EdTrice: I also do not understand how there can be a system for this, and would also love to take a look at the spreedsheet.
For example, start with 20,000 points - 20 players - first bet - what does your system tell you what to bet? What factors are in place to decided what to bet?
On first bets, I have seen some fall into the pond with a bet of 3, others with a bet of 18 (and as the game goes on - I would think first low bets will be 100+ or even 1,000+)
On first bet, i have seen some people get the 500 bonus with bets in the 200's - giving them OVER 20,000 points to start the second round. But I have seen some bet over 1,000+ on the first round also - leaving them over 500 down.
I just don't see how a system can help - but i'm interested in learning.