Bracket Pool - 1.5 Million Current Prize! -- 4m Potential prize! (in Contests)

Seeing as March Madness is almost upon us, is anyone interested in organizing a bracket pool?

Forgive my ignorance, but what is this "March Madness" you speak of ?

March Madness is another name for the NCAA Division I Basketball tournament. Sixty-five teams compete in a single-elimination tournament, leaving the last team standing the national champion. The teams are organized into regional brackets, shown here. Pools typically award points for correctly guessing the victor of each match, with more points awarded for successively higher matches.

I've created a group under Yahoo!
http://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/t1/register/joinprivategroup_assign_team?GID=98093&P=blender

Group name Carnage
Password is Blender

If we get more than 20 entries, I'll put up $500,000 as a prize for the winner. No entry fee!

List your pick names here so I know who is who!
Good Luck!

FYI, you register by group ID (if you don't use the link), which is 98093. (got it from the URL). Or, you could just be smarter than me and just use the link. *smile*

Don't Panic, I'm in. If we get more than 20 folks, I'll donate 500K as well for a cool million. Any chance an admin can add "ONE MILLION DOLLARS!" to the thread title so we have a better chance at getting the 20?

By the way, I am sutekh137 there too, with picks: "Sutekh's Dirty Pool".

I'm in, and I've done my bracket.

All right, four people in so far! Let's get Mad, people!

Bump, come on folks...has there been a cure to March Madness? Say it ain't so!

I'd def do this if it was for bets. ^.^

I'm beefyevan111.

Nosebleed, isn't the potential of 1 million CB enough? *smile* Don't Panic and I are in for 500K each if we get 20 or more contestants, so if you get enough folks in this thing, you can definitely win big. I might even fork in another 250K to act as second place... Is that enough of a "bet" for you? *smile*

Looks like we have 6 folks so far...

I'll get into it later, once I get home from work.

Heck, I'll put the 500K in as a first prize even if we only get 10 people... At least that gives me ~10% of a chance of winning it back! (that's about as good as I expect my picks to be -- a totally random chance of winning! *smile*)

I'm "tasuki's pointless selections". I don't follow college so I just went with their seed and stats.

Better than mixing in a little bit of unknowledgeable "gut feeling" like I do, tas! lol

I'm registered and my bracket is complete.

Nice!
That makes 7!

13 to go!
Remember:
No Entry Fee
Grand Prize 1million CB

Why not join in the fun?!

NC Double Bump!
Come on people, the more the merrier! I really wanna give away 500K!

And 3 more and I'll give my 500K anyway! Who-ooo! Money to burn folks, don't miss out!

If we make it to ten members, I'll throw in 500k CBD as well. It's quick and easy to enter, folks, and it really doesn't require much in the way of basketball knowledge to win.

I'm in, my bracket is titled "CB!"

UCLA all the way!

I'm done now. Up to 9 people.

Sweet... We really need an admin to change the title of this to "Potential million dollars to win!"

And maybe move to Contests? Or is that not allowed since the contest is not CB-related?

The prize is $CBD, so it is CB related :)

Title edited and moved to contests :)

Slayer rocks! You going to enter the pool?

Nah, not a basketball fan :)

BUMP!

Come on, folks! Just one more entry, and we are talking ONE MILLION DOLLARS! It's free to enter, fun, and more random than you think! If I asked you to simply choose 64 numbers for a chance to win a million, wouldn't you do that?

Join the fun!

No kidding. This is the easiest contest ever.

Just go put your bracket online, we know you made one for yourself already anyways.

Ok,

I just entered. Good luck to everyone!!

I'm not going to put my 500K any place special, but I assure you I will give 500K to the winner! So, the title can have the "potential" removed, at least for 500K of it! *smile*

I wonder who the random miracle wins will be this year...

Go Drake!

1 day left to join up, I'll go ahead and offer up my 500k prize money as of now, with one small change, second place gets 400k, third place gets 100k. I'll still offer up another 500k if we get to 20!
So now, those of you with no knowledge of basketball can make picks and as of now, have a 30% chance of winning some money!
I'd love to see more entries, you're looking at a total of 1.5 million for the grand prize if we can get 20 people!

So, to summarize
if it stays as is
1st place: 1 million
2nd place: 400k
3rd place: 100k

If we get 20 entries:
1st place 1.5 million
2nd place 400k
3rd place: 100k

Wait, so you are giving ANOTHER 500K if we get to 20 entrants?

Please confirm, so I can then rethink my contribution... (might go to 1 million total). That would make a total prize fund of 2.5 million if we reach 20 entrants, 1 million from you, 1 million from me, and 500K from IA. And we could go:

1st: 1.5 million
2nd: 750K
3rd: 250K

What do you think?

I think you guys are nuts.

That looks good Sutekh
Yes, I'm throwing another 500k in.

thoop, maybe so, but it's cheap entertainment if nothing else! Basically, it's $5.50 to make 64 basketball games more meaningful. I probably wouldn't bother watching any of the games without pools. (other than the one's featuring my alma mater)

We aren't nuts, we're MAD! Get it? March Madness? MAD? You see...um, ok...

Sorry, I missed DP's comment on the other 500K, so it's official, DP and I are up to 1 million each if we reach 20 entrants, but since I sort of muffed up his payout scheme (but he agreed), I will repost:

If it stays as is:
1.5 million total payout (sutekh = 500K, DP = 500K, IA = 500K):
1st place: 1 million
2nd place: 400k
3rd place: 100k

If we get 20 entries:
2.5 million total payout (sutekh = 1 million, DP = 1 million, IA = 500K)
1st place: 1.5 million
2nd place: 750K
3rd place: 250K

If an admin wants, they can already say "1.5 million payout" in subject, in case that helps. *smile*

I'm in.

Bump!

Sut, I'll cover the 500k if we get 20 entrants.

Nah, we'll add it! 3 million in prizes if we hit 20!!!!!

We'll go 2 million for the win, 750K for second, and 250K for third! w00t! I'm definitely in for a million!

Currently at 12 registered entrants.

I'm in.

13 people in, 7 more to go!

Come on people! Whoooo! Mount St. Mary's is in! To get crushed by NC! I love it! Only about 26 hours left to get entries in!!!!

I'm in yo.

All right, 14 entries! Only 6 more needed for BIG CASH PRIZES folks! Tell your friends to get signed up!

where do i submit my bracket?

Show all posts and click on the link near the top of the thread.

nevermind found it

SIGNUP

Then select "My Bracket" from the top bar and make your selections.

SIGNUP

Let me try that again...

If we get 20 people playing, I will chip in 1M also.

So, to update potential and current prizes:

If it stays as is:
1.5 million total payout (sutekh = 500K, DP = 500K, IA = 500K):
1st place: 1 million
2nd place: 400k
3rd place: 100k

If we get 20 entries:
4.0 million total payout (sutekh = 1 million, DP = 1 million, IA = 500K, Mikel = 500K, Ranger = 1 million)
1st place: 2.5 million
2nd place: 1 million
3rd place: 500K

Come on, folks! If we get 20 people, that's essentially a 10% chance at winning 1 million or MORE! OK, maybe choosing a good bracket isn't QUITE that random, but those are good odds! And it's free!

Could an admin add the 1.5 MILLION CURRENT PRIZE -- FOUR MILLION POTENTIAL PRIZE to title? That's a big giveaway!!!!!

I'll keep this bumped as we get closer and closer to tip off tomorrow morning. Bracket submission countdown currently reads: 20 hours, 46 minutes until first games begin!

I'm in ^_^

Up to 16, only four more for a FOUR MILLION $CB pay-out! Huzzah!

Yay, I made my bracket of picks based upon no actual knowledge of any of the teams!

but I'll still win
;)

Even if you have no idea about who is playing, just picking the top seeds with 1 or 2 upsets will give a decent chance for a prize.

Yay, Blarg! Only three more entrants needed!!!!!

Come on, everyone! Get your picks in, tell your friends, massive prizes!!!!

Bump Bump Bump!

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$!!!!!

Bump

Ok... I'm in (I think I did it right)

Let's see how you do against my mighty coin flip of destiny!
(user note.... way to many coin flips needed so i just started guessing most of the way through the second bracket).

I'll still win.... or not finish last

weird i cant join your group

I joined. I don't follow college basketball at all. This should be interesting!

One more person! C'mon, nobody else wants a free chance to win cash?

Bump!
Only one person needed to reach 20!

Put my bracket in

All right! 20 entrants! Here is a recap of the prizes:

TWENTY ENTRIES COMPLETED:
4.0 million total payout (sutekh = 1 million, Don't Panic = 1 million, IA = 500K, Mikel = 500K, Ranger = 1 million)
1st place: 2.5 million
2nd place: 1 million
3rd place: 500K

Games start in 3 hours and 6 minutes!

signed in and picks complete.

i've joined

Excellent! Could an admin change title to "FOUR MILLION IN PRIZES!" to see how many people we can get in these last few hours? The more the merrier! Especially as weeks pass and we can start running scenarios to see who is still in the MADNESS! *smile*

k. j bob is in. please don't laugh at my picks and/or score and i won't have to hide under a rock.
also, why can i only see like 11 people on the list there?

I'm in. I don't watch basketball, nor do I care. We'll see how lucky I am.

If it is ok with the pool admin I can offer a 250k prize for 4th place. Just let me know.

j'bob click the View Complete Standings link, you are only seeing the top 10.

for that matter... if it's ok with the people running the show i'll offer a mystery prize for the person finishing DEAD LAST (or the person finishing right above me if its me). This prize will be a secret but I'll let the guy in charge of the prizes know what it is, if he/she'd cm me to let me know.
Cheers to the fun!

dj, the admin on this is a loose confederacy among the donaters. *smile* No real focus, but I think we're all good for it... *smile*

With that extra 250K (and I think a 4th place prize is a good idea since we are getting more entries!), we are using the following scheme:

TWENTY+ ENTRIES COMPLETED:
4.25 million total payout (sutekh = 1 million, Don't Panic = 1 million, IA = 500K, Mikel = 500K, Ranger = 1 million, dj1914 = 250K)
1st place: 2.5 million
2nd place: 1 million
3rd place: 500K
4th place: 250K

Thanks for the extra cash, dj!

Following dj's lead, I will guarantee a CBD prize for every person that joins. I will post prizes for 5th place to ? once entries are closed and I know how many people are playing.

Right... The pool Admin. I guess that's either me or Sutekh huh? Any prizes anyone wants to put up are fine, I'll have to sort this out a little later though, I actually have to do some work this morning so I can slack off later and watch the games. ;-)

Good to see we have the 20 people! The more the merrier!
(And I'll never laugh at anyone's picks)

Since I type slow, I will leave the last place prize up to j'bob, but I'll cover everything in between 5th and last.

Last Gasp (Jingleheimer Schmidt) 66.195.180.3 QBsutekh137 (Hubbell) $500000 -- For March Madness 10:07 AM EDT

Gosh...I think with all these newbies that LAST PLACE deserves an award... $500,000 for last place Sut.

LoL
It looks like Sut has this covered. Back to work it is.

Doing some quick math, total prize money will be in excess of $5 million. A little under 2 hours left to join I think.

OK ok, let's not transfer any more monies... That just eats up cash in xfer fees -- I was thinking we would all pay our share once it's all done... But yes, I will give Last Gasp's 500K to last place (and j'bob can give as well if he wants). Let's keep this official:

TWENTY+ ENTRIES COMPLETED:

4.75 million total OFFICIAL payout:
sutekh137 = 1.5 million (500K having come from Last Gasp)
Don't Panic = 1 million
Inebriated Arsonist = 500K
Mikel = 500K
Ranger = 1 million
dj1914 = 250K

PAYOUT SCHEME:
1st place: 2.5 million
2nd place: 1 million
3rd place: 500K
4th place: 250K
Last Place: Special 500K "consolation" prize

(plus any other side prizes for all players and/or last place as designated above in the thread).

Prize monies will be transferred by the above-named donaters at the completion of the tournament. Standings will be completely determined by the Yahoo bracket system, and those results will be final.

There, I think that covers it (so far)!

12 minutes left! Last chance to hurry in your picks!!!!

After the first three games, we have a 20-way tie!
LOL

And after 6, only 6 people are left at 100% ;)

LOL... I called the first game wrong, thought Georgia had an upset in them (and they did...for a while before they caved!). Gotta love the MADNESS!

Stupid Purdue.

EXCUSE ME?!?!?! That's my alma mater you're disparaging Arsonist. Watch yourself. :-)

Where's the lazy link for checking how we're doing? Or ... who's in charge of updating us on how we're doing? ;)

Bast, that won't happen until at LEAST we're into the Sweet Sixteen.

And then y'all can run your own scenario generators. Yahoo will tell the tale oncet it's all done...

http://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/t1/group/98093/standings

EXCUSE ME?!?!?! That's my alma mater you're disparaging Arsonist. Watch yourself. :-)

-Well, excuse me for lacking faith in a team that was knocked out of the Big Ten Tournament by an 16-19 Illinois squad.

Where's the lazy link for checking how we're doing? Or ... who's in charge of updating us on how we're doing? ;)

-Here's an update: the Vols ain't gonna win it!

Go Stanford!

If not the Vols, then the 'Dogs ... but that still seems like _such_ a long shot. ;)

Go ZAGS!

Oh, Drake.
Oh, Gonzaga.

Now the real damage is starting to creep into my picks! And poor Drake! A 3 point buzzer-beater wins it in OT for their opponent after Drake battles back from being 15 points down! GAH!

Basketball is truly an awful game. A last-second football game doesn't lend itself to hyperventilation quite the way basketball does.

Were you able to watch? My goodness that must have been heartbreaking... I was heartbroken just reading the score as they were coming back, and then reading the score a long time later and seeing the loss -- in OT! Poor Des Moines...

One word...


Aurgh!

Western Kentucky 101
Drake 99

How do you get over that. Here's my five stages of grief.

1. Denial: The hilltoppers didn't really win it just went to a second OT
2. Anger: You gotta be kidding me. Emmenecker was hacked so big during his shot when he drove into the lane at 12 seconds to go in OT. What kind of baloney no-call was that.
3. Bargaining: I would give almost anything for Drake to have another chance.
4. Depression: I'm so sad, I may just go into a basketball-less coma until next year.
5. Acceptance: Whatever this is supposed to be. I accept nothing. I'm not there yet.

Oh dear, I'm glad I wasn't able to see the game :\ I'd still be at stage 2, colonel!

/rooting for UNC

on a side note, I had some upsets that I wanted to edit in/change up, but ah well. We'll see if that turned out for the better!

ack, San Diego wins

I'm still in denial.

Go Duke!!!-NOT

Lol, indeed

One more reason to say "Stupid Duke!".

G'night Purdue, Here comes Xavier and they want a rematch with Duke.

Well looks like Duke didn't want that rematch....... Good Old Huggs wants Xavier for old times sakes :P

woot woot go Davidson?

Wait... I lose. nice game though folks!

I thought I had a chance -- till I looked at Xenko's pool and his is like mine! But better! All the way down to the final and final winner! So, I clearly cannot win... Well played, Xenko!

How 'bout them Volunteers? Thanks a bunch, Tennessee...

lol. Thanks Sutekh. I don't even follow basketball, so I wasn't exactly expecting to do as well as I have been doing so far. But, as they say, it isn't over until the fat lady sings.

Hey!!
After being 3 spots away from last, I'm now tied for 3rd.

What's really scary, is all 4 #1's are still alive.

I was dead last at one point!

I need louisville to get to the finals and texas v. UCLA in the semis to have a shot, wew.

Hook 'em horns.
Go Davidson!

*bows down to Stephen Curry*

Now I know why Davidson is so good!

Christ on His Throne...

There went Texas v UCLA, Blarg. :P

Dangit, I needed Kansas to fall..
They almost did :(

Wow, four number 1 seeds! Been looking for that since the first pool I ran from my dorm room in 1993... Wrote a Pascal program to deal with everyone's picks, had over 30 entrants! Wow. Davidson was good, but it shows that when you don't even really run plays and don't have a true driving forward (or don't use him), a Big 12 powerhouse is probably going to take you (unlike last week's Wisconsin fiasco!)

I'm just impressed that you programmed in Pascal (and still know the word!) Sut... I programmed in Pascal (and FORTRAN and C and Basic) back in the day... I even still have my printouts of my programs hiding somewhere. :-)

I learned Pascal in high school.

On the topic of the tournament, it really seems that it all comes down to who chose the winner of the final round to decide the top spots... the top 10 people could all switch places relatively easily. :D

Hmm. I'll either be 1st place or 7th place. Go Memphis!!

I lose

Yeah, but some of us didn't quite figure out that last bit of the chain in picking the winner... I actually had a score picked and everything but forgot (as a lot of us did) or couldn't find the final "submit" button.

OK, to recap the prizes:

====================
TWENTY+ ENTRIES COMPLETED:

4.75 million total OFFICIAL payout:
sutekh137 = 1.5 million (500K having come from Last Gasp)
Don't Panic = 1 million
Inebriated Arsonist = 500K
Mikel = 500K
Ranger = 1 million
dj1914 = 250K

PAYOUT SCHEME:
1st place: 2.5 million
2nd place: 1 million
3rd place: 500K
4th place: 250K
Last Place: Special 500K "consolation" prize
====================

The final game is tonight at 9:21 EDT between the Kansas Jayhawks and the Memphis Tigers. The top places in the pool are still very much up in the air depending on who wins!

On the other end of the spectrum, last place is already locked up by Draco. *smile* Based on the scenario generator (both scenarios), Bast and "CB!" (not sure who that is) almost took the illustrious bottom slot, but Draco's power picks of UNC and BYU in the final were just too strong. Congratulations Draco!

I am going to go ahead and send Draco the 500K already so that is done! So, payout summary is this:

PAYOUT SCHEME:
1st place: 2.5 million
2nd place: 1 million
3rd place: 500K
4th place: 250K
PAID BY SUTEKH -- Last Place: Special 500K "consolation" prize

We will engineer transfers for the top four spots once we know what they are. It is likely I will just pay the second place person directly so that covers my 1 million contribution (and I might very well be the second place, meaning I just get to keep it if Memphis wins *smile*). I will post separate items for transfers after this post.

GO MEMPHIS!

Transfer to Draco for last place prize:

QBsutekh137 (Hubbell) 66.128.98.10 DrAcO5676 (Black Sophist) $500000 -- NCAA Last Place 9:29 AM EDT

PAY OUT SUMMARY:
1st place: 2.5 million (pending)
2nd place: 1 million (pending, will be paid by sutekh137)
3rd place: 500K (pending)
4th place: 250K (pending)
Last Place: Special 500K "consolation" prize (paid by sutekh137)

Kansas wins...

OK, I will sort it out tomorrow... Not to take over or anything, but if the payers would wait until I decide prize distribution ,that would be great. I'm too tired and disappointed to worry about it right now... I will probably pay the straight 1 million second place to whomever is second, and then will decide how the remaining payouts are handled.

yes, 19th, and i started so well!

So here are the results. I'll let Sut figure out the $$ part of it, but congrats to anubis! What an awesome game (unless your a Memphis fan)! Thanks to everyone who played and made this fun.

1 Death Gods Mix anubisguidetothedead
2 Lochnivar intrepid_action
3 deifeln zaopd
4 Hail * Me!
24 Draco5676

dj1914 (Bank of Gordie) 68.77.1.37 Don't Panic (The Guide) $250000 6:48 AM EDT
forth place finish.

good lord i have to say i didn't expect to win at all i thought i was slipping and slipping and i look here to c that i've won well all i can say is yippppeeee, thanx guys

Perfect, thanks for the info...

Let's do this:

1 Death Gods Mix anubisguidetothedead (Don't panic = 1 million, IA = 500K, Ranger = 1 million for a total of 2.5 million payoff)
2 Lochnivar intrepid_action (will be paid 1 million by sutekh137)
3 deifeln zaopd (Mikel will pay 500K)
4 Hail * Me! (already paid 250K by dj)
24 Draco5676 (already paid)

I will pay second place, since that is an even million. So that leaves the following transactions:

Mikel pays 3rd place, 500K to deifeln.
Don't Panic pays 1 million to anubis.
Inebriated Arsonist pays 500K to anubis.
Ranger pays 1 million to anubis.

Post all transactions here so we can make sure everyone gets paid! Thanks to everyone for playing!

OK, second place is paid off:

QBsutekh137 (Hubbell) 66.128.98.10 Lochnivar (Anbhas) $1000000 -- NCAA 2nd place prize 9:43 AM EDT

That means 2nd, 4th, and Last places are all paid at this point. I will CM Mikel, Ranger, DP, and IA to read the thread and pay their respective bits. Thanks again!

InebriatedArsonist (Susan Death) 24.115.237.123 Ancient Anubis (Soul Collector) $500000 -- Tourney Winnings 9:47 AM EDT

Ranger (Koyaanisqatsi) 66.176.207.231 Ancient Anubis (Soul Collector) $1000000 10:47 AM EDT

All my contributions. This was rather fun, despite the fact that I didn`t manage to hold onto my lead.

Xenko (The Gambit) 68.147.49.224 [P]Mitt (Mittar) $1 -- 23rd - NCAA 10:45 AM EDT
Xenko (The Gambit) 68.147.49.224 QBBast (Dixie Cousins) $50 -- 22nd - NCAA 10:44 AM EDT
Xenko (The Gambit) 68.147.49.224 th00p (Reflex) $100 -- 21st - NCAA 10:44 AM EDT
Xenko (The Gambit) 68.147.49.224 colonel (Major League) $250 -- 20th - NCAA 10:43 AM EDT
Xenko (The Gambit) 68.147.49.224 [Blarg] (Awesome name) $500 -- 19th - NCAA 10:43 AM EDT
Xenko (The Gambit) 68.147.49.224 JahRoor (Dystopia) $666 -- 18th - NCAA 10:42 AM EDT
Xenko (The Gambit) 68.147.49.224 j'bob (The Crow) $750 -- 17th - NCAA 10:42 AM EDT
Xenko (The Gambit) 68.147.49.224 dj1914 (Bank of Gordie) $1000 -- 16th - NCAA 10:41 AM EDT
Xenko (The Gambit) 68.147.49.224 QBRanger (Koyaanisqatsi) $2500 -- 15th - NCAA 10:40 AM EDT
Xenko (The Gambit) 68.147.49.224 Jennicide (Jennicide) $5000 -- 14th - NCAA 10:40 AM EDT
Xenko (The Gambit) 68.147.49.224 Mikel (King of Pain) $7500 -- 13th - NCAA 10:39 AM EDT
Xenko (The Gambit) 68.147.49.224 QBOddBird (Hejin II) $10000 -- 12th - NCAA 10:39 AM EDT
Xenko (The Gambit) 68.147.49.224 Bull3t F4c3 (Lake Show) $15000 -- 11th - NCAA 10:38 AM EDT
Xenko (The Gambit) 68.147.49.224 {CB1}stingiestbard (Tangerine) $20000 -- 10th - NCAA 10:47 AM EDT
Xenko (The Gambit) 68.147.49.224 QBsutekh137 (Hubbell) $25000 -- 9th - NCAA 10:38 AM EDT
Xenko (The Gambit) 68.147.49.224 tasuki (o2theMonkey) $50000 -- 8th - NCAA 10:37 AM EDT
Xenko (The Gambit) 68.147.49.224 Last Gasp (Jingleheimer Schmidt) $75000 -- 6th Place - NCAA 10:35 AM EDT
Xenko (The Gambit) 68.147.49.224 InebriatedArsonist (Susan Death) $100000 -- 5th - NCAA 10:35 AM EDT

Definitely was a good championship game.

Thanks for putting this together, IA, and to everyone else for making it work :)

Don't Panic (The Guide) 192.147.222.2 Ancient Anubis (Soul Collector) $1000000 -- NCAA Winner 1:36 PM EDT Congrats!
Lots of fun

oh man, 1 CB :)

Just keeping this bumped until Mikel can see it. *smile* Mikel's prize is the only one left to distribute, I believe... (I didn't check xfer logs, he might have already sent it...)