Monday, April 23, 2012

UFC 145 CONTESTS: Confidence Pick and Betting Games are LIVE (With brief 144 results)

By Rich Hansen, MMA Torch Columnist

Hey! Every single entry that has been emailed in to me so far has been incorrect. Read the damn rules. If you sent in an entry, IT HAS BEEN DELETED! Read the rules and try again,

UFC_145_poster_180_1_1.jpg
UFC 145 is less than two days away, and after a six week layoff it?s time for us to resume the MMA Torch Betting and Confidence Picks games. UFC 145 is headlined by a light heavyweight title fight between champion Jon Jones and his former teammate Rashad Evans.

As many of you know, I never posted the results from the UFC 144 games. Sorry about that. That?s sincere, aint it? Anyhow, Avery Clarke was the champion in both games, but lost to Erwin Bouwmann in the Betting Game, and lost to Chris Knight in the Confidence Picks game.

Bouwmann will be facing off against James Paul Scott who won the UFC 144 betting pool with an astounding $5567. I was runner up with a solid $3799.69. In the confidence Picks, Knight will be attempting to defend his title against Mark Bunce. I again was the runner-up, finishing a distant second to Bunce.

So in the Betting game, Erwin Bouwmann will defend against James Paul Scott, with me as the alternate in case of a no-show. And in the Picks game, Chris Knight will face off versus Mark Bunce, with me being the alternate in that one as well.

Good luck to everyone. And I promise to be more diligent in the future with getting the results posted in a somewhat timely manner.


CONFIDENCE PICKS NOTE

UFC 145 is a 12 fight card. Therefore, the point values you assign must range from 12 (most confident) down to 1 (least confident).

Keep in mind that there is a MacDonald on the card (Rory) and a McDonald as well (Michael). If you pick or bet on either of these guys, you MUST clearly identify which fighter you?re choosing, or your entry will be deleted.

When you email your entry, please sort the entry numerically from high to low. Thanks.


BETTING LINES

So, with no further ado, here are the lines we?re using, courtesy of Bovada (formerly known as BoDog:

Jon Jones -450
Rashad Evans +325

Rory MacDonald -500
Che Mills +300

Miguel Torres -120
Michael McDonald -110

Brendan Schaub -250
Ben Rothwell +190

Mark Hominick -600
Eddie Yagin+ 400

Mark Bocek -500
John Alessio +300

Travis Browne -225
Chad Griggs +175

Stephen Thompson -300
Matt Brown +240

Anthony Njokuani -200
John Makdessi +160

Mac Danzig -175
Efrain Escudero +145

Chris Clements -225
Keith Wisniewski +175

Maximo Blanco -370
Marcus Brimage +280


CONFIDENCE PICKS GAME RULES

NOTE: A player does not need to play both games during each event. Players may choose to submit an entry for one game or the other, or for both, at their own choosing.

Assign a number from 1 through 12 (if a 12 fight card, 1 through 11 if a 11 fight card, etc.), with the highest number going to the fighter you are most confident in winning. Also list your prediction for method of victory, along with the round (or decision if you predict a decision)

Using UFC 124 as a template, here is how simple an entry will look:

Georges St-Pierre ? 11 - decision
Thiago Alves - 10 - KO2
Jim Miller - 9 - decision
Stefan Struve - 8 - KO1
Ricardo Almeida - 7 - sub3
Mark Bocek - 6 - sub2
Joe Stevenson - 5 - decision
Dan Miller - 4 - decision
Rafael Natal - 3 - decsion
Matt Riddle - 2 - KO1
John Makdessi - 1 - decision

The first tie-breaker is the sum of confidence points. Using the example above, a Georges St-Pierre victory would earn 11 points, Thiago Alves winning would earn 10 points, etc.

If two participants earn the same number of confidence points, the next tie-breaker will be total number of winners predicted. If Player A earns 40 points on 7 winning picks, and if Player B earns 40 points on 6 winning picks, Player A would be declared the winner.

The next tie-breaker is the number of victory methods predicted correctly. Next would be predicted rounds of victory.

If both players are still tied at this point, both players will be declared winner, and they will face off again, along with the winner of the pool (to be described later), at the next event in a three way dance.

There is no money being wagered in this game, and there are no prizes, short of bragging rights.


BETTING GAME RULES

1.) Every player has $1000 of fake, imaginary, theoretical, play money to wager on each event. This is not a real money game, it is strictly for fun.

2.) Players must place a bet of at least $50, but not more than $500, on each of 3 or more different fighters. Bets may be in any denomination, as long as the amount falls in the range of $50 - $500.

3.) Players may also place a parlay bet. A parlay bet is a bet placed on multiple fighters. All fighters in the parlay must win their fights in order for the parlay to pay off. Parlay bets pay off at a higher rate than a bet on a single fighter. The parlay bet may be placed on either 2 or on 3 fighters.

4.) The minimum parlay bet is $50. The maximum parlay bet is $200. This money comes out of the $1000 allotted to each player. The parlay bet is not separate from the $1000 budget. A player is not required to play a parlay bet. The maximum number of parlay bets a player may wager is one.

5.) Whether or not a player chooses to place a parlay bet, the player must still place at least three straight bets ie: It is not legal to place two bets on individual fighters and one parlay bet. No entry is considered valid unless there are a minimum of 3 straight bets placed on individual fighters.

6.) If a fight ends in a draw, any money bet on said fighter will be refunded, with no fake money commission taken. If a fighter in a 3-fighter parlay is involved in a draw, that fighter will be removed from the parlay and the 3-fighter parlay will be treated as a 2-fighter parlay. If a fighter in a 2-fighter parlay is involved in a draw, that fighter will be removed from the parlay and the 2-fighter parlay will be treated as a straight bet on the remaining fighter.

Instructions on how to read and utilize the betting lines

7.) If a fighter has a positive number such as +150 next to his name, he is the underdog, which means a successful bet on that fighter will pay off at a higher rate. That means that if the fighter wins, the bet will payout $150 net profit for every $100 bet on him. If a player were to bet $500 on a +150 fighter, and the fighter wins, the player will profit $750. If a player bets $500 on a +150 fighter, and the fighter loses, the player will lose his $500 bet.

8.) If a fighter has a negative number such as -200 next to his name, he is the favorite, which means a successful bet on that fighter will pay off at a lower rate. That means that if the fighter wins, the bet will payout $100 net profit for every $200 bet on him. If a player were to bet $500 on a -200 fighter, and the fighter wins, the player will profit $250. If a player bets $500 on a -200 fighter, and the fighter loses, the player will lose his $500 bet.

Structure for each game

9.) For each UFC numbered event, both the Confidence Picks and Betting Game will feature a champion and a challenger facing off against one another. The winner of the head to head battle will be declared the reigning champion.

10.) All other players for each UFC numbered event will compete against each other for the right to face off against the reigning champion at the next UFC numbered event. This is known as The Pool.

11.) As games administrator, I have the subjective right to eliminate any entry for any reason I deem worthy.

12.) Entries may be submitted via email (mmatorchrich@gmail.com), or on the comment section of this post. Email is the preferred method, because if a player posts an invalid entry, I have no way to make sure I can get hold of the player so that it may be corrected. Please, under no circumstances should you both email and post on the board your entry. One or the other please, preferably email.

13.) Any questions, please email me and ask. There are no new rules in this list of rules. I just wanted to have everything listed together. But that said, if you have a question, just ask.

Most important rule

14.) If you mention being a Packer fan, you will be banned. Try me.

Follow me on Twitter, @MMATorchRich. You know you want to. And no, that line didn?t work for me at the prom, either.

Edwin Dewees  Nick Diaz  Tadhg Steamfist Dixon Joe Doerksen  Chris Dolman

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