A follow up question to Introducing Apple Recommends, Manage Subscriptions, and This Helped Me

In Introducing Apple Recommends, Manage Subscriptions, and This Helped Me it was written

Now anyone can click "This helped me" to say thanks to helpful members. When several people mark the same post, it will earn a gold star and appear at the top of the discussion, so it’s easier for others to find. The poster will also earn five reputation points for a job well done.

Does anyone know (or is it written anywhere) just how many is 'serveral'? Is it decided on the fly? Or does it depend on the phase of the moon?

Will the points be awarded to the poster only once, or if say 100 people mark it as helpful will more then 5 points be awarded?

Sounds like a really good system but it seems that a bit more thought should have gone into it, no? Or at least the explanation could be clearer.

Ciao.

(Another question) Can the original post (this one) get marked as helpful also? Imagine earning points for posting :-)