How celebrity death pools work

A death pool—often called a celebrity death pool—is a game where each player (or team) drafts a list of famous people before a season starts. If someone on your list dies during the agreed window—usually the calendar year—you earn points. The exact scoring varies by house rules; in RIPdraft we use 100 minus age at death, with a floor so every confirmed hit still matters.

Most real-world pools were never “official.” They lived in email threads and spreadsheets. The point of an app like RIPdraft is to remove ambiguity: locked drafts, clear season boundaries, and a timeline everyone can audit when memories disagree.

If you are new, start by reading your league’s veto settings and season dates before you strategize picks. Good players mix pop-culture knowledge with boring due diligence—checking that names are eligible and documented enough to score.