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The Pole Sitter Strategy: Fixing a Fantasy F1 Scoring Loophole

Before Open Wheelers was an app, it was a text thread. A group of friends, a shared note, picks submitted before qualifying. One of those friends figured out something the rest of us missed: you could win the whole league by making the same Podium pick every single week.

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The None Trap: Game Theory & the Formula 1 DNF Pick

When designing the DNF pick category for our fantasy racing mobile app Open Wheelers, I included an option that felt generous: pick None. If you believe nobody will retire from the race, select None and collect 2 points if you’re right. Otherwise, pick a specific driver you think will be among the first three to retire, and earn 3, 2, or 1 points depending on how early they go out. We take our fantasy games seriously, I want them to be engaging and fun, and I care a lot about getting things right. So I decided to dig a bit deeper on this rule mechanic because it felt suspicious.

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