How to Run an American Idol Office Pool

Interested in American Idol and want to start yourinteraction with the show. The key to bonus
own office pool but are unsure how to get started?questions is that they be about events that are
Running an American Idol pool in your office canintegral to the American Idol television show and
really bring the troops together regardless of theirhave a limited number of answers. For example:
interest level in the show. While playing in one is fun,* Who will be the first person to be declared safe ?
starting your own American Idol Office Pool can be a* Name a singer in the bottom three who doesn't go
daunting task.home?
Scoring Points in an American Idol Office Pool* Will a boy or a girl go home tonight?
The purpose of any office pool is to score the mostSetting point value for Bonus Questions can be
points, and an American Idol Pool is no different.difficult, so follow this simple rule of thumb: award
Every Office Pool requires scoring events that aremore points for risk takers but not so much that
compelling and contribute to the enjoyment ofweekly elimination points are made irrelevant.
participation. For an American Idol Office Pool, one ofOverall Winner
the most popular methods of scoring involves theThe final method of scoring points in an American
following three components:Idol Pool is for correctly predicting the Overall Winner.
1. Weekly EliminationClearly, if someone is able to predict the overall
2. Bonus Questionswinner while there are still 12 or even 24 contestants
3. Overall Winnerthat should be worth a lot of points�"and it
The American Idol show begins with several weeksadds to the fun each week for everyone playing
of auditions, so it is best to start your pool when thealong.
contestant number is down to the final 12 or evenAre the Points Balanced?
final 24. Before that point, it can be difficult toWhen setting up an American Idol Office Pool, the
recognize the contestants or determine favorites.philosophy should center on increasing the enjoyment
Weekly Eliminationof the show, while keeping as many pool players
For any Office Pool it is critical to choose eventsinterested in the competition as possible. Try not to
where the results provide the greatest variety ofhand out so many points for an overall pick that
outcomes. Choosing the winner of a football game,anyone that loses theirs drops out of the race. Don't
for example, provides only 2 outcomes and will onlyset bonus question points to be so valuable that
split your players into two groups. The more varietyweekly elimination selections aren't worth the effort.
you find, the more enjoyable the pool is forBalance points to try to ensure the largest
everyone. In American Idol Pools, the most obviouspercentage of the membership remains interested
scoring event is when contestants are eliminated.and engaged.
While it may seem there are still only two outcomesKeeping Really Bad Predictors Interested
here, creating a dynamic scoring system canWhat about those people in the pool that after 2
dramatically change the diversity in the results.weeks feel they have already fallen too far back to
To achieve this, scoring can be handled in a varietyeven bother? A strategy that works well to keep
of ways, including 1) static point value (e.g. 5 pointseveryone interested is to award a small prize to the
for correctly guessing who is eliminated); 2)person who scores the least number of points. This
probability weighting (e.g. 5 points for obviousway, halfway through the season when their overall
contestants, 10 points for less obvious, 15 points forwinner pick is already out and they are too far
contenders); or 3) player-controlled weighting (e.g.behind to see a way to win, they can start
player puts 1 point on contestant A, 2 points on B,intentionally picking poorly. It's harder than it looks!
etc.)Conclusion
Because of the limited number of events to score, aParticipating in an American Idol Office Pool can be a
weighting system works best for American Idollot of fun, and running one doesn't have to be a
Pools. One popular model involves assigning points toburden. An American Idol Office Pool should be
the contestant who your members think will bedesigned to enhance the experience of the show for
eliminated. This method provides for the mostfans and non-fans alike. Remember to create an
variability among competing members in the pool andengaging point system for relevant events, spice
keeps results interesting.things up with bonus questions about the show,
Bonus Questionsevaluate your point balance and find ways to keep
In addition to awarding points on elimination, somemost of the people interested throughout the whole
pools like to use bonus so that members feel anseason.