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While they admit it's somewhat macabre, a Black Hills family and their friends say they mean no harm with the betting pool they run on how many bikers will die during the annual Sturgis motorcycle rally.

A short time before the rally starts, the group gathers, and each pulls a number randomly out of a hat, and whoever is closest to the number of dead bikers wins the pool. This year, 12 people put in $5 each and the winner will take home $60.

"That’s the thing, we know they are going to die, it’s a fact of life," said Carol Landrum, 62, who travels from Arkansas every summer to her family's cabin in the Black Hills. "We hate that anybody does die, but we know it’s going to happen."

The pool is a tradition for them, started about seven years ago based on an idea from her husband's friend. That friend later died in a motorcycle accident himself, Landrum said.

"It was a joke initially," she said. "It’s just kind of a way for us to get through rally and be good humored about it."

Landrum, a retired physician assistant, said she's seen the aftermath of tragic accidents.

"It’s not meant in any way to be malicious, or hoping anyone has a bad accident," she said.