Bishop Middleham Poker League Death Pool.
Rules. There are quite a few death pool sites out there and many of them have a points system in place for the celeb's who die and pay-out at the end of the year. We will keep it simple and pay-out to the first one to die, here's how it will work...
The draw will run in calendar months, £2.50 will be paid every month £2.00 of which will go into the prize pool and 50p will go to the poker league to cover running costs and charity contibutions. Any person who falls three or more months behind in paying will be frozen out of the game until paid up so if one of their oldies crocks it they will not be paid out (just like being in jail when playing monopoly). Anyone wanting to leave the death pool can do so at any time but will lose any money in the prize pool. At least £40 will go into the prize pool each month, all money collected will be accounted for at the bottom of the page once the draw is started on the 3rd of January 2011.
Each player will be given four names of famous people, the first one to have a corpse will win the pot. If more than one celebrity dies in the same day then the pot will be shared equally, time of death does not count. The draw will resume on the first day of the following month however £10 from the reserve pot will be paid for any deaths between the main pot being won and the first of the month, i.e if the Pope dies on 20th March player X wins £120, player Y has a celeb die on the 22nd and player Z has one die on the 28th, players Y and Z will both receive £10. Although it is unlikely that we will have more than two deaths in a month, at least this way you will still receive some money for losing a celebrity. The reserve pot will have a few quid added each month to cover any month/months when we have multiple deaths.
Every player must keep a regular track of their own celebrities and when one snuffs it they must let me know straight away, I will check that nobody else in the draw has died as best as I can before awarding the prize money, however if you don't let me know of a death within a week then you will lose out on the prize money. You keep the same celebrities until they either die or you drop out of the draw. Once a player wins the pot they will draw out a celebrity from the reserve list and the game continues. The list of names are checked on Wikipedia on a regular basis. If you find any celebrity is already brown bread then let me know asap and you will get another from the reserve list.
Any player who is in any way connected to the death of their celebrity will be required to give back the prize money and will be kicked out of the death pool and reported to the police. As with the poker, "NO CHEATING ALLOWED".
If anyone has any questions about the rules, please just ask though I think its all fairly easy to follow even for the retarded Newcastle fans among you.
The Players-
Morph-Cliff Richard, David Dimbleby , David Jason, Charlie Hurley.
Neil Marley-Bernie Eccleston, Vladimir Putin, Rupert Murdock , Michael Crawford.
Dave Waddleton-Willie Nelson, Melvyn Bragg, Ron Atkinson, Jack Nicholson.
Steven Hiny-William Shatner, Paul Mccartney, Ricky Tomlinson, Paul Hogan.
Andy Evans-Bob Dylan, Michael Caine, Bjorn Kristian, Charles Dance.
Jack Marley-Mick Fleetwood, Judith Chalmers, James Earl Jones, Ringo Star.
Crabber-Don King, Neil Diamond, Dickie Bird, Shirley Bassey.
Patty-Keith Richards, Roy Hodgson, Robert Redford, Neil Kinnock.
Wally-Dick Van Dyke, Jimmy Carter, Ray Reardon, Richard Wilson.
Patty's Dad-Yoko Ono, John Nettles, David Attenborough, Dionne Warrick.
Noadesy-Art Garfunkel, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jimmy Tarbuck, Dustin Hofman.
Hiny-Paul Simon, David Bailey, Bill Cosby, Eric Clapton.
Pete(Shildon ABC)-Timothy Dalton, Jeff Bridges, Julie Andrews, Syd Little.
Growler-Gene Hackman, Priscilla Presley, Judy Dench, Barry Gibb.
Hughie Rite-O-Chevy Chase, Michael Aspel, Buzz Aldrin, Anthony Hopkins.
Glenny-Roy Hattersley, Anni Frid-Lyngstad, Tom Jones, Stephanie Beacham.
Damo/Bosh-Smokey Robinson, Morgan Freeman, Billy Connelly, John Hall.
Daz Saliki-Tommy Cannon, Woody Allen, George Foreman, Donald Sutherland.
Jason/Hiny-Donald Trump, Trevor Mcdonald, Sepp Blatter, James Bolam.
Blondy-Pope Francis, Alex Ferguson, Gary Glitter, Joan Collins.
Craig Bell-John Craven, John Cleese, Mick Jagger, Terry Waite.
Liam Murray-Gloria Hunniford, Michael Heseltine, Franki Valli, Prunella Scales.
Reserve List-
Mary Berry---Harvey Keitel---Henry Winkler---Meryl Streep---Joe Biden---Joe Pesci---Jack Nicklaus
Engelbert Humperdinck---Lee Majors---Chris Tarrent---Jeremy Corbyn---Jeremy Paxman---Julie Walters
John Williams(composer)---Richard Palin---Bryan Ferry---Brian Johnson---King Charles---Pete Townsend---Arsene Wenger
Kris Kristofferson---Harrison Ford---Nick Nolte---Mark Knopfler---Billy Ocean---Joe Royle---Noddy Holder
Clint Eastwood---Alan Sugar---John Major---Neil Young---Willie Carson---Martin Shaw---Leo Sayer---Twiggy
Benny Andersson---Barry Manilow---James Patterson---Andre Rieu---Roger Daltry---Vanessa Redgrave---Russ Abbot
Money Collected In 2024-£220
Prize Pool-£40
Paid Out-£230
Reserve Pot-£40.50
BMPT-£40
Help For Heroes-£10 Last Updated-7/04/2024
It looks as though we have our first winner of the year as Neil Marley had Ian Lavender aka Private Pike from Dads Army which was where Marley rose to fame playing Private Godfrey, Doyle picked Vladimir Putin from reserve list. On the 22nd of April Sunderland AFC legend Charlie Hurley sadly died to give Morph the £80 pot, Morph gets Kris Kristofferson from reserve list.
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Money Collected In 2023-£660
Paid Out-£535
BMPT-£100
Help For Heroes-£50 £75 Prize Pool and £25.50 Reserve Pot Rolling over to 2024.
We have our first winner of 2023, Andy Evans takes down the £80 prize pool after the death of Burt Bacharach on Wednesday the 8th of February, Andy drew Abba's Bjorn Kristian from the reserve list.
Fat Peter from Shildon Boxing Club was the second winner of the year, taking down £120 after poker legend Doyle Brunson passed away on the 14th of May at the age of 89. Pete drew out Jeff Bridges from the reserve list. Well what a right royal fuck up we've had this week. Peter was paid out last Friday after Doyle Brunson died on the 14th of May and he duly got the drinks in for the boxing lads after the gym, cheers Pete. Then it was announced on Tuesday the 23rd that Rolf Harris died and my dad would have had £20 from the reserve pot but hang on there's more, Rolf died on the 10th of May so my dad should have had the £120 that Pete won. After a consultation with the poker lads they agree that I can't ask Pete for the money back so we are paying my dad £120 out of the Gazza pot (£82) and some of the reserve pot (£38) so the Gazza pot is no more, My dad drew John Nettles from reserve list by the way.
Just when all that settled down we lost our 3rd celeb in 2 weeks as Tina Turner died at the age of 83, Glenny gets £20 and drew Stephanie Beacham as Tina's replacement.
It wasn't until the 16th of August that we saw our next passing away as Michael Parkinson sadly died at the ripe old age of 88, Darren Salicki took down the £110 pot and drew George Foreman from the reserve list. Then on the 30th of August Mohamed Al Fayed died to give Glenny a tenner from the reserve pot, he drew Anni Frid-Lyngstad from the reserve list. The 21st of October saw Bobby Charlton pass away, Hiny and Jason took down the £75 pot and drew out Donald Trump from the reserve list.
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Money Collected In 2022-£660
Reserve Pot-£50
Paid Out-£450
BMPT-£100
Gazza Pot-£75.50
Help For Heroes-£50 £50 Reserve Pot and £75.50 Gazza Pot Rolling On To 2023
Help For Heroes Money Will Be Sent Off At End Of 2023.
We had to wait until mid March for our first winner of 2022 when Mark Hindmarch took down a respectable £120 after the death of British actor Peter Bowles on St Patrick's Day. Hiny drew David Bailey from the reserve list.
On the 3rd of April we had our second death of the year as Eastender June Brown died at the ripe old age of 95. Daz Salicki took down the £40 pot and was awarded Tommy Cannon from the reserve list.
Next celeb to go was horseracing legend Lester Piggott at the ripe old age of 86 on 29th of May, Damo and Bosh shared £40, if it had gone another couple of days it would have doubled, never mind. They drew Smokey Robinson from the reserve list.
On July 27th Liam Murray took down the £80 when actor Bernard Cribbins died at the ripe old age of 93. Liam drew Gloria Hunniford from the reserve list. Dropping like flies now, Mikhail Gorbachev died on the 30th of August to give fat Pete from Shildon Boxing Club £40. He drew out Timothy Dalton as the replacement.
Another month and another corpse, Bosha and Damo had Her Majesty The Queen who sadly passed on the 8th of September, they took the £40 and drew Billy Connolly from the reserve list. Angela Lansberry died on the 11th of October to give Mark Hindmarch the £40 pot and drew Eric Clapton from the reserve list.
On 29th of December Neill Marley won a healthy £80 after Edson Arantes do Nascimento sadly passed away at the ripe old age of 82, Marley drew out Ian Lavender as his replacement and then just two days later Pope Benedict XVI died to give Gareth Playle a £10 share of the reserve pot, he drew Priscilla Presley from the reserve list.
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Money Collected In 2021-£660
Prize Pool-£0
Reserve Pot-£54.50
Paid Out-£510
BMPT-£100
Gazza Pot-£56
help for Heroes-£50 £54.50 Reserve Pot. £56 Gazza Pot Rolling Over To 2022.
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We have our first winner of 2021, remarkably with the whole covid 19 bollocks we have gone from November since our last death and with a very healthy pot of £190 it was one spawny bastard who won it. Jack Marley won after Prince Philip sadly died aged 99 on the 10th of April, Jack drew Mick Fleetwood from the reserve list.
It took a bit longer than expected due to what is going on in the world but our second death of the year came on the 12th of August when Una Stubbs passed away giving Patty the £160 prize pool. He drew Roy Hodgson from the reserve list.
We didn't have to wait long for the next winner, Andy Evans took the £40 pot after footballing legend Jimmy Greaves sadly passed away aged 81. Andy got actor Charles Dance from the reserve list.
Patty's dad won £80 after Lionel Blair passed away at the ripe old age of 92 on the 4th of November, he drew 24 from the reserve list who was Dionne Warrick.
We had our fifth winner of the year when Desmond Tutu died on Boxing day, Floyd won the £40 pot and drew Keith Richards from the reserve list.
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Money Collected In 2020-£660
Prize Pool-£40
Reserve Pot-33.50
Paid Out-£434
BMPT-£100
Gazza Pot-£37
Help For Heroes-£50 £40 Prize pool, £33.50 Reserve Pot and £37 Gazza Pot rolling over to 2021.
We have our first winner of 2020, Craig Glendenning won £113 when country and western legend Kenny Rogers passed away on the 20th of March, Glenny drew out Roy Hattersly from the reserve list. On the 12th of April Stirling Moss passed away to give Crabber £40 and he drew Shirley Bassey from reserve list.
On the 18th of June Peter Lowe from Shildon Boxing Club got his first ever win (£78) when Dame Vera Lynn, the oldest celebrity in the list, sadly died aged 103. Peter drew Syd Little from the reserve list. We had our fourth death of the year when local hero Jack Charlton sadly died on the 10th of July at the ripe old age of 85, Andy Evans won the £40 pot and drew Burt Bacharach from the reserve list.
The end of October got a little hectic as Bobby Ball died on the 28th to give Jack Marley the £113 main pot, he drew Ringo Star from the reserve list. Three days later Sean Connery passed away to give Dangerous Dave a £10 share from the reserve pot, he drew Ron Atkinson as the replacement. The seventh dead of the year came on Saturday the 14th of November as Des O Connor died giving Neil Patterson the £40 prize pool, he drew Neil Kinnock from the reserve list.
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Money Collected In 2019-£660.00
Prize Pool-£0
Reserve Pot-£17.50
Paid Out-£529
BMPT-£100
Gazza Pot-£17
Help For Heroes-£50 £17 Gazza money and £17.50 Reserve pot rolling over to 2020.
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We have our first winner of 2019, Windsor Davies died on the 17th of January to give Hughie Coulthard a nice little £78, every little helps when you're a pensioner. Hughie drew Chevy Chase from the reserve list, Rite O.
Second winner is Jack Marley, Doris Day sadly died on the 13th of May to give Jack a win of £155. He drew Bobby Ball from the reserve list.
Morph won £80 after former horse racing pundit John McCririck sadly died on the 5th of July, he was replaced by David Dimbleby in Morphs list. Another Sedgy lad won next as Noadesy took down £80 after Robert Mugabe died on the 6th of September, he drew out Dustin Hofman as a replacement. In the same month Hiny and Jason shared £20 from the reserve pot after former French president Jacques Chirac died on the 26th, they drew Trevor Mcdonald from the reserve list.
The 24th of November saw Clive James die to give Andy Evans a £78 win, his replacement was Bob Dylan. Just a couple of weeks later Stephen Hindmarch won the £38 pot after long time Hamsterley resident David Bellamy sadly passed away, he was replaced on Hiny's list by Ricky Tomlinson, my arse.********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Money Collected In 2018-£630
Prize Pool-£40
Reserve Pot-£16
Paid Out-£612
BMPT-£100
Help For Heroes-£50
We have our first winner of 2018, Sir Roger Banister died on the 3rd of March to give Floyd a healthy £228. He drew Una Stubbs from the reserve list. Just like busses we waited months for one death and then 11 days later Jim Bowen passed away to give Hiny and Jason a share of the reserve pot, they drew Sepp Blatter from the reserve list. Remarkably on the same day Jason and Hiny saw their £40 halved as Stephen Hawking died, Marlo drawing Pele from the reserve list and then on the 30th, March 2018 became a record breaking month for the death pool as actor and fellow poker player Bill Maynard sadly died to give Jack Marley, Hiny/Noadesy and Marlo a grand old share of the reserve pot, £13.33 each, Jack drew Dorris Day.
Peter Stringfellow died on the 7th of June to give Andy a nice little pot of £113 after which he drew Clive James from the reserve list. On 6th of September it was Morphs turn to take down £113 after Burt Reynolds died, Morph drew Cliff Richard from the reserve list, amazing really as Morph has all of his albums. Just 12 days later Dennis Norden passed away at the ripe old age of 96 to give Growler the £40 reserve pot, he drew Barry Gibb as his replacement.
With only a matter of hours left in November George H. W. Bush died to give Crabber £78. A few more hours and the prize pool would have been £113, ha. Crabber drew Neil Diamond from the reserve list.
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Money Collected In 2017-£647.50
Prize Pool-£113
Reserve Pot-£75
Paid Out-£374
BMPT-£100
Help For Heroes-£67.50
We had our first winner of the year as Roger Moore passed away on the 23rd of May, Morph scooped a prize pool of £222 and drew Sunderland legend King Charlie Hurley from the reserve list.
As is typical in the celebrity world we went months without a death and then we had two in as many weeks as Peter Sallis passed away on the 5th of June to give Marlo £38 which I'm sure Morph will have a chuckle at. Bernie Eccleston was drawn out from the reserve list.
National treasure Bruce Forsyth sadly passed away on the 18th of August to give Noadesy a prise pool of £76 and then drew Arnold Schwarzenegger from the reserve list. On the 27th of September Glenny won £38 when every mans hero Hugh Hefner sadly passed away, he drew Kenny Rogers from the reserve list.
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Money Collected in 2016-£630
Prize Pool-£38
Reserve Pot-£46
Paid Out-£500
BMPT-£100
Help for Heroes-£50
2016- We didn't have long to wait for our first winner as Mark Hindmarch won £78 after Terry Wogan died on the 31st of January.
Teeside born magician Paul Daniels passed away on the 17th of March to give Hughie £78, old rite o drew Michael Aspel from the reserve list. It was a final goodnight from Ronnie Corbett on the final day of March as Stephen Hindmarch won the £40 reserve pot, ironic really as Ronnie Corbett and Hiny are the same height. Blondy won £113 after Mohammed Ali died in early June, he drew Alex Ferguson from the reserve list.
On August 29 Noadesy won £76 when Gene Wilder died, he drew Art Garfunkel from the reserve list. Blondy won for the second time this year after Jean Alexander (Hilda Ogden) died on the 14th of October shortly after her 90th birthday. Blondy drew out the pope from the reserve list. Just over a month later Fidel Castro died to give Hiny and Jason a measly £38 between them, they drew out Stephen Hawking as a replacement.
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2015 Review-This was a record breaking year as the death pool lost six celeb's. First to go was BB King to give Crabber a nice payday of £226 in May. The next month Marley received £40 when Christopher Lee passed away, Damo and Bosh shared £40 in July as the pot had no chance of growing when Omar Sharif died and then the fourth death in as many months was completed when Cilla Black died on the 1st of August to give Dave Waddleton £40 also. Then the unthinkable happened, George Cole died in the same month to give Hughie the reserve pot of £40, five deaths in four months. The final star to go was Warren Mitchell in November at the ripe old age of 89 to give wally £116.
Money Collected In 2015-£630. Paid Out-£502 BMPT-£100 Help For Heroes-£50.
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2014 Review-Only four celebs died this year, the first winner was Neil Marley when his old school pal Tony Benn passed away, Marley took £113 for his sorrows. Manchester United owner Malcom Glazer went next as Dangerous Dave scooped £76 and then big brother Stephen Waddleton won £113 as Richard Attenbrough passed on in August.
The grim reaper himself, Glenny, won £113 in November as Mad Frankie Fraser died at the ripe old age of 90. £50 was raised for Help For Heroes.
Money Collected In 2014-£630. Paid Out-£415. BMPT-£100. Help For Heroes-£50
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2013 Review-Once again we had five celebrities passing away, Morph won £76 when Richard Briars died in February. Crabber also won £76 when Maggie Thatcher snuffed it in April and Floyds dad won £113 in July after Alan Whicker died and he the won for a second time when Nelson Mandela lost his long fight with illness for a grand total of £187. The reserve pot rule came in when Ronnie Biggs died in the same month for Jason and Hiny to share the £40. £50 was raised to go to Help For Heroes. The £68 in the reserve pot will be rolling onto 2014.
Money Collected in 2013-£630. Paid out-£452. BMPT-£100. Help for Heroes-£50
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2012 Review-We had five deaths in 2012 which was up one from the previous year. Daz Salicki won £113 when Bob Holness died then Liam Bradshaw won £40 the following month when Frank Carson died. Damo and Dean won a record pot of £320 in November when Clive Dunn passed away, the pair donated £20 of their winnings to the Help For Heroes fund, thanks for that boys. Just over two weeks later Shiner won the £40 reserve pot when Larry Hagman died and then in December Andy Evans won £40 when Sir Patrick Moore died.
Money Collected in 2012-£630.
Rolled over from 2011-£113.
Money to BMPT-£100.
Help For Heroes-£50.
Paid Out-£553.
Money rolling over to 2013 is £40.
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2011 Review-The first year of the death pool saw Jack Marley become the first winner when Elizabeth Taylor passed away in March then on the 1st of May Glenny won when Henry Cooper sadly died, Craig drew out Colonel Gadaffi from the reserve list and took the main pot again when he was killed in October, Craig donated £10 of his winnings to Help For Heroes. Dangerous Dave Waddleton was unlucky to win when he did as it was in the same month that Gadaffi died so Dave only won the £40 in the reserve pot after Jimmy Saville passed away.
Money collected in 2011-£682.50
Paid out- £417
Help For Heroes-£52.50
BM Poker Tour- £100
Reserve pot- £36
The total money rolling over into 2012 is £113, the prize pool and reserve pot.
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The Bishop Middleham Poker Tour will donate £20 to "Help For Heroes" at the end of each year, that together with the £2.50 a month and any other donations will mean at least £50 a year going to the fantastic charity. The first cheque was sent away in October for £110 which was for 2011/12, then when Dean and Damo won £320 in November they gave another £20 so in two years we have raised a grand total of £130. Well done to all concerned, the other £20 will be added onto the next payment.
The certificate is in the porch at the Cross Keys for all to see, a picture of it is at the bottom of this page.