to place a lineup. The water's good Scotty!
Frenchie can't handle the nerves. Which is weird, since he's a top player. (Papa -- I'm weird too, so not disparaging ) So far we have me, Bigbird, and DanD and Phil firm. Then there is Scotty, Eggfoo and badmoon on the fence. Keep 'em coming folks, gonna be a great year of racing. badmoon -- the interface is good but in my experience much better on a computer/tablet than a phone. You have to drag riders from the complete grid list on the left into their targeted finishing positions on the right, and then SAVE! When you reg for the game it has your email, and when you have successfully made a bet (and when you have successfully changed your picks if you do so) it sends you a confirmation email listing them. I'll mention this also right now, and reiterate it at launch: SAFETY PICKS. A persistent problem is people get busy or forgetful and do not get a bet lodged at all, so they get a zero. That's is a big hit even with 19 races. You can literally do a safety pick for the next race often the day after a race is completed. Always a good idea. Top players also often try to watch warm up and sometimes the weather and stuff leading up to the race to make adjustments close to gridtime. However, given the weird time differential for most races, I usually make my picks sometime after Q2 and let 'em stand. While the points are assigned the same as for the championship (25 for first, 20 for second, etc.) the best players also do well in the 8-15 positions. Do not discount their importance is doing well overall. OK, no more hints. <edit: added the good German to the game>
Don't even wait that long. I do it on Sunday when I check my score/rank for the day. And I also make my last adjustments based on qualifying. Warm-up-timing adjustments just don't work for me. Unless the race is on the American continent. It hasn't hurt my performance too badly, unless someone gets hurt in the warm up.
Bigbird my good man, it's sunny outside. Confirmed: dsapsis, BigBird, Phil218, badmoon692008, Dan Dubeau, 10MM and jonanthanp. Looking good folks. Step right up.
To register for the online game, you go to MotoGP.com, and under the OTHER tab there will be a link to League (its not up yet -- I'll post here as soon as it is). You are certainly free to play the game online without being in our Beeb league. You can play against HPPT, but I warn you, the dude is good. To play the Beeb league here with us, just say "in", and when the instructions on registering go out, I'll give my paypal to send in your bet. This will be a fun year I can tell. The best part is all the makin'-fun of each other stuff.
I may be be interested. I've tried to do it for the last 3 years or so, but after the first or 2nd round, I'd forget to pick for the following race, and once I missed a couple I gave up knowing I wouldn't have any chance anymore lol Any way there can be a sticky thread on here with a reminder a few days before each race? lol