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You are visiting my site on: April 19, 2024

You Pick for Pope and the Sweet Sistine

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March madness got off a little early this year, as the picking of the new pope put aside basketball, even for the bookies and for those placing bets. A guy named Tom Rauen has created a game that mimics the single-elimination tournaments made famous by college and professional sports in the U.S. He even created the “Sweet Sistine.”

In this fictional matchup, cardinals are divided into brackets against one another and it is up to the contestant to decide who would make a better pontiff.

People who end up picking correctly win what Mr. Rauen calls a “swag bag” of goodies, such as T-shirts, hats and other odds and ends made by his company. And below are the odds of winning. The winner, Pope Francis (former Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio) was a minor pick with odds of only 4% to win, and not even making the cut below. You can read about the Rauen system by Clicking Here.

Angelo Scola (Italy) 9/4

Peter Turkson (Ghana) 7/2

Odilo Pedro Scherer (Brazil) 4/1

Tarcisio Bertone (Italy) 6/1

Marc Ouellet (Canada) 9/1

Christoph Schonborn (Austria) 12/1

Gianfranco Ravasi (Italy) 14/1

Peter Erdo (Hungary) 14/1

Sean O’Malley (United States) 14/1

Angelo Bagnasco (Italy) 20/1

Leonardo Sandri (Argentina) 20/1

Timothy Dolan (United States) 20/1

Aislin / Montreal Gazette

Off-to-the-ConclaveJohn Darkow / Columbia Daily TribuneHow-it-really-works

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