Quint Inning Baseball

So I recently stumbled onto this game.  It combines the two things most of us enjoy, fantasy baseball and sports gambling, in a poker ante type format.  Seems like it might be fun to play on those days when we're getting together, but don't have enough players to get a good game of poker going.  Its easier than the rules listed below make it sound.  The following rules are pretty thorough.

OBJECT

To assemble a group of players that will amass the most points during the course of a single baseball game.

TEAMS

Quint-Inning is designed for five participants ("owners"). It is workable with as few as three. 

ROSTER

An owner's roster, or "hand," begins with 5 players. This roster structure -- both size and composition -- will be fluid during the course of the game. There are no positional requirements for the 5 players other than one must always be a pitcher.

DRAFT

Occurs before game and order is determined by draws from a deck of cards.

POINTS and STANDINGS

Team standings are calculated based on a ranking of points accumulated by players at the time they are on an owner's roster.

BATTERS accumulate points for bases gained or lost:
Single = +1
BB = +1
HBP = +1
SB = +1
CS = -1
Double = +2
Triple = +3
HR = +4
Error = -2

Batting stats accumulated by pitchers in the National League do count.

PITCHERS accumulate points for innings pitched minus earned runs allowed:
IP = +1
Earned Run allowed = -1

Win = +5 

Save = +3 

These are separate points awarded to the owner who has the pitcher of record on his team at the end of the game, even if the owner did not draft that pitcher. If an unrostered pitcher wins or saves the game, these points are not awarded.

"The Quint:" At the beginning of the 5th inning, any owner has the option of doubling the points for one player on his roster. Both positive and negative points are then doubled for that player for the remainder of the game. Should that player be traded to another owner, or dropped and then re-acquired, his "Quint" status will remain for the entire game.

Ninth Inning: In the 9th inning, all batting points (positive and negative) are doubled.

IN-GAME ROSTER MANAGEMENT

The original 5 drafted players must remain on each owner's roster for at least the complete first inning. Following the final play of the bottom of the first, players may be dropped, added or traded. At that point, all roster size and composition restrictions are lifted, with two exceptions:

• Each owner must have at least one player on his roster at all times.
• Each owner must retain at least one pitcher at all times.

Conceivably, an owner's 5-player hand can double in size during the course of a game, or be reduced to only one or two players.

All player moves take effect at the beginning of each subsequent half inning no matter when the move is announced. All player moves must be announced prior to the first pitch of that half inning; otherwise, the move will not take effect until the following half inning.

1. Dropping players

Any player can be cut from an owner's roster at any time after the first inning. Players who are cut may not be re-acquired by the original owner, via FA or trade, for the remainder of the game.

2. Adding players

Available for FA are...

• players that had not been originally drafted but are on one of the 25-man rosters
• players that had been cut by other owners
• players of those owners who drop out of the game early

All players acquired during a game accumulate points from the half inning after which they were acquired. Previous points earned by that player are not available to the acquiring owner.

Each owner is limited to only one player per half inning acquired via FA.

3. Trading

A trade can be consummated at any time, between any two or more owners. 

Uneven trades are allowed and roster sizes do not have to be squared up at any time. However, should a team's only pitcher be traded to another owner, a pitcher must be received in return or a free agent pitcher acquired immediately. If a pitcher is not added to a roster before the first pitch of the next half-inning, the trade is nullified.

As in regular Rotisserie, all stats accumulated prior to the trade stay with each owner. However, in order to get the 5 points for a pitching win or 3 points for a save, an owner must finish the game with that pitcher on his roster. So it is conceivable that a pitcher may accumulate points for one team during the course of the game, get traded, and provide the win or save points to a different team.

STAKES

Similar to poker, there is an additional element of strategy if you add stakes to this game. While I am not an advocate of gambling as it is related to games of pure chance, I can't ignore the fact that fantasy baseball, at its core, is a gambling game. You can play Quint-Inning without the stakes -- and it makes for a nifty game for kids -- but there may be increased interest if all participants have more decision points during the course of the competition.

Quint-Inning can be played as a low stakes, moderate or higher stakes competition. The following description includes all three versions, indicated as (low stakes/moderate stakes/high stakes) in parentheses.

• It costs ($1/$5/$55) to get in the game. That's the price to participate in the pre-game auction.
• It costs (25 cents/$1/$5) per inning to stay in the game for the first four innings.
• Beginning with the 5th inning, the stakes go up to (50 cents/$2/$10) per inning to stay in the game.
• Should the game go into extra innings, the stakes rise to a flat ($1/$5/$25) to stay in the game until its conclusion. (The truly adventurous can go $1/$5/$25 per inning.)

Each owner has to decide whether he is still in the game at the end of each full inning. Owners can drop out at the end of any inning, thus forfeiting any monies they've already contributed to the pot. In fact, an owner can drop out even before the game begins if he thinks he drafted a poor hand, however, it still costs him $1/$5/$55 to play.

The three stakes levels can generate pots of up to approximately $20, $100 and $600, respectively. Most pots will be less as some owners may drop out of the game early.

DETERMINGING THE WINNER

The winner of the Quint-Inning contest is the owner who finishes the ballgame with the most points. The motto of Quint-inning is, "Every point is precious."

Tie-breaking procedure: Should there be a tie in the standings, the following hierarchy will be used to break those deadlocks.

• Team with the most number of players contributing positive scoring points.
• Team with the most pitching points.