Gottimds 2008 March Madness Pool

[gottimd]

Eventhough the brackets are not out yet, I wanted to get this out there and see if there was any interest from the FOFC community. I will be running a massive tournament (at least I hope so) that will cost $5/entry paid via paypal. I ran this last year and there were some FOFC'ers who did it who can let you know how good this is...

http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=57230&page=2&highlight=NCAA+Tournament

To enter go to the link: http://tourney.hoops.sportsfan.com/
Runs entirely online.


Feel free to PM me here if you have any questions or suggestions.

[Lathum]

I'll be in for sure, it was well done and a nice option for getting into a money pool for cheap

[gottimd]

Exactly, I wanted to make it a good deal for people who may be on the fence in getting into a tournament challenge at all. I had a push from the execs at my work to up it to $10, but I decided to keep it "for the people".

Anyone is invited to join, send/forward the site to family friends. $5 Paypal/entry. Everything is done online and automatically updated as the games go on.

Features include:
What you need to happen to win (as games progress)
Top finish
Worst Finish
Scenarios
Jumps in standings
Outstanding picks...

and much more....

[gottimd]

Brackets are now available to fill out online.....

http://tourney.hoops.sportsfan.com/

[gottimd]

25 people in....

[Logan]

I'll be joining.

[gottimd]

There are alot of people joining...the more the merrier, invite anyone you know...the more people the bigger the pot gets!

[Lathum]

Once I paid my entry fee where do I get conformation, it still says I have an outstanding balance

[gottimd]

Did you just pay 3 times? What name?

[Lathum]

Did you just pay 3 times? What name?

yeah, twice under Lathum, once under MollyMurphy

[gottimd]

Got it...should be marked as paid now.

[Cuckoo]

I'm in.

[gottimd]

37 Members now including, Cuckoo, Lathum, Jeeber, General Mike and a few others....

http://tourney.hoops.sportsfan.com/

[gottimd]

44 Members now....wanted to bump this. As Lathum said, this is a cheap alternative, and done all online and has some of the best updated reporting possible. You could do one of those free ESPN or Sportsline ones, but aren't you filling those out to win?

Why not just put $5 down to win, and get better reporting and see how you are doing as the tournament progresses, much more than just seeing your current ranking.

$5 won't kill you, search your under the couch, in your car, I'm sure you could find the money somewhere......turn that $5 into $500+.

[CleBrownsfan]

In as Broth32

** I finally hit the 1,000 post milestone!! **

[Lathum]

gotti, can you confirm all my entries are paid?

[Logan]

In.

[gottimd]

Lathum, All entries are paid (4 for you, 1 for Kelly).

When you log in, I think it gives you payment status up top.

63 Members now, 93 Brackets in. Still have tomorrow to go....keep them coming!!!!

[Lathum]

is it winner take all?

[gottimd]

yup.

I have to take out site fees (hosting ($30) and per entry costs charged by company ($.68/entry)), but all the rest goes to the winner.

[CleBrownsfan]

I got two of my buddies to sign up... they said they paid you already as well...

3 more hours until tip off!!!!

[gottimd]

Not sure who they are but I did have to delete 2 people who had signed up a while ago due to non-payment.

[gottimd]

http://tourney.hoops.sportsfan.com/?&viewer=results
http://tourney.hoops.sportsfan.com/?&viewer=standings
http://tourney.hoops.sportsfan.com/?&viewer=rpt_bits&whichp=64
http://tourney.hoops.sportsfan.com/?&viewer=rpt_fgpicks&whichp=64

[CleBrownsfan]

Not sure who they are but I did have to delete 2 people who had signed up a while ago due to non-payment.

It wasn't any of my two guys... they both paid and both are sucking!! :p

[Jas_lov]

1st round is over. How is everyone doing? If I hadn't picked some stupid upsets I'd be leading, but right now I got 24/32 and the leaders are at 26/32. However, I still have 15/16 Sweet 16 teams left since I picked Villanova and I'm guessing most others only have 14/16.

[gottimd]

http://tourney.hoops.sportsfan.com/?&viewer=results
http://tourney.hoops.sportsfan.com/?&viewer=standings

[Lathum]

I have nova going to the sweet 16 in one of mine so that looks pretty good right now

[Cuckoo]

Tied for 86th... Yeah baby...

[gottimd]

Sweet 16 Pool started....

http://tourney.hoops.sportsfan.com/

[CleBrownsfan]

I see that there is $440 in the pot - is there a 1st,2nd,3rd, ect? or winner take all?

[gottimd]

I see that there is $440 in the pot - is there a 1st,2nd,3rd, ect? or winner take all?

See post #19 and #20.:D

EDIT: Once the amount of entries goes up, I will consider offering a 1st, 2nd, 3rd place finish, but for now, the return is too low to break that up. My hope is that each year there are more and more entries and the word gets out, that way I can give bigger prizes and more of them!

[CleBrownsfan]

dammit - I even looked for it... *doh

I need Stanford to make the final four for me to have a chance at this...

[gottimd]

dammit - I even looked for it... *doh

I need Stanford to make the final four for me to have a chance at this...

Did you do this:
http://tourney.hoops.sportsfan.com/?&viewer=rpt_whatif&whichp=64

[CleBrownsfan]

Did you do this:
http://tourney.hoops.sportsfan.com/?&viewer=rpt_whatif&whichp=64

I did - real nice feature!

[gottimd]

After this round, I believe it adds another feature called "Can I win?" in the standings and will tell you your highest finish possible versus your lowest finish possible.

I think the "what if scenario" goes away and instead becomes a "what happens when" scenario, showing you all of the possible remaining combinations and the top 5 finishers based on those respective combinations.

[Lathum]

I actualy have a legit shot at this. I need Kansas to keep moving along.

[Jas_lov]

Not so fast, Lathum. I'm currently tied for 3rd place(Will Win) and ahead of you. For some reason I picked Stanford to beat Texas in Texas though and then go on to the final 4. If that happens and UCLA beats UNC in the title game, I will win.

As it turns out, if I had just picked Texas to the final 4 like everyone else and UCLA beat UNC in the title game, I also would have won. But now I'm stuck with Stanford and my hopes will probably be dashed tonight.

[Lathum]

Not so fast, Lathum. I'm currently tied for 3rd place(Will Win) and ahead of you. For some reason I picked Stanford to beat Texas in Texas though and then go on to the final 4. If that happens and UCLA beats UNC in the title game, I will win.

As it turns out, if I had just picked Texas to the final 4 like everyone else and UCLA beat UNC in the title game, I also would have won. But now I'm stuck with Stanford and my hopes will probably be dashed tonight.

Have you used the "what if" scenerio? There are severel scenerios that have me winning.

[Jas_lov]

I just tested a some scenarios. The only scenario I tested that you won was Kansas beats Villanova and UNC, makes it to the title game and loses to UCLA.

I guess I don't need Stanford to reach the final 4, just win tonight and UCLA to beat UNC in the title game.

[Lathum]

I just tested a some scenarios. The only scenario I tested that you won was Kansas beats Villanova and UNC, makes it to the title game and loses to UCLA.

I guess I don't need Stanford to reach the final 4, just win tonight and UCLA to beat UNC in the title game.

thats not so far fetched for me.

I also win if Louisville beats UNC and Kansas beats Luisville and loses to UCLA

[gottimd]

I take it you guys like this pool? I know this is Lathums second year doing it. Every year I hope the word gets out more and more and more people enter.

[CleBrownsfan]

I do like it BUT I don't like the fee when CBS (and others) have a free bracket manager... but the features on this site is nice - just not needed IMHO

[Lathum]

I do like it BUT I don't like the fee when CBS (and others) have a free bracket manager... but the features on this site is nice - just not needed IMHO

I love it, I think it is tits

[gottimd]

I do like it BUT I don't like the fee when CBS (and others) have a free bracket manager... but the features on this site is nice - just not needed IMHO

The fee is to cover costs coming out of my pocket. I hope to reduce that next year by fixing my paypal status. Right now I get charged a fee on every transaction, plus a hosting fee from the site, and I also get charged on a per entry basis from the site as well. Once I eliminate the Paypal fees, which cost me approximately $60 out of my own pocket, the pot will continue to grow. Also, the more entries received the lower the cost.

Your entry fee doesn't change though, so there is no extra cost to the user, I just bake the costs into the prize.

[CleBrownsfan]

The fee is to cover costs coming out of my pocket. I hope to reduce that next year by fixing my paypal status. Right now I get charged a fee on every transaction, plus a hosting fee from the site, and I also get charged on a per entry basis from the site as well. Once I eliminate the Paypal fees, which cost me approximately $60 out of my own pocket, the pot will continue to grow. Also, the more entries received the lower the cost.

Your entry fee doesn't change though, so there is no extra cost to the user, I just bake the costs into the prize.

It's all good - I understand the fees - I wasn't complaining at all... I like a place to go where that many people are involved in the bracket - I usually get in ones that have 30-40 tops.

I personally would like a 1st 2nd and 3rd place winners but whatever :p