People who are likely to die soon
It may sound
ghoulish, but "death pools" are an increasingly popular form of online
betting. Put simply, people place bets on which famous guy will die next. Stiffs.com
is the largest death pool site on the net, with over a thousand players competing
every year.
If you have a morbid fascination in predicting who will die in the coming
year, you may want to check out the names of the people who've received the
greatest number of bets placed on their heads. The stiffs.com folks have a fairly
high accuracy overall. In the eight years they've done the pool the most popular
guy has died five times (the two exceptions being 2001 and 2000, when they expected
Bob Hope to die).
If a name
is highlighted in black, that means the person in question died that year. It
should not be taken for granted that a person whose name appears in pink is
still alive today. All it means is that person did not die during the year
predicted.
PICKS FOR 2006
| rank | Name | occupation |
|
1
|
Brooke Astor | socialite, heiress of Astor fortune |
|
2
|
Lady Bird Johnson | former US first lady |
|
3
|
Gerald Ford (r.i.p.) | former US President |
|
4
|
Lou Rawls (r.i.p.) | jazz / blues singer |
|
5
|
Ronnie Biggs | British convict from the "Great Train Robbery" |
|
6
|
Oriana Fallaci (r.i.p.) | Italian journalist |
|
7
|
John Kenneth Galbraith (r.i.p.) | economist, White House advisor, ambassador |
|
8
|
Billy Graham | evangelical preacher |
|
9
|
Augusto Pinochet (r.i.p.) | former dictator of Chile |
|
10
|
Al Lewis (r.i.p.) | former actor from The Munsters |
PICKS FOR 2005
| rank | Name | occupation |
|
1
|
John Paul II (r.i.p.) | Pope |
|
2
|
Lady Bird Johnson | former US first lady |
|
3
|
William Rehnquist (r.i.p.) | US Chief Justice |
|
4
|
Max Schmeling (r.i.p.) | former German boxer |
|
5
|
Brooke Astor | socialite, heiress of Astor fortune |
|
6
|
Ronnie Biggs | British convict from the "Great Train Robbery" |
|
7
|
James Doohan (r.i.p.) | former Star Trek actor |
|
8
|
Gerald Ford | former US President |
|
9
|
Rosa Parks (r.i.p.) | civil rights activist |
|
10
|
Eddie Albert (r.i.p.) | former actor |
PICKS FOR 2004
| rank | Name | occupation |
|
1
|
Ronald Reagan (r.i.p.) | former US President |
|
2
|
John Paul II | Pope |
|
3
|
Johnny Oates (r.i.p.) | former MLB player, manager |
|
4
|
Fay Wray (r.i.p.) | former actress, star of King Kong |
|
5
|
Lady Bird Johnson | former US first lady |
|
6
|
Barney Kessel (r.i.p.) | jazz musician |
|
7
|
Max Schmeling | former German boxer |
|
8
|
Ronnie Biggs | British convict from the "Great Train Robbery" |
|
9
|
Brooke Astor | socialite, heiress of Astor fortune |
|
10
|
Eddie Albert | former actor |
PICKS FOR 2003
| rank | Name | occupation |
|
1
|
Warren Zevon (r.i.p.) | musician |
|
2
|
Bob Hope (r.i.p.) | entertainer |
|
3
|
Strom Thurmond (r.i.p.) | US senator |
|
4
|
Ronald Reagan | former US President |
|
5
|
John Paul II | Pope |
|
6
|
Lester Maddox (r.i.p.) | former Governor of Georgia |
|
7
|
Johnny Oates | former MLB player, manager |
|
8
|
Madame Chiang Kai Shek (r.i.p.) | former Chinese first lady |
|
9
|
Lady Bird Johnson | former US first lady |
|
10
|
Katherine Hepburn (r.i.p.) | former Hollywood actress |
PICKS FOR 2002
| rank | Name | occupation |
|
1
|
John Gotti (b.i.h) | Mafia leader |
|
2
|
Bob Hope | entertainer |
|
3
|
Strom Thurmond | US senator |
|
4
|
Osama Bin Laden | terrorist leader |
|
5
|
The Queen Mother (r.i.p.) | former British queen |
|
6
|
Ronald Reagan | former US President |
|
7
|
Lester Maddox | former Governor of Georgia |
|
8
|
John Paul II | Pope |
|
9
|
Bob Hayes (r.i.p.) | former football player |
|
10
|
Dudley Moore (r.i.p.) | actor |
PICKS FOR 2001
| rank | Name | occupation |
|
1
|
Bob Hope | entertainer |
|
2
|
Ronald Reagan | former US President |
|
3
|
John Paul II | Pope |
|
4
|
Strom Thurmond | US senator |
|
5
|
Dudley Moore | actor |
|
6
|
The Queen Mother | former British queen |
|
7
|
Al McGuire (r.i.p.) | former basketball coach |
|
8
|
Madame Chiang Kai Shek | former Chinese first lady |
|
9
|
John Gotti | Mafia leader |
|
10
|
Katherine Hepburn | former Hollywood actress |
PICKS FOR 2000
| rank | Name | occupation |
|
1
|
Bob Hope | entertainer |
|
2
|
Ronald Reagan | former US President |
|
3
|
John Paul II | Pope |
|
4
|
Boris Yeltsin | former President of Russia |
|
5
|
Charles Schulz (r.i.p.) | "Peanuts" cartoonist |
|
6
|
Strom Thurmond | US senator |
|
7
|
Tom Landry (r.i.p.) | former football coach |
|
8
|
Katherine Hepburn | former Hollywood actress |
|
9
|
Dudley Moore | actor |
|
10
|
The Queen Mother | former British queen |
PICKS FOR 1999
| rank | Name | occupation |
|
1
|
Joe DiMaggio (r.i.p.) | former baseball player |
|
2
|
Bob Hope | entertainer |
|
3
|
Boris Yeltsin | former President of Russia |
|
4
|
John Paul II | Pope |
|
5
|
Katherine Hepburn | former Hollywood actress |
|
6
|
Senor Wenees (r.i.p.) | ventriloquist |
|
7
|
Strom Thurmond | US senator |
|
8
|
Ronald Reagan | former US President |
|
9
|
The Queen Mother | former British queen |
|
10
|
Buddy Ebsen | former "Beverly Hillbillies" star |
PICKS FOR 1998
| rank | Name | occupation |
|
1
|
Frank Sinatra (r.i.p.) | musician |
|
2
|
Bob Hope | entertainer |
|
3
|
James Earl Ray (r.i.p.) | assasin of Martin Luther King Jr. |
|
4
|
Strom Thurmond | US senator |
|
5
|
Katherine Hepburn | former Hollywood actress |
|
6
|
John Paul II | Pope |
|
7
|
Boris Yeltsin | former President of Russia |
|
8
|
Ronald Reagan | former US President |
|
9
|
The Queen Mother | former British queen |
|
10
|
Richard Harris | actor |
PEOPLE WHOSE IMMINENT DEATHS HAVE BEEN THE MOST ANTICIPATED:
| rank | Name | record | age at death |
|
1
|
John Paul II (r.i.p.) | predicted for 8 straight years | 83 |
|
2
|
Ronald Reagan (r.i.p.) | predicted for 7 straight years | 93 |
|
3
|
Bob Hope (r.i.p.) | predicted for 6 straight years | 100 |
| Strom Thurmond (r.i.p.) | 100 | ||
|
4
|
The Queen Mother (r.i.p.) | predicted for 5 straight years | 101 |
|
5
|
Katherine Hepburn (r.i.p.) | predicted for 4 straight years plus 1 | 96 |
|
6
|
Lady Bird Johnson | predicted for 4 straight years | currently 93 |