US Open 2017 Tennis - 200 Steem Contest/Giveaway - DEADLINE 9/4/17
We are on Day 6 of the US Open. I had so much fun with the last giveaway (Mayweather vs. McGregor) that I've decided to do another giveaway. This time I will be offering 200 steems total. I made more money than expected in the Mayweather vs. McGregor fight (some of my "fun" bets that I didn't expect to win i.e. "fight ends in even odds" and "over 7.5 rounds" paid off so I gave back some of the profits to the Steemit community (those who participated in my contest) by paying off more than what I originally promised).
With the US Open Contest, it will be a bit complicated because unlike the Mayweather vs. McGregor fight when it was scheduled for one night and would end within the span of 36 minutes, the US Open is a 2-week tournament starting with 128 players in the field with elimination so the rules will be different. The closer you are to the entry deadline, the better odds you have of winning as players are still being eliminated. So I'm going to invite the Steemit community to reply to this post with suggestions such as:
- When should the deadline be
- What are the payout structure? Such as: 100 First Place, 75 Second Place, 25 Third Place.
- What are the rules, tiebreaker, etc?
I will upvote QUALITY suggestions and comments pertaining to the tournament. I will update this post once I determine the rules and deadline of the contest from reading your suggestions. Upvoting this post is not necessary but appreciated, of course.
Just to give you my take on the US Open - I'm limiting my comments to the men's section because that's the section I follow:
I see this year's US Open as an opportunity for one of the Next Generation players to take the title due many of the top players pulling out. Last year's finalists Stan Wawrinka and Novak Djokovic pulled out, followed by Kei Nishikori, Milos Raonic, and Andy Murray (who pulled out at the last minute). This leaves only Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal as the favorites but even those two are vulnerable: Federer hurt his back in the Montreal Final during his straight set loss to Alexander Zverev and Rafael Nadal got blasted off the court by Nick Kyrgios in the Cincinnati quarterfinals. With those facts in consideration, I avoided betting on Federer as his odds were only +137 and only placed my money on Nadal (+250) along with eight other players that I THOUGHT would make deep runs:
Alexander Zverev (MY TOP PICK) - I was so sure he was going to steamroll his way into the semis, then everything is possible after that.
HE LOST IN THE FIRST ROUND
Nick Kyrgios - after his domination of Rafael Nadal in Cincinnati, I was sure he would win his quarter and put himself in a good position to win the US Open title.
HE LOST IN THE FIRST ROUND
Marin Cilic - he made it to the finals in the last grand slam (Wimbledon) and has the game, experience, and power game necessary to win US Open. He also was a surprise winner in 2014 when he beat Federer in straight sets in the semis and took advantage of an exhausted Kei Nishikori in the final (who was spent after beating Djokovic in the semis) to win his only grand slam. This year with all the injuries and pullouts, he has a chance to prove to everyone that he's not a "one time Slam wonder".
HE JUST LOST YESTERDAY
Grigor Dimitrov - aka "Baby Fed" - he has the game and talent to win at least one grand slam in his lifetime, and he beat Kyrgios for the Cincinnati title .
HE LOST IN THE SECOND ROUND
Young Americans Steve Johnson, Sam Querrey, Jack Sock, and John Isner - time for them to make deep runs to take advantage of the top players' absence and also feed off the energy from US supporters.
All but one has been eliminated before the third round. Only Sam Querrey is left out of my picks.
I have been stumped with the results of this year's US Open so far. While Federer's back is in question, I expected him to at least cruise to the quarters where he might lose to Kyrgios or Thiem. Yet he was extended to five sets in his first two rounds by 19-year old Frances Tiafoe and Mikhail Youzhny - a player he had beaten 16 times in a row before. You would think a 19-year old would be overwhelmed by the prospect of playing someone who has as many grand slams as many years as he has aged (so it was full credit to Tiafoe for that performance - while Federer barely won that match, Tiafoe won the crowd). Playing Federer for the 17th time, Youzhny must have thought to himself: "no one beats Mikhail Youzhy 17 times in a row" to echo the famous quote by Vitas Gerulaitis). What's puzzling is that Federer's poor play wasn't due to his back but rather due to lapses of concentration. While Nadal has been progressing better, there were signs of vulnerability throughout his matches in the first two rounds as he has lost a set each time. I normally don't expect this out of Nadal in the early stages of a grand slam. My biggest shock is Zverev losing the first round, followed by Krygios and Dimitrov, then the U.S. players not being able to take advantage of this opportunity.
So tell me your suggestions, I'd love to hear them.
UPDATED 9/3/17
OK thanks for all the suggestions.
Your deadline to submit your entry is at the end of the day Monday (Labor Day) 9/4/17.
There will be a point system where:
- You name the 4 semi-finalists - worth 250 points each
- You name the 2 finalists - worth 500 points each
- You name the winner - worth 1000 points
(3000 points total)
4 Tiebreakers in case of a tie:
Name the women's finalists
Name the women's champion
Name the men's doubles finalists
Name the men's doubles champions
FOR EXAMPLE (this is a random example only):
Semifinalists:
Top half:
Alexandr Goldopolov
Philip Kohlschreiber
Bottom half:
Sam Querrey
Diego Schwartzman
Finalists:
Philip Kohlschreiber vs. Sam Querrey
Winner: Sam Querrey
Let's assume the above highly-unlikely, virtually-impossible scenario happens, then your total points would be 3000 points. Everyone with 3000 points would be the winners, then I go to the 4 tie-breakers. Whoever has the most correct tiebreaker picks win! In case of a tie, then I would split the prize money.
Total Prize Money is 200 Steems to be divided equally by three winners.
For example:
2 people got all 4000 points and got all four tiebreaker picks - SHARE FIRST PLACE PRIZE
2 people got all 4000 points but got 2 tiebreaker picks - SHARE SECOND PLACE PRIZE
2 people got all 4000 points but missed all the tiebreakers - SHARE THIRD PLACE PRIZE
I don't want to commit the purse for each position because if we have more people ending up in first place, I don't want to share that prize among 5 people (if first place was 100, each would get 20), which would end up in having the 2 people who win second place win more steems (if second place was 50, each would get 25). So I will decide after the tournament is over, but the guaranteed total prize fund is 200 steems!
TIP:
Wait until the top half round of 16 matches are completed before you place your entries!
This is because the bottom half round of 16 matches are being played today and the top half matches are being played tomorrow. Here are today's matches:
Shalopalov vs. Carreno Busta - BUSTA WON.
Pouille vs. Schwartzman - SCHWARTZMAN WON.
Querrey vs. Zverev - to be played tonight.
Lorenzi vs. Anderson - to be played tonight.
Busta and Schwartzman will play in the quarters to determine the winner of the fourth quarter.
Winner of Querrey vs. Zverev will play winner of Lorenzi vs. Anderson to determine the winner of the third quarter.
Tomorrow, Labor Day, the scheduled matches are:
Nadal vs. Dolgopolov
Goffin vs. Rublev
Federer vs. Kohlschreiber
Del Potro vs. Thiem
Nadal vs. Dolgopolov winner plays Goffin vs. Rublev winner to determine first quarter winner
Federer vs. Kohlschreiber winner plays Del Potro vs. Thiem winner to determine second quarter winner
Semis will be:
Top Half
First quarter winner vs. second quarter winner
Bottom Half
Third quarter winner vs. fourth quarter winner
So it would behoove you to wait until the end of tomorrow when you have 8 guys left in the field and you can send me your entries. Remember, after midnight tomorrow, I will screenshot your entries so you can't change them anytime after that! And of course only one entry per account.
GOOD LUCK EVERYONE! I hope this contest/giveaway will make you want to follow the matches!!!
Great to hear - I started one for US Open - steemians to guess the winner male and female - deadline officially over. Open also for suggestions :-) - am not a pro in handling contests (yet) - here the post: https://steemit.com/sports/@sportsgeek/tennis-us-open-started-win-sbd
Thanks for pointing that out. I upvoted your post and also upvoted some comments - not all, just those that I agree with. At this point it's either Federer or Nadal. It's a pity that the final will be anti-climactic as the Federer-Nadal semis should be the final. Federer should have landed on the bottom half. But I may be speaking too soon as they each have two players who would like to prevent that semifinals from happening. Del Potro or Thiem both look good to prevent Federer's trip to the semis. The Dog may be tricky enough to push Rafa to another 4 setter, thereby increasing his "mileage" in the tournament where he may fall against Goffin or Rublev. Personally I think Federer has tougher opponents than Nadal to get to his semifinal date: Kolhscreiber and Del Potro or Thiem are in better form than The Dog and Goffin or Rublev. As a tennis fan, I want to see the Federer-Nadal semis. They've never met here.
Thanks a lot for votes and engaging. I personally think it will be Nadal. Getting back more elaborated tomorrow @tytran
What's up Bro! Great iniciative once again, I was one of the few who won some steem on the May vc Mc Fight, true boxing fans knew that was going to be a circus.
Regarding this contest I would suggest that payments are divided like this, 50% for 1st, 30% for 2nd and 20% for 3rd, you could use a tie-breaker like total of games on finals in case there is a Tie. You should start it before quarter finals so we can have more options, obviously one choice per participant and like I told you, Tie-breaker is essential because you will see a lot of repeated players in people's picks. You have many options for thge tie-breaker, it could be numbers of games or sets or time the match will last, etc. Will be in touch to help you promote this! Cheers Bro!
Yes, you won 2nd place in that contest! Good call. I missed it by the same number of rounds you did. I picked Mayweather KO/TKO in the last round.
I’ve gotten great ideas from two replies already so thank you and keep them coming!
Cool man - these competitions are rad. My mother and brother would not even have watched the boxing if not for your competition - which made it so interesting for them. Would be interesting to have a prize for the quarter finals and then also for who will make the finals and how many sets and how long the game lasts @tytran
I love having them as it makes it more fun for me and at the same time I can give back to the people in this wonderful platform. And get people to tune in to watch men's tennis. As an ex (non-professional) tennis player myself, I think it's an underrated sport. Only those who play tennis knows how hard it is to make those shots like Nadal's heavy top spin or Federer's beautiful shots. It's all Federer's fault because he just makes it look so easy. It's not!!!
Well - you're doing a good job @tytran
Why thank you! I love doing this.
Well don't stop - this is great @tytran
I would have liked Sock to advance a little more but it seems to be stagnating and lost very soon. In the remainder of the tournament, I see clearly a finalist between Nadal-Federer can only worry Del Potro and maybe Thiem.
On the other side of the picture is not so clear, would bet among the big punters like Anderson or Querry but attention to the promising Shapovalov. Although they are older than the duo Rafa-Roger will be the champion, they will not have opposition. As for the contest, each participant can choose three players, each player who wins a game is 5 points each player who wins a set a point each player who misses a set subtracts a point who has more points at the end of the tournament wins. In case of a tie, whoever has the most advanced players in the tournament wins.
Nadal and Federer were drawn in the same half so they are slated to meet in the semi final assuming either of them survive that long. Nadal has a relatively easier draw with Mayer then Dolgopolov and Goffin or Monfils. Federer on the other hand has Feliciano Lopez, Kohlschreiber, then Del Potro or Thiem. Thiem looks really good right now to win that quarter.
Querrey, M. Zverev, Shapovalov, and Pouille all have a chance to emerge from the decimated bottom half.
I'll definitely use the point system based on 3 suggestions already, thank you.
My sugesttions deadline after 1/8 before 1/4
To choose winner (7 points), finalists 4 (points)and half-finalists (2 points)
Good contest Friend
Point system! Thank you for your suggestion!
I hope I could help you
Right now there is an anti-incentive to spread this contest around as it directly goes against the chance of winning.
I Run a contest myself and as a way to promote it I've put aside part of the prize pool for people who resteemed. Put 20% or more of the prize pool aside that gets split between those who resteemed and predicted the correct US Open winner. This way many people can win something and there is a good reason to participate and spread this around like crazy at the same time without any obligations.
You could make an announcement post with the rules of the contest and have it spread around. Once the quarter finalists are know you could make the actual contest post with the start of these matches as a deadline.
Also thanks for the split 3th place in mayweather fight contest!
I used it to power up a bit more.
You did well in that Mayweather-McGregor contest. I honestly don’t know how some people think McGregor had a chance but he did put up a good show!
Oh, missed this one!!!
I was, like @costanza, expecting a new post and with all these steemit messiness totally lost track of it...
Best luck to all the contenders!! :))
My bets for the last two rounds, just for fun :DD
P. Carreño Busta
R. Nadal
Winner: R. Nadal
V. Williams
C. Vandeweghe
Winner: V. Williams
Yeah sorry, I didn't know that by updating my post it did not appear on people's feeds. Next time I'll write a follow up post. Anyway I'll still accept your last two picks. You'll have less points missing the semis but you never know.
No worries!! if I'd checked again I knew :D
Thanks for taking the picks, although I don't think I stand a chance :DDDD
by the way, do you bet on women's tennis?? it seems so unpredictable...
ye your picks were good in paper but they all lost :(
my suggestion is to make bet like who will win and who will last longer (this bet without nadal and federer) something like this.
also i like idea of top3 so we have more than 1 winner . maybe depends on how many people will be even expand it to top5
I still have 2 picks left: Nadal and Querrey. But the beauty of sports betting is that you can add more picks, although their value will have diminished. For example, if I want to add Pablo Carreno Busta, I can, but he will probably be +1000 when I could have picked him at +5000 before the tournament started. I'm going to shop for two players on the bottom half who I think would make the finals. Right now Carreno Busta looks really good but I'll have to wait and see the forms of the other four players in the other two matches tonight.
I would suggest that the deadline should be latest @ top 16.
As a tie break I would choose Sets in Final Game or if you think that there will be many winners the question could be how many Games will be played in Final game .