The Wind Up:

Welcome to the MotoGP Prediction Contest. This is an outgrowth of discussions at the MotoGPMatters forums. As people began making predictions about events and outcomes in MotoGP, I figured it would be interesting to keep track of them as well as to find a way of assigning odds tothose predictions. This is the result.

The MotoGP Prediction Contest started out as a spreadsheet. The spreadsheet was a good idea. It allowed me to work out the math behind calculating the odds and making the betting as fair as possible.

The problems came as we started adding new players while others dropped off. Additionally, the format for the betting process became cumbersome.

My primary goal for this game has been to focus it around discussion, which meant all actions must be recorded on the forum. This approach hasn’t changed but I have done some work to make the processing easier.

And so, it was time to put the spreadsheet to bed.

Now, we are using the web app I built to manage everything the spreadsheet did. This approach not only makes it more difficult for me to make the mistakes I have made in the past, it also allows you to better see what I have done. A secondary benefit is that I no longer need to carry around the spreadsheet with me everywhere I go.

Since my goal was to keep this focused on the forum, I will still manage the recording of all predictions and bets. Conceivably, I could open up the administrative interface to all of you but that is counter to the goal of keeping the discussion going. Additionally, it should be noted that this is the first time I have ever built anything like this so I have concerns about undiscovered bugs.

Since my software testing and QA team consists of me and the two empty beer bottles next to me, it is reasonable to assume there are bugs or “features” I haven’t found yet. I started this effort in early July and finished the coding and database work three weeks later. That sort of time-frame didn’t really allow me to put together detailed test scripts so I just tested the thing by entering all of the data from the first 10 rounds that were done on the spreadsheet (this was definitely my least favorite part).

So, here you go. Right now, I only have a couple of user interfaces that will allow you to see your own bets as well as those of everyone else and every prediction with the odds for and against.

Soon, a lot more info will be available including your past round results and stats.

And off we go…