How to Organize the Game of Thrones Death Pool
The premiere of the seventh season of ” Game of Thrones” is approaching. Before all the glorious murders kick off this Sunday, why not make watching the show a little more fun?
In the past, we’ve suggested starting a fantasy project called Game of Thrones , but Scott Meslow of GQ suggests something simpler: the death pool. The premise is simple: you and your friends predict which characters will die this season. It’s a lot like the kids ‘pool in the office, but there’s a lot more blood in it – actually, yes, it looks like the kids’ pool …
This is how it works. Gather everyone who wants to play, then decide on a prize. You can set it up so that everyone throws in some money (with the winner going to the pot), or you can do something like the loser buys everyone lunch. The prize may even be just bragging. I recommend that you get the person who last learn valirianets high , but it is your right .
When you have all the players, everyone chooses a certain number of characters (5 to 10 maximum). You can take turns choosing characters in a draft style, or let everyone choose whoever they want. Watch out for deaths as the season progresses. The classic death pool rules dictate that you must play up to a certain number of deaths. So, for example, if you play with five characters, say the winner is the one who earns three deaths first. However, Meslow prefers to use a weighted system with his team:
You select five characters from the entire cast and rate them from most likely to least likely to die by the end of the season – Jaime Lannister, Olenna Tyrell, that snotty little kid in the Valley – with points awarded as soon as the character is killed off. If you put Jaime at the top of the list and the dragon eats him, you get five points. If you put it at the end of the list, you get it. And if you do not list it at all, then it is better to hope that none of your rivals did it.
Meslow is also hosting a “pool of life” this season, as it will surely be a carnage. I wouldn’t be surprised if most of the characters we all know and hate don’t make it to the end. Best of all, your scribe friends can’t cheat as the show has stepped into unwritten territory. Who knows what will happen next?