About the Food Club Monthly Competition.

The Food Club Monthly Competition is a friendly competition, played on the NeoBoards. Players post their bets for the Food Club each round, and compare their results after the round. Participation in this competition is free, and there are no prices to be won.
To counter the advantage older players have over new players in the Food Club, the Monthly Food Club competition measures winnings in units, not in NeoPoints. So whether you hit a 16:1 with a bet amount of 10 or 10,000 NeoPoints, your points in this competition are the same.

Points are awarded in four categories, all with their own weight for the total score:

1. Total Units (40%)
   This is simply the sum of all winnings earned during the month.
   
2. High Score (30%)
   This is the highest amount collected on one day during the month. This can include the winnings of up to 8 consecutive days.
   
3. Profits (20%)
   The number of days where a player made a net profit - that is: 11 units won, or more.
   
4. Max Single (10%)
   The maximum number of units won on a single day.
   

Announcing bets.
Most players announce their bets. Bets can be announced by including them in a post to the Food Club Monthly Competition topic in the Neoboards (see the topic for examples of the various ways to post your bets within the 400-character limit), or by uploading them to a petpage and announcing the updte of your petpage in the topic. Announced bets are only valid if they are announced before the results of the round are known. During Daylight Savings Time, results are known at 2:15pm NST. During Standard Time, results are known at approximately 1:00pm NST.

Announcing winnings.
After the round is over, you have to announce your winnings in the Food Club Monthly Competition topic in the Neoboards. If you did not announce your bets, you must also post a screenshot of your winnings. If you announced your bets before the round ended, simply announcing your winnings is enough - though screenshots are still welcome.

Holding and collecting.
Since 30% of the total score is determined by the maximum number of units collected on a single day, it is very important for players in the Food Club Monthly Competition to hold winnings and collect for eight days at once.
When you announce your winnings, please also indicate when you start holding. When you collect, you must always collect that you do so, and indicate the total amount of units collected. A screenshot of the collected winnings is required if you failed to announce when you started holding. In all other cases, a screenshot is appreciated, but not required.

Virtually holding and collecting.
Some players do not want to hold their winnings, because they already have a gold trophy and don't want to reduce other players' chances of getting one. To prevent this act of courtesy from reducing their chances in the Food Club Monthly Competition, they can use "virtual holding". This works exactly the same as normal holding - except that the player actually collects his or her winnings every day.
A player who want to use a virtual holding has to announce when (s)he starts holding in the Food Club Monthly Competition topic. The player then also announces when (s)he wants to collect the winnings that are virtually held. The scorekeeper may remind a player when a virtual holding is about to expire, but is not required to do so.
The player must announce the start of a virtual holding before the round ends, and must announce a virtual collection before the round in which (s)he collects ends. Since virtual holdings can't be screenshot, it is not possible to announce the start of a holding in a round that has already ended.
NOTE: Virtual holds are intended to level the playing field between those who actually hold their winnings and those who don't. Virtual holds can be used in ways that would give virual holders an unfair advantage; this is not allowed. The scorekeeper is the final judge on what is and what isn't allowed.

Frequently Asked Questions.

Can I play as well?
Yes, of course! Everyone is welcome; the more the merrier.

What do I have to do to play?
Simple. On the NeoBoards, find the board for the Food Club Monthly Competition. (The board for January 2013 is here, but keep in mind that a new board will be made at least once every month). Announce your bets there. You can announce your bets directly in the topic (just watch the topic for examples of convenient shorthand notations for your bet that don't break the maximum character limit), or you can post your bets on a petpage and post a link to the petpage in the topic. Make sure to announce your bets before the round ends.
Once the round is over, go back to the topic and announce your winnings. If, for whatever reason, you did not announce your bets in time, you can still have your winnings counted, but in such a case, you will have to provide a link to a screenshot of your winnings.
The announcement of your winnings and your new bets may be in seperate posts or in a single post, whatever suits you best.
Don't forget to check back in the topic frequently, for updates on standings and requests to check the collected scores.

Can I post the announcements from a side account?
Yes. You can post from a side account as well. Just make sure that the scorekeeper knows who you are.

Can I place bets on my side account?
No. That is not actually a rule of the Food Club Monthly Competition, but rather a rule of Neopets. Food Club is an activity where you can earn neopoints, so you are not allowed to play this game on a side account.

My main account is suspended/frozen - can I still play in the Food Club Monthly Competition?
Yes. I don't recommend actually playing Food Club on a side account, especially if you hope/expect to get your main back soon, as TNT might think you are breaking the rules.
But for the monthly competition, you can announce the bets you would have made, and the winnings they would have given you, as normal. You won't get the neopoints - but at least, you'll get the recognition in our leader board!

Recorded scores for the current month.

The tables below lists the scores as recorded for the current month. Please take a moment to check this table for accuracy. If you think you spot an error, then please post a correction in the Food Club Monthly Competition topic on the Neoboards, or in the appropriate topic on the Neodaq forums.

Legend:
• Scores in red are from unannounced bets; unless a screenshot is posted as proof, they may be removed from the spreadsheet by the end of the month (at the sole discretion of the scorekeeper).
  
• An "x" in the score column means that bets were posted, but no result has been announced. Unless a result is announced later, the result will be assumed to be 0.
  
• A letter H in the collected column means that the player announced the start of a hold; if a lowercase h is used, this was announced after the next round already started, and a screenshot may be required as proof. Without such a screenshot, the scorekeeper may decide not to count the hold.
  

Neoboards players:

Neodaq forums players:

Provisional rankings for the current month.

The rankings below are based on the scores listed above. These rankings are only an indication, sometimes players can only post their scores after a few days; that can sometimes result in changes to the rankings.

All players:

Neoboards players:

Neodaq forums players:

Rankings for the previous month.

The table below lists the rankings for the previous month.
Note that during the first week of a month, players sometimes post screenshots with old winnings from the previous month; these posts may sometimes affect the results.
After a week, these results are usually final.

All players:

Overall rankings for the last twelve months

The table below lists the overall game ranking of all players who participated in the last twelve full months.
The scores in the columns of the respective months is the score they had in the overall competition for that month; the score in "Score" column is based on those twelve scores.
In the calculation of those scores, recent scores are worth more then older scores, so that new players have a chance to gains ranks more quickly (at the expense of players who have left the game). The most recent month has a weight of 12, the month before that 11, and so on. The total is then divided by 78, to return to the 0-100 scale.
This calculation does not compensate for low- or zero-scoring months due to holidays. There was such a provision in the previous calculation system, but in a way that helped players who had their holiday within a single calendar month, but not the players who had a holiday that spans calendar months. If I ever find a way to compensate for holidays that does not arbitrarily favor some players over others, I will consider implementing it.
Finally, please note that this table is usually not updated until a week in the next month; check the dates at the top of the columns to see the time period covered.

All players:

Total units won for the last twelve months

The table below shows how many units each player won during the last twelve months.
This is not a measure of how well players are doing in the competition (which factors in more variables than only the winnings), but rather designed to help Neopians who are trying to decide whose bets to follow.
The units won each month are simply totalled; there is no weighting involved. The number in the "Units" columns is the actual number of units that the player won.
Due to the absence of weighting, new players will have to play for a long time before they have a chance to appear at the top if this chart. Neopians looking for a good player to follow should take this into account - somewhere at the bottom of the table, you may find a new player who has the best bets of all, but only started playing recently.
Also, existing players who change their betting style will not have the results of that new style reflected in this chart until several months have passed.
Finally, please note that this table is usually not updated until a week in the next month; check the dates at the top of the columns to see the time period covered.

All players: