LAST EDITED ON 09-12-02 AT 12:57 PM (EST)

Yes, it's that time again! Most of you know the drill by now and I hope you all return for our third go at this.

Welcome to another season of "The Anti-Bootee Contest".

For those new to the game, I created this in the middle of S3, at a point where it seemed no one could pick the correct bootee, and, to make things easier for us, I designed this game where all you have to do is pick who will NOT be kicked out.

Last season's Champ was Psycho Doc, with Survivor Maniac second and Java third, and we had 53 people playing at the start. S3 had 33 people with Sittem and Trevs_Mom winning.

The Rules:

1. Like last season you can pick as many, or as few, Survivors you want each week (minimum of 1). How many you decide to name each week is a function of your daring and strategy. As with last season, please remember that you are picking the people that will NOT be booted off the island.



2. For each Survivor you list that does NOT get booted, you gain one point.
3. For each Tribal Council vote that your selected Survivors pick up, you will be hit with a three point penalty.
4. You can also pick up one point for correctly picking (or lose one if you are wrong) the tribe that will win the Reward and Immunity Challenges (one point for each). I'm leaving this optional, so that you don't have to make the game any more complicated if you don't want to. You simply get a zero if you don't pick this one.
5. You can enter the game anytime you want up until week 4. After week 4 airs, the game is closed to new people. The sooner you enter the game, the more points you can build up (the reward), but the better the chance you will make a lousy pick (the risk). For the first 4 weeks ONLY, you will NOT BE KICKED OUT of the game if you pick the booted Survivor (but you will rack up lots of negative points).
6. After week 4, if you pick the Survivor that takes The Walk of Shame, you are finished, done, kaput. For those flame-snuffed players that are addicted, you are welcome to continue to make picks, but we may all laugh and point fingers at you.
7. For those that enter in week 2, 3 or 4, you will start at zero points, so it is probably better to enter early rather than late, since there should be plenty of 'safe' Survivors to pick from, and lots of points to gain, early on.
8. If you don't make a new weekly pick, it will stay the same as the prior week, except for challenge winners. Forgetting to make weekly picks was the downfall of many a worthy competitor last year, and I imagine that won't change much this time around, but at least this rule gives you a fighting chance.
9. I will make all my picks by Thursday afternoon (say 5PM EST) each week.

What it boils down to is that you control how risky a game you want to play. You can pick a big number of Survivors each week and try to rack up a lot of points, but the more you select, the greater the chance you will be eliminated. Conversely, you can play it safe and select a small number of Survivors, but you will fall behind in the standings. Your best chance to win would then be if all the risk takers get bombed out of the game. For example, last season's winner finished with only 46 points, and was sitting out of the top 10 prior to the S4 Finale, so you should never give up even if you fall way behind. I just hope that LisaPooh isn't too bitter about her Finale debacle to come back and play again (*wink*). I think the scoring flexibility adds a lot of strategy and excitement to our little game, and should keep things interesting.

As far as the open entry date, I chose this to allow stragglers time to get in. There are a lot of us Survivor Freaks out there and some may come on board sooner than others. I would hate to leave out any of the S-Board regulars just because they were a little late to the 'party'.

Finally, to clarify the prizes. As a hobby, I collect and trade CD copies of bootleg concerts from a wide variety of bands (don't worry, it's legal as long as money is not involved). Here's what I am offering to the winner(s):

The Anti-Bootee Champion will get to select 6 CDs worth of music from my collection, while second and third place will get 4 and 2 CDs respectively. Please note that I said 6 total CDs, not 6 shows. We had a little confusion on that last year.

I will also give 2 CDs to whoever has racked up the worst score of all, also known as the Survivorerist Award. It can be won by anyone regardless of what week they were eliminated in. You just have to be awful, or, have an uncanny sense of who will get voted against, but not booted.

To get a look at my collection, go to this site: http://www.geocities.com/set_me_a_3/

Good luck to all, and please fire away with any questions, opinions, etc. on the rules.