COOT '08 Round One!

Jon O'Neill · Post by **Jon O'Neill** » Sun Jun 22, 2008 10:11 pm

The draw for the first round was made tonight! Here is all you need to know.

22 players means 6 preliminary games. The top 8 entrants from http://www.sooreams.com/cd/ratings.asp were given byes. These were:

Jon O'Neill
Paul Howe
Damian Eadie
Ben Wilson
Kirk Bevins
Dan Vanniasingham
Charlie Reams
Julian Fell

Of the other 14 entrants, 12 were randomly drawn in pairs to play in the preliminary rounds, and these are the pairings:

MATT GREEN vs. MATT COATES
HOWARD SOMERSET vs. RICH PRIEST
JON CORBY vs. BEN PUGH
DINOS SFYRIS vs. HEATHER CULPIN
MICHAEL WALLACE vs. RICHARD BRITTAIN
MARTIN GARDNER vs. JAMES HURREL

The fortunate 2 who also achieved byes are Jason Cullen and Karen Pearson. Well done guys.

All games are to be played over 15 rounds, and the deadline for these games is Sunday 29th June so please please get in touch with your opponent (through these forums is a good start) as soon as possible or, in the nicest possible way, I will kick you both out. Let me know if your opponent is unresponsive and I'll see what I can do.

If you need a host then I would suggest adding some other people from the tournament using MSN Messenger addresses which can be found in their forum profiles. Hopefully.

Post results in this thread! Good luck all!

Charlie Reams · Post by **Charlie Reams** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 12:16 am

Apologies for not updating the ratings, I've been facing some technical problems. Preliminary results suggest that nothing much would have changed.

Julian Fell · Post by **Julian Fell** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 7:29 am

Ginger Jono wrote: JON CORBY vs. BEN PUGH

Ouch - judging by their performances in COMA, these two could well have contested the COOT final, yet one of them's going to be out even before round one... that's a rum draw. Hard luck guys. (btw Ben P when are you applying to go on the show? judging by your COMA games you could easily win a series)

I've added most of the people in the tournament on WLM - the people whose WLM addresses I haven't got are Damian, Heather Culpin, Karen Pearson, Rich Priest, Matthew Green and James Hurrell. If you could let me know your addresses I'd be grateful. (mine is on the 'msn' thread if you don't have it)

Edit to say: Jono you didn't specify it above, but do all the prelim games have to be 15 rounds? Not that it affects me, but it'd make sense to be consistent throughout the tournament that's all.

Howard Somerset · Post by **Howard Somerset** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 8:33 am

Julian wrote:I've added most of the people in the tournament on WLM

I've done similarly. Not that there's a lot of point to it this time, as my chances of getting past the preliminary round are extremely remote, and that's an optimistic view.

Richard Priest · Post by **Richard Priest** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 8:45 am

Julian wrote:
Ginger Jono wrote: JON CORBY vs. BEN PUGH
Ouch - judging by their performances in COMA, these two could well have contested the COOT final, yet one of them's going to be out even before round one... that's a rum draw. Hard luck guys. (btw Ben P when are you applying to go on the show? judging by your COMA games you could easily win a series)

I've added most of the people in the tournament on WLM - the people whose WLM addresses I haven't got are Damian, Heather Culpin, Karen Pearson, Rich Priest, Matthew Green and James Hurrell. If you could let me know your addresses I'd be grateful. (mine is on the 'msn' thread if you don't have it)

Edit to say: Jono you didn't specify it above, but do all the prelim games have to be 15 rounds? Not that it affects me, but it'd make sense to be consistent throughout the tournament that's all.

Hi Julian, my address is rpriest@hotmail.co.uk.

David O'Donnell · Post by **David O'Donnell** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 9:18 am

Please PLEASE please recap as many as possible of these games.

PS Talk about an unlucky draw, Howard

Julian Fell · Post by **Julian Fell** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 9:59 am

David are you computered again? If so Jono might let you have a late wildcard entry into COOT if you want it?

Charlie Reams · Post by **Charlie Reams** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 10:12 am

David O'Donnell wrote:Please PLEASE please recap as many as possible of these games.

If you use the Recap Writer then they'll also appear on the wiki shortly.

JasonCullen · Post by **JasonCullen** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 11:30 am

Who decides who are the hosts of these matches? I am willing to be a host in anyone's match since I got a very fortunate bye in the first round! Get in touch with me if you want me to be your host

(presuming that is allowed Jono!)

Matt Coates · Post by **Matt Coates** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 11:34 am

how does this all work? me and richard priest (who is also wondering) have never played online before.

thanks, Matt.

would be great if you could host my game Jason

James Hurrell · Post by **James Hurrell** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 11:40 am

If Martin doesn't object I don't mind you doing our game either.

We have to arrange a time first - when's best with you Martin??

JasonCullen · Post by **JasonCullen** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 11:50 am

Matt Coates wrote:how does this all work? me and richard priest (who is also wondering) have never played online before.

thanks, Matt.

would be great if you could host my game Jason

No problem Matt Coates. As long as its fine by you and Matt Green then I will certainly be your host. Just post me a time and date you want to play at

.

JasonCullen · Post by **JasonCullen** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 11:52 am

James Hurrell wrote:If Martin doesn't object I don't mind you doing our game either.

We have to arrange a time first - when's best with you Martin??

Sure thing James

. I can be your host too providing Martin doesn't object. However, it must not clash with Matt vs Matt clash

Jon O'Neill · Post by **Jon O'Neill** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 12:28 pm

Julian wrote:Edit to say: Jono you didn't specify it above, but do all the prelim games have to be 15 rounds? Not that it affects me, but it'd make sense to be consistent throughout the tournament that's all.

Yep, all games are over 15 rounds.

To those above confused about how it all works: don't panic, you can learn in under five minutes.

Matt Coates · Post by **Matt Coates** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 12:33 pm

Jason, we have arranged to play at 6pm tomorrow, is that ok for you?

is there a section on how it all works?

Jon O'Neill · Post by **Jon O'Neill** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 12:36 pm

It's easiest to learn on MSN Messenger. I'm usually about. If not, Ben Wilson will help you out.

Howard Somerset · Post by **Howard Somerset** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 12:51 pm

Charlie Reams wrote:
David O'Donnell wrote:Please PLEASE please recap as many as possible of these games.
If you use the Recap Writer then they'll also appear on the wiki shortly.

For some reason your second link isn't working, Charlie - not for me, at any rate. The url looks correct.

However, adding "www." helps.

Charlie Reams · Post by **Charlie Reams** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 1:14 pm

Howard Somerset wrote: For some reason your second link isn't working, Charlie - not for me, at any rate. The url looks correct. However, adding "www." helps.

Cheers, fixed.

Ben Wilson · Post by **Ben Wilson** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 3:20 pm

Ginger Jono wrote:It's easiest to learn on MSN Messenger. I'm usually about. If not, Ben Wilson will help you out.

...Thanks.

Seriously though, I don't mind at all- manandmadman@hotmail.com is the address to add if in any doubt. I also do phone consultation for a fixed fee.

JasonCullen · Post by **JasonCullen** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 3:25 pm

I've been informed that Howard vs Richard will take place tomorrow lunchtime with myself being the host

. Should be a good game

Howard Somerset · Post by **Howard Somerset** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 4:31 pm

jasoncullen wrote: Should be a good game

... if you like watching an annihilation

Michael Wallace · Post by **Michael Wallace** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 4:41 pm

I notice that Richard and myself so far have a total difference of +1 (to me, bwaha...well, depending on whether that whole 12 point conundrum thing stood...) in online games. Admittedly we've only played twice, but still...

Apparently we'll play when we notice both of us are online as well as someone to host (I'm online when I'm awake, whereas his computer access is slightly more limited). So, err, watch this space?

Martin Gardner · Post by **Martin Gardner** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 5:05 pm

James,

My Countdown only email address is mgcountdown@hotmail.fr (was logged onto the French MSN when I decided to create the account, by chance!) although I don't usually read my emails for that account. Otherwise if you reply on this board I'll read it, I'm free most evenings but I share the computer so I'm not online all the time.

Martin

Richard Priest · Post by **Richard Priest** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 6:34 pm

Howard Somerset wrote:
jasoncullen wrote: Should be a good game
... if you like watching an annihilation

Think positive, Howard!

Michael Wallace · Post by **Michael Wallace** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 6:55 pm

Richard and I are going to start in about 10 minutes (short notice, I know) in case any of you guys want to watch some molestation occur.

Michael Wallace · Post by **Michael Wallace** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 7:41 pm

Spoilers!

Jon Corby · Post by **Jon Corby** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 8:02 pm

When was Ben Pugh last online?

I think we'd best say I won by default

JasonCullen · Post by **JasonCullen** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 8:29 pm

Just a reminder guys that Howard Somerset vs Richard Priest match is being played at 12pm tomorrow on msn. So if you want to watch or contribute, add my email address in the msn thread as I am the host for this match

. Hope to see some of you there

Howard Somerset · Post by **Howard Somerset** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 8:59 pm

Michael v Richard is now reported on the Wiki, here

Howard Somerset · Post by **Howard Somerset** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 9:00 pm

jasoncullen wrote:Just a reminder guys that Howard Somerset vs Richard Priest match is being played at 12pm tomorrow on msn. So if you want to watch or contribute, add my email address in the msn thread as I am the host for this match . Hope to see some of you there

I certainly hope to be there, Jason.

Richard Brittain · Post by **Richard Brittain** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 9:02 pm

Yeah, good game Michael. Here's the recap.

Note that some people may prefer not to know the outcome before reading the recap.

Michael Wallace · Post by **Michael Wallace** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 9:16 pm

Richard Brittain wrote:Note that some people may prefer not to know the outcome before reading the recap.

This occurred to me, yes, but I had a good reason for not thinking it mattered (which escapes me now...). I'll edit my post, but have been quoted by Howard, so it might not help.

Howard Somerset · Post by **Howard Somerset** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 9:21 pm

Michael Wallace wrote:
Richard Brittain wrote:Note that some people may prefer not to know the outcome before reading the recap.
This occurred to me, yes, but I had a good reason for not thinking it mattered (which escapes me now...). I'll edit my post, but have been quoted by Howard, so it might not help.

Fixed my post too.

James Hurrell · Post by **James Hurrell** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 10:21 pm

Hi Martin

How's Friday evening? You name the time. If no good let me know.

James

Martin Gardner · Post by **Martin Gardner** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 6:58 am

Suits me fine, just about any time that evening would be fine. Just log on and we'll play.

Martin

Ben Pugh · Post by **Ben Pugh** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 2:45 pm

Corby wrote:When was Ben Pugh last online?

I think we'd best say I won by default

I haven't been online for a while because I've been in Germany, and still am. I fly back tomorrow. I obviously can't play tonight and I would rather not play tomorrow evening as I'll be very tired, but as far as I'm aware, I can play at any time after tomorrow.

Jon Corby · Post by **Jon Corby** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 7:33 pm

Ben Pugh wrote:I haven't been online for a while because I've been in Germany, and still am. I fly back tomorrow. I obviously can't play tonight and I would rather not play tomorrow evening as I'll be very tired, but as far as I'm aware, I can play at any time after tomorrow.

Tomorrow sounds perfect then

Jon O'Neill · Post by **Jon O'Neill** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 12:10 am

Michael Wallace wrote:
Richard Brittain wrote:Note that some people may prefer not to know the outcome before reading the recap.
This occurred to me, yes, but I had a good reason for not thinking it mattered (which escapes me now...). I'll edit my post, but have been quoted by Howard, so it might not help.

It doesn't matter. I'd actuall prefer all the results to be posted in here, along with the name of whoever hosted. So by way of catching up, these are the games I know to be complete:

Richard Brittain 105-84 Michael Wallace (Host: Ben Wilson, Jason Cullen, Paul Howe)
Rich Priest 92-57 Howard Somerset (Host: Jason Cullen)
Matt Coates 86-77 Matt Green (Host: Jason Cullen)

Outstanding games:

JON CORBY vs. BEN PUGH - some time later this week
DINOS SFYRIS vs. HEATHER CULPIN - Heather hasn't been on the forum since a month ago so this will probably be a forfeit. I would prefer her to arrive though so if you're reading, Heather, do get in touch!
MARTIN GARDNER vs. JAMES HURREL - friday evening

Thanks guys, this is all going very well.. better than I expected. Special thank you to the hosts.

Oh also, recaps are not necessary, but they are of course enjoyable for everyone to read.

Julian Fell · Post by **Julian Fell** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 12:57 am

Would be a shame if Heather missed out again - I believe she said she was in COOT 3 but didn't get to play then either because of the tournament's organizational difficulties... she might be a bit annoyed if she's forfeited this time. Come on Heather!

James Hurrell · Post by **James Hurrell** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 5:39 pm

Hi Martin

Is 17:30/18:00 on Friday ok or too early for you? If too early, how about 20:00? Jason Cullen has offered to host and I cannot think of any reason to turn this down so if we can find a mutually acceptable time for all of us then we should be good to go.

Matthew Green · Post by **Matthew Green** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 8:56 pm

Given the situation with the O's, why dont me, Micheal and Howard have a round-robin and the winner takes Heathers place and plays Dino?

Michael Wallace · Post by **Michael Wallace** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 12:30 am

Matthew Green wrote:Given the situation with the O's, why dont me, Micheal and Howard have a round-robin and the winner takes Heathers place and plays Dino?

I'm not entirely convinced by this - if the O thing was an actual problem it would only really make sense for us to replay our preliminary round opponents, rather than mess around with the current setup.

But then again it's Jono's tourney so maybe he'll decide that the whole O thing means that I should just win the whole thing outright. Maybe.

Jon O'Neill · Post by **Jon O'Neill** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 12:22 pm

O, I thought Matt was joking.

O's or no O's, no results are changing.

Charlie Reams · Post by **Charlie Reams** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 12:26 pm

I've taken time out of my final-week-as-an-undergraduate schedule to fix CountGen, so the working version should now be online and the tournament can continue. Please let me know if there are any further problems.

Michael Wallace · Post by **Michael Wallace** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 12:29 pm

Ginger Jono wrote:O, I thought Matt was joking.

O, that hadn't occurred to me...

Matthew Green · Post by **Matthew Green** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 3:13 pm

I wouldnt think it fair to make the winners have to play again but when you think about it, if they played the first round of the snooker world championship with no yellow on the table, would they just carry on?

Jon O'Neill · Post by **Jon O'Neill** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 4:07 pm

Given that the playing field was level, I would like to think they'd carry on anyway. If any snooker player is a yellow-specialist, I would like to think they'd reconsider. Our playing field was level. If any of the losers can make a convincing claim at being an O-specialist, I might reconsider.

Jon Corby · Post by **Jon Corby** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 4:13 pm

How does tomorrow night sound Mr Pugh? I could do tonight at a stretch, but it's a busy one for me, given that I'm playing football, then watching football, then watching Countdown and doing the recap.

Ben Pugh · Post by **Ben Pugh** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 4:29 pm

Corby wrote:How does tomorrow night sound Mr Pugh? I could do tonight at a stretch, but it's a busy one for me, given that I'm playing football, then watching football, then watching Countdown and doing the recap.

Tomorrow evening should be fine.

Jon Corby · Post by **Jon Corby** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 4:34 pm

Ben Pugh wrote:Tomorrow evening should be fine.

Cool, any time after 8pm is good for me. Any volunteers for a host please?

I'll host a game in return if necessary

Matthew Green · Post by **Matthew Green** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 6:25 pm

Ginger Jono wrote:Given that the playing field was level, I would like to think they'd carry on anyway. If any snooker player is a yellow-specialist, I would like to think they'd reconsider. Our playing field was level. If any of the losers can make a convincing claim at being an O-specialist, I might reconsider.

But then they might argue that they weren't playing Snooker atall as you need a yellow ball on the table. Hence playing countdown with a 25-letter alphabet is essentially a completely different game. Yes the playing field might be level and I concede that, when it comes to 25-letter-countdown Matt Coates is marginally better than me, but at 26-letter countdown we are yet to find out.

In fact, when it comes to 25-letter countdown, statistics suggest that I am in the top 5 of all time!

Julian Fell · Post by **Julian Fell** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 12:56 am

To be fair though Matthew G, Damian has said recently that on TV they sometimes remove the J or Q or X from the letters pile for a few shows if they've had a run of bad letters rounds; and the J went missing (presumably unintentionally) for most of series 47, so there are probably quite a few players (like Chris Wills and Tom Hargreaves) better than you at 25-letter Countdown!

Glad that the O situation's been resolved though, because that is a pretty important letter... well done Charlie. When you get chance you could also ask Mike Brown to update his links page so that it points here instead of to the old Yahoo message board.

In terms of other problems with Countgen 2, for me the Consonant and Vowel selectors seem a bit trigger-happy, a lot of times I just click once on them and two letters appear. Don't know if that's just me. I also wondered if you could have the option of returning a set of letters you've selected to the piles - could be useful if you have to discard a round, e.g. for not giving the players what they'd asked for. At the outset there are already barely enough vowels in there to complete 11 letters rounds, so it could be an issue. Fairly minor in the grand scheme of things though!

Julian Fell · Post by **Julian Fell** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 12:58 am

Charlie Reams wrote:I've taken time out of my final-week-as-an-undergraduate schedule

Charlie when is the big day btw? Don't let your parents take embarrassing pictures of you etc. ...

JasonCullen · Post by **JasonCullen** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 10:05 am

Corby wrote:
Ben Pugh wrote:Tomorrow evening should be fine.
Cool, any time after 8pm is good for me. Any volunteers for a host please?

I'll host a game in return if necessary

I'll be your host Corby provisionally. I have a tennis match this afternoon plus I think I'm hosting James vs Martin tonight

. But I will try to fit you in

. Add my msn email address which is jason-cullen@hotmail.co.uk

JasonCullen · Post by **JasonCullen** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 10:18 am

By the way, when is the draw for round 2 in this tourny?

Dinos Sfyris · Post by **Dinos Sfyris** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 10:23 am

As soon as round 1 is complete I imagine. Still no word from Heather bye the way.

Martin Gardner · Post by **Martin Gardner** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 11:19 am

Yeah I'll definitely be online at that time (6pm). I'd prefer to be finished by 7.30 because it's my turn to cook, but I can be flexible.

Martin

James Hurrell · Post by **James Hurrell** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 12:50 pm

Shall we make it 7:30 to get you out of cooking??

OK - 6pm it is. I have notified Jason.

Jon O'Neill · Post by **Jon O'Neill** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 12:58 pm

The second round draw is on Sunday at 10 or 11 in the evening. If you're online I will invite you to it.

JasonCullen · Post by **JasonCullen** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 1:37 pm

Ginger Jono wrote:The second round draw is on Sunday at 10 or 11 in the evening. If you're online I will invite you to it.

Cheers Jono

.