The DDP will start accepting entries from Sunday 9th December 2018.
The entry period will officially close at 23:59 GMT on 31st December 2018. There follows a period where entries sent in the hours after that time will be entered at the host's discretion.
The absolute deadline for that is 11:00 GMT on 1st January 2019. After that then the entry window is definitely closed!
Simply send a list of 20 names and a maximum of 3 substitutes to ddp@derbydeadpool.co.uk, along with your team name and an email address to be contacted by.
Make sure the spelling is correct and if the choices are obscure, that
the host is made aware of who they are (no need to explain who Queen Elizabeth II is for example, but if it's her ninth cousin or something,
the host will need to know).
Also bear in mind there are some celebrities with similar or even
identical names (Roger Taylor the tennis player and Roger Taylor the
drummer of Queen for example).
Important note: The
joker will be the first name on your list and will be accepted by the
host as such, so make sure your joker is top of the list!
Should one or more of your choices croak it before 31st December 2018,
then a substitute will replace him/her. Should the premature death be a
joker,
then the host will email you asking for a replacement joker from the existing list.
Once you have sent your list, apart from the above matter arising, the
host will not accept any wholesale changes. One you've entered, that's
pretty much it!
If celebs that are picked have died before the end of the year but it
is only confirmed after the teams are uploaded onto the site (normally
in the 2nd week of January) then no replacements will be made and of
course no points can be scored.
When the host has received your email, a message will be sent
confirming this. Don't expect a full confirmation of the team you have
entered until
very late in the year/ early new year, depending on when you enter.
You will be contacted by the host for any queries regarding the names
of the picks and what they do, if they are among the more obscure picks.
If you are entering again, but with a different team name, let the host know what your previous team name was.
PLEASE INDICATE IF YOU ARE ENTERING A THEME TEAM
There is a maximum number of 3 teams per individual (can be any
combination of normal and theme teams) although there are some cases
that certain emails will contain many teams as part of a "syndicate" of
different teams.
Pick 20 different celebrities who are alive as at 1st January 2019, but
who, in your opinion, will no longer be with us by 31st December 2019.
Nominate one of them as your "joker".
For each celeb demise that you guess correctly, you'll score points,
and if your joker sadly passes away, your grief will be alleviated by
the fact that you'll score double points.
We'll keep you updated on the site every time someone scores points, and
there will be a (usually) up-to-date scoreboard on the website.
The team with the most points at the end of the year will, unsurprisingly, be deemed to be the winner.
In the event of a dead heat on points, the winner will be selected according to the following criteria, applied in this order:
All entrants must supply a team name and a valid email address. We will never reveal your email address to anyone else.
All of your chosen celebs must be:
EXCLUSIONS: Prisoners on "Death Row" i.e. awaiting state execution can only score points if they die of other causes. Picks that are on trial or are put on trial and are found guilty and executed are not disqualified but will not claim the unnatural points bonus. Hostages of terrorist organisations. We have no absolute knowledge of whether they are alive, dead or when they supposedly died. Terrorist organisation members are included but there must be official verification of when they died from both sides of the conflict (i.e. "The West" and the terrorists themselves). Any person considered "missing in action" or not traced as of 01/01/2019 can only score points if their death is confirmed as happening in 2019 and not before, so don’t bother picking Jimmy Hoffa.
There has been a refining of the rules as to what qualifies as a legitimate obit:
To win points, there must be the mention of a celebrity's death on a national online news source:
(this exludes references on the death announcements sections of broadsheet websites)
...or from these news sites:
The notice of death must be in written English. Video links are only accepted if the strapline mentions the celebs passing.
The following news sources are excluded as from 1st January 2016: Huffington Post UK, MSN UK, Yahoo UK, Scotsman, Herald Scotland, Daily Record, STV and UTV. The Independent has now been removed as of 01/01/2017 as it no longer has a regular print edition. The Evening Standard is not considered as it covers the London area only.
The date of death is taken as that in the country/region where the person died, i.e. local time is used. The age of the celeb at the moment of passing must also be established to calculate points. If the time of death is reported as exactly midnight local time, the date of the day just beginning is used. This may be relevant in deciding bonuses (see below).
The value of the basic death depends on the person's age:
18-29 years: 12 points
30-49 years: 10 points
50-59 years: 9 points
60-69 years: 8 points
70-79 years: 7 points
80-89 years: 6 points
90-99 years: 5 points
100-109 years: 4 points
110+ years: 3 points
On top of this, bonus points are awarded as follows:
Unique pick: +3 if you were the only competitor to pick that person.
Drop 40 pick: +3 for a celeb that dies who is among the forty most popular nominations.
Unnatural causes: +3 for murder, suicide or accident (but not State executions).
Party pooper: +5 for a celeb who dies on their birthday or Xmas Day.
Joker: Take the total of all the above and double it.
Entry to DDP is completely free, for legal reasons. That means there's no prize money either, just fulsome praise.