Yearlong County Contest

I claim Chittenden County, VT.

I have re-thought the handicaps a bit.

It occurred to me that I was trying TOO HARD to make things even NOW...when the idea is for things to be even...or close AT YEAR END.

The way I had initially proposed...it would have been problematic, because, while the rest of us were drying up...Dave - for example - would keep on getting hefty adds every month for the handicap.

I think we would all agree it would be a problem if Tony got 200 Counties, Dave got 20...and Dave beat Tony.

So I got to thinking on the purpose I wanted the handicaps to serve. The weighting system WOULD have worked, but Tony blew the weighting system out of the water...a lot of the assumptions that were built into the weighting system just do not apply in Tony's case...and so the need for some handicaps.

I realized I did NOT want the handicaps to be "kingmakers" - that is to say...making someone who really didn't deserve it - a winner. But I DID want the handicaps to keep things close enough that...if someone like, say, Dave...suddenly got ON FIRE...he'd have a real chance of winning.

With that in mind, I decided to scrap the sliding handicaps I had come up with...they were trying TOO HARD...to make things close to even NOW...and didn't consider year-end...and I really would like to set a workable handicap in place that keeps people in striking distance - BUT THEY STILL HAVE TO WORK FOR IT AND EARN IT - and not just HAND someone a victory.

It remains to be seen how this will be done for next year...the formula may need a bit of tweaking...we'll know when we have real full-year numbers. But I think I'd like to try doing weightings and handicap next year...as well as this year.

So, to start with, I will give everyone a handicap based on 35% of the difference to the leader - thus giving people a boost...but not too much of a boost. The idea being to keep people in striking distance if they get ON FIRE.

And we may do the same next year. If the 35% handicap proves to not work as anticipated, I will try a 30% or a 40% and work it from that point...with the goal being to give people a boost, so that if they do catch fire, they have a legitimate chance to win.

Like I said, I think we can all agree that if Dave gets 20 and Tony gets 200 - then tony ought to beat Dave.
If Jackson, for example, gets 175, and Tony gets 200...then it might be reasonable that Jackson ought to win...after all, Jackson would have had to try a whole lot harder than Tony. tony has the advantage of being here longer, and with far more bills entered, and the instant change machine her has, working at the airport.

The point of all this is to try to make sure that the power users don't run away with it (and that would include myself and Markus - although I'm a low-power user, whereas Tony is high-power...and Markus maybe medium...Jackson is becoming a low-power user, too.)

SO...I hope this is something everyone can agree on and live with. i'm trying to make this a close contest, while at the same time, being fair to everyone.

This is how it will work:
Tony, as the leader, gets a zero handicap. Just his weighting.
Everyone else gets 35% of the difference between their projected score and Tony's projected score - broken into twelve parts, and awarded one part per month...starting out with seven parts as this is now July.

This, I hope, will create a fairer field...where the handicap is not, in and of itself, a kingmaker...one still has to EARN the win. It hopefully also prevents a runaway. Let's try this and see what happens...as I said I can adjust this slightly up or down later in the year, if warranted. It may need to be as the projections may be less than reality (although they ought to dry up for everyone, so it shouldn't be a problem) the main problem I was seeing was folks like Dave getting huge bonuses every month while the rest of us dried up...and a situation where Dave wins with 20 hits as opposed to 200 for Tony...which didn't seem right or fair.

Kali 206 (-56)
Markus 168 (-94)
Tim 82 (-180)
Jackson 94 (-168)
Dave 30 (-232)

35% handicapping across the board results as follows:

Kali = 19.6 - 1.633 per month - 11.431 to start July
Markus = 32.9 - 2.742 per month - 19.194 to start July
Tim = 63 - 5.25 per month - 36.75 to start July
Jackson = 58.8 - 4.9 per month - 34.3 to start July
Dave = 81.2 - 6.767 per month - 47.369 to start July

This seems like a more reasonable approach that the previous proposal.

Update in progress!!

This update WILL include Hanidcaps!!

Spreadsheet now up to date...map update in progress

Map done.
Update complete.

The handicaps have not changed anyone's order, tony is still in first, I am still in second.

But it has brought me closer to Tony...and the bottom four closer to each other...and if any of them catch fire, they could catch and surpass me...or even tony.

We will see how these handicaps work.

Like I said, I don't want the handicap alone to be a kingmaker.

Tony wrote:I claim Chittenden County, VT.

Did you know you could claim ten bucks on this hit from Tim's contest? Darrell already hit VT, but hasn't claimed his prize for Vermont.

I'll have my first Texas hit!!!
Wharton County, Texas

I claim Santa Fe County, NM.

I'll take
Rockdale County, GA

I claim
Sonoma County, CA

I claim Cleveland County, NC.

Pinellas County, Florida is mine, all mine!!

Back from a week in the woods, I'd like to claim:

Taylor, WV

I claim La Paz County, AZ.

This is one that I missed when I first joined the contest, but since no one else has claimed it yet. . .

I claim Graham County, AZ.

I'll Take Meigs County, Ohio

And I'll have me some
Beaver County, PA

RHODE ISLAND enters our little game!!

I will have
Providence County, Rhode Island

I'll take Clark County, Indiana

Jackson Stamper wrote:I'll take Clark County, Indiana

Now that there is right across the river from Louisville...I know, I lived there.

I THINK...Montana is now the only state we don't have in the County Contest.
EDIT: Yep...just checked. We just need Montana. We have PR, DC and Guam....we could still use Palau, American Samoa, Virgin Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, and Micronesia. also some military hits.

I claim Waukesha County, WI.

I'm not horsing around or getting Misty eventhough my bill goes to Chincoteague Island (Accomack County), VA

I'll Take Lake County, Illinois

Here's a tough one - I know I don't even have to look to see if anyone else got this one, I KNOW no one has!!

Northumberland County, PA

This one is in the famous seven-county "hole" in PA...where hits are next to impossible, because it's mostly Amish country. The seven-county hole includes Union, Snyder, Montour, Northumberland, Perry, Juniata, and Mifflin Counties.

I claim Henderson County, NC

One of my Key West bills came in, I'll take
Jefferson County, WI

For a new state!!