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- “It’s a morbid, sick fascination and in bad taste,” G911 Senior Editor admits but acknowledges there is an appetite “for this sort of thing”
- Many of those celebrities who have passed away in 2016 failed to make the Death Pool cut
- Betty White and Hugh Hefner top the current Death Pool list with White the top trending on Twitter late Tuesday afternoon
- 83-year-old poker pro Doyle Brunson routinely appears atop Death Pool lists but often jokes about making the cut along with regular rumors of his demise
While not promoted on sites like Gambling911.com, some online betting sites do take bets on so-called death pools, the odds of a particular celebrity next to pass away.
“It’s a morbid, sick fascination and in bad taste,” explains Gambling911.com Senior Editor Payton O’Brien. “That doesn’t stop folks from placing bets on this sort of thing, especially during periods when multiple celebrities die at once.
“There is an appetite for this sort of thing,” she added.
Death pools also shed a light on just how quickly fans wish 2016 would end. Most of those who have passed this year failed to even make the Death Pool cut.
“Star Wars’ actress Carrie Fisher was the latest to die on Tuesday. Her untimely death follows that of George Michael Christmas Day, comedian Ricky Harris yesterday and a slew of other actors and musical artists the likes of David Bowie, Alan Thicke and Prince to name a few, none of whom appeared on any recent Celebrity Death Pool.
Sure Florence Henderson and John Glenn were up there in years but both were considered spry and not much older than US President-Elect Donald Trump, whose personal physician described him as being the “healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency."
Zsa Zsa Gabor passed away this past week at 99.
Not surprisingly, Betty White tops the current Death Pool odds at 94 (well actually just under Hugh Hefner). Beloved by nearly everyone with a heartbeat, White is still in perfect health but found herself trending atop Twitter by Tuesday afternoon.
One person tweeted:
2016 is heartbreaking. But I swear... if 2016 takes Betty White along for its ride & bitter end..
Another tweeted:
Damn you, 2016 and ur never-ending roster of deaths! Don't even THINK about touching #BettyWhite, Justice Ginsburg, and Justice Kennedy...
In case you were wondering, Clint Eastwood, Keith Richards, Willie Nelson, Jack Nicholson and Mick Jagger find themselves climbing the Death Pool odds table.
Elder poker pro Doyle Brunson, 83, has appeared on numerous Death Pools over the years and tends to take regular rumors of his demise with a grain of salt, especially after escaping multiple near death experiences over several decades.
There is even a Facebook page created for Brunson in the Afterlife, RIP Doyle Brunson, with 696 followers and 713 likes.
It reads:
Poker legend Doyle Brunson is going to kick the bucket most probably soon. This page is here to honor him for what he has done for poker
In 2009, the late comedienne Joan Rivers famously told Brunson to “die under a deck of cards”.
- Nagesh Rath, Gambling911.com
