2015 Bet 'Em IndyContest - round 1 St. Pete

[NaBUru38]

Hi, folks! Welcome back to the 2015 Bet 'Em IndyContest. This is my fourth season as host, taking over Tim Northcutt's Forum Pick 'Em Contest.

This season there will be a new betting format. Remember when you picked a podium and the driver finished 4th and you would get no money. Well, now you will get money for any top 10 finish:

o- 1st - $ 1000
o- 2nd - $ 600
o- 3rd - $ 400
o- 4th - $ 300
o- 5th - $ 200
o- 6-10th - $ 100

Each race you'll have to pick four different drivers:

o- Premium - Double money, top 5 results only.
o- Regular - Any driver.
o- Fresh - Rookies only.
o- Alternative - No 10-to-1 drivers or under.

And then you have to pick the two binary stakes:

o- Belt Challenge: $ 200
o- Manufacturer: $ 200

(Hopefully the new system will be easier to track, now that I'm getting a full-time job.)

[NaBUru38]

So, round 1 is again St. Petersburg, despite efforts to return to Brazil. The long straights and tight corners are always entertaining.

You must pick five different drivers and a manufacturer:

o- Premium -
o- Regular -
o- Fresh - Rookies only.
o- Alternative - No 10-to-1 drivers or under.
o- Belt Challenge - Power or Castroneves.
o- Manufacturer -

The stakes for St. Pete are:

o- 3 to 1: Power, Pagenaud, Dixon.
o- 5 to 1: Hunter-Reay, Castroneves, Montoya.
o- 8 to 1: Bourdais, Kanaan, Andretti, Hinchcliffe.
o- 15 to 1: Kimball, Muñoz, De Silvestro,
o- 20 to 1: Newgarden, Filippi, Karam (R).
o- 30 to 1: Sato, Rahal, Chaves (R), Coletti (R).
o- 60 to 1: Hawksworth, Huertas, Jakes, Dracone (R).

o- Chevrolet: 3 to 1.
o- Honda: 3 to 1.

The deadline is Sunday at noon UTC. Remember that if multiple betters tie in earnings, the earlier better wins the tiebreaker. Good luck!

[Beetle]

o- Premium - Scott Dixon
o- Regular - Sebastien Bourdais
o- Fresh - Sage Karam
o- Alternative - Charlie Kimball
o- Belt Challenge - Will Power
o- Manufacturer - Chevrolet

[Yannick]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

o- Premium - Double money, top 5 results only.
o- Regular - Any driver.
o- Fresh - Rookies only.
o- Alternative - No 10-to-1 drivers or under.

And then you have to pick the two binary stakes:

o- Belt Challenge: $ 200
o- Manufacturer: $ 200

I'm not sure I understand this correctly. Here are some questions:
"Premium" will only be awarded if the driver scores a Top 5, and you get nothing if the driver finishes in between P6 and P10?
What does "Alternative" stand for? Finishers outside of the Top10? Does that include classified retirements?
What happens to the "Fresh" category if no rookie finishes in the Top 10? Does the highest-finishing rookie count automatically then?

I haven't taken part in this before so I don't know what the "Belt Challenge" is. The way I understand it, you would have lost it, had you bet on AJ Allmendinger in the Indy 500 two years ago because his seatbelt had become loose. ;-)
Also, what counts for "Manufacturer"? One Honda ahead of 9 Chevys would mean Honda gets it?

[Burp]

Thanks for doing this again, its a lot of fun. Glad I caught this thread and can start from round1 this season.

My bets:

o- Premium - Dixon
o- Regular - Montoya
o- Fresh - Coletti (R)
o- Alternative - Hawksworth
o- Belt Challenge - Power
o- Manufacturer - Chevrolet

[NaBUru38]

Dear Yannick, welcome to the IndyContest Rookie Orientation

Originally Posted by Yannick

"Premium" will only be awarded if the driver scores a Top 5, and you get nothing if the driver finishes in between P6 and P10?

Exactly. The other three bets give money for the top 10 finishers. Drivers outside the top 10 give no money.

Originally Posted by Yannick

What does "Alternative" stand for?

The four bet names (premium, regular, fresh, alternative) refer to fuel. IndyCar marketing at its best!

Alternative means that drivers who pay 10-to-1 or less aren't allowed, you must pick high-stakes drivers.

Originally Posted by Yannick

What happens to the "Fresh" category if no rookie finishes in the Top 10? Does the highest-finishing rookie count automatically then?

If you ask for it...

New rule: if no rookie finishes in the top 10, the highest finishing rookie pays $ 50.

Originally Posted by Yannick

I haven't taken part in this before so I don't know what the "Belt Challenge" is.

"Belt Challenge" refers to combat sports, where challengers fight the incumbent champion for the title belt. So the highest placed driver wins the Belt Challenge.

Originally Posted by Yannick

what counts for "Manufacturer"? One Honda ahead of 9 Chevys would mean Honda gets it?

Yes, the winning manufacturer takes all, same as last year. The bet was called "Winning manufacturer" but I shortened it for this year.

[Yannick]

Thank you for your replies. Now I know I had an idea on most of the categories but the "Alternative" one.

o- Premium - Simon Pagenaud
o- Regular - Ryan Hunter-Reay
o- Fresh - Stefano Coletti
o- Alternative - Simona De Silvestro
o- Belt Challenge - Power
o- Manufacturer - Honda

[Salamus]

o- Premium - Pagenaud
o- Regular - Hinchcliffe
o- Fresh - Karam
o- Alternative - Munoz
o- Belt Challenge - Power
o- Manufacturer - Chevrolet

[icemachine]

o- Premium - Dixon
o- Regular - Pagenaud
o- Fresh - Coletti (R)
o- Alternative - Newgarden
o- Belt Challenge - Power
o- Manufacturer - Chevrolet

[NaBUru38]

My bets:

o- Premium - Pagenaud
o- Regular - Hinchcliffe
o- Fresh - Coletti
o- Alternative - De Silvestro
o- Belt Challenge - Power
o- Manufacturer - Chevrolet

[NaBUru38]

Hurry up, folks!

[NaBUru38]

So, these are the results of the 2015 Indy Grand Prix of St. Petersburg:

o- 1st – Montoya ($ 5,000)
o- 2nd – Power ($ 1,800)
o- 3rd – Kanaan ($ 3,200)
o- 4th – Castroneves ($ 1,500)
o- 5th – Pagenaud ($ 600)
o- 6th – Bourdais ($ 800)
o- 7th – Hunter-Reay ($ 500)
o- 8th – Hawksworth ($ 6,000)
o- 9th – Filippi ($ 2,000)
o- 10th – Andretti ($ 800)
o- Fresh – Chaves ($ 1,500)
o- Belt Challenge: Power ($ 600)
o- Manufacturer: Chevrolet ($ 600)

Now, here's the results for each better:

Beetle: $ 2,000

o- Premium - Dixon: $ 0
o- Regular - Bourdais: $ 800
o- Fresh - Karam: $
o- Alternative - Kimball: $ 0
o- Belt Challenge - Power: $ 600
o- Manufacturer – Chevrolet: $ 600

Burp: $ 12,200

o- Premium - Dixon: $ 0
o- Regular - Montoya: $ 5,000
o- Fresh - Coletti: $ 0
o- Alternative - Hawksworth: $ 6,000
o- Belt Challenge - Power: $ 600
o- Manufacturer – Chevrolet: $ 600

Yannick: $ 2,300

o- Premium - Pagenaud: $ 1,200
o- Regular - Hunter-Reay: $ 500
o- Fresh - Coletti: $ 0
o- Alternative - De Silvestro: $ 0
o- Belt Challenge - Power: $ 600
o- Manufacturer – Honda: $ 0

Salamus: $ 2,400

o- Premium - Pagenaud: $ 1,200
o- Regular - Hinchcliffe: $ 0
o- Fresh - Karam: $ 0
o- Alternative - Munoz: $ 0
o- Belt Challenge - Power: $ 600
o- Manufacturer – Chevrolet: $ 600

Icemachine: $ 1,800

o- Premium - Dixon: $ 0
o- Regular - Pagenaud: $ 600
o- Fresh - Coletti: $ 0
o- Alternative - Newgarden: $ 0
o- Belt Challenge - Power: $ 600
o- Manufacturer – Chevrolet: $ 600

NaBUru38: $ 2,400

o- Premium - Pagenaud: $ 1,200
o- Regular - Hinchcliffe: $ 0
o- Fresh - Coletti: $ 0
o- Alternative - De Silvestro: $ 0
o- Belt Challenge - Power : $ 600
o- Manufacturer - Chevrolet : $ 600

Overall results of the round 1 St. Pete:

1st - Burp: $ 12,200
2nd - Salamus: $ 2,400
3rd - NaBUru38: $ 2,400
4th - Yannick: $ 2,300
5th - Beetle: $ 2,000
6th - Icemachine: $ 1,800

Congratulations, Burp! You hit Montoya's win and Hawksworth's 8th finish.

Round 2 New Orleans is in two weeks. Have fun!

[Burp]

Wow!

[NaBUru38]

I'll reduce the money for the Fresh bet, it's too high for a four-driver bet.