Wing and a Prayer

So I was just thinking we'd had a very quiet time of it recently, but it looks like someone managed to slip through the cracks!

Claire has taken the lead through the sneaky unique pick (5 bonus points) of Anna Wing who is best known for playing central Eastenders character Lou Beale in the first few years of the show.  For those with hazy memories of the 80's she was Ian Beale's Grandmother and Pauline's Mum.

She died in her sleep in July at the ripe old age of 98 having not done a lot since being killed off the #1 soap. Probably mainly sitting eating Werther's with a blanket on her lap.  With a cat.

Sir Henry

A sad day for horse racing fans as legendary trainer Sir Henry Cecil finally succumbed to cancer.

He was a prolific producer of classic winners over the past 30 odd years, although perhaps best associated now with his most famous (and best) horse Frankel that beat all comers and has now retired to "perform" for something mad like £125k a squirt!

I was surprised to find Chris didn't have Sir Henry in his "stable" for 2013, but his list is made up mainly of people he doesn't like, so as a huge racing fan I can see why he left him out. Unfortunately this now leaves him the only pointless player at the bottom of the table.

Ding Dong the Witch is Dead

Well she took her time didn't she?

A mainstay on the Death Pool lists since it's inception, Margaret Thatcher finally gave up the ghost last week after several years out of the public eye suffering from ill health.

Ignoring all the political stuff, my favourite story about Maggie relates to her "invention" of Mr Whippy ice cream.  A favourite pub quiz question, it's apparently a mere half truth according to the Guardian, but a fun fact anyway as she did work on the formula.

It doesn't particularly shake up the leaderboard as no fewer than 5 people had both Thatcher and the other recently deceased political leader Hugo Chavez.  It's going to take a bit of showbiz excess to give us some real action - we're still waiting on the 2013 version of Wino and Whitney.

Good luck folks!

Calm Down Dear

Miss Fox is the first to get a selection up in 2013 with the shrewd choice of British director Michael Winner, best known in his final years for popping up with his "calm down dear" catchphrase in the esure TV ads.

Actually our "fun only" entrant Mr Anonymous also picked out Mr Winner, but being a high flying celebrity himself feels it inappropriate to identify himself in the public domain.  Boring.

Still no movement in the Mandela or Thatcher camps then...

Popular Double Act

It would seem Thatcher and Mandela have a lot of friends in the Death Pool.

The 2013 competition has once again attracted 14 players for some morbid fun and games, with only two of those omitting the Iron Lady, while Mr Mandela is the clear 2nd favourite.

You can now view everyone's selections via the link on the top left of this page. I think they all seem genuine enough, but let me know if you think anyone is stretching the boundaries of the term "celebrity". Having seen some of the CBB intro this evening I don't think the moniker takes much getting these days.

We have one person electing to play for fun only (Mr Anonymous) so far, and I'll be tapping up the others who have yet to contribute tomorrow.  However it looks like we'll have 13 x £10 in the pot this year, so will likely go for a £90/£40 split of the spoils for 1st and 2nd places.  I'll confirm that once all the cash is safely collected.

Best of luck and keep an eye on those obits - especially those with sneaky obscure foreigners in your ranks. You gotta claim it to get the points!

Death Pool GamesMaster

It's official, Alex has topped the Death Pool table for the second consecutive year and has proved himself the expert on celebrity deaths. A proud assertion no doubt.

A couple of people had former TV GamesMaster Patrick Moore on their lists, who lost the game of life yesterday at 89 years of age. The rules state that December deaths don't count for the competition, although I don't think it would have made a difference to the standings anyway. Next year we'll be getting rid of that rule though as it's a bit pointless - so Jan 1st to Dec 31st can be fully spent eagerly watching the obituaries.

Anyhow, congrats to Alex who has £90 on the way over to help with the Christmas shopping. Yours truly also managed to bag £40 for the runner up spot.

I'll be in touch in the next week or two to let you know the procedure for getting your 2013 entries in - so start getting that research in early. Let me know if you know anyone else who'd like to receive an invite to the contest.

Mae you rest in peace

Just as things were winding down for a fairly uneventful 2012 in the world of Death Pool, there has been a twist in the tale!

It turns out that one of my selections actually slipped away in her sleep back in January, although clearly didn't cause much of a stir this side of the Atlantic.  The super old actress Mae Laborde has not been with us for many months now but has only just made her mark on the spreadsheet.  A rather miserly 4 points gained for the 102 year old, but a tasty 5 bonus points for being a unique selection.

This may be a good time to put Google into action and make sure none of your selections are worm food already.  You only have until next week to make your claim as we wind things up at the end of November. Tick tock.