Entries, Fees & Due Dates

• The entry fee for this year's tourney pool is $5 per Bracket Entry

• I will accept a maximum of 2 entries for any one person.

• All bracket entries MUST have the entrant's FULL NAME on each bracket. No abbreviaions or nicknames please. Also, please include some contact info... preferably an e-mail address... but phone number works too.

• All bracket entries MUST be received by me, by 9:00 PM on Wednesday Night (March 17, 2010). I will not accept any entries after this time, unless you have made specific arrangements with me IN ADVANCE.

• All entry fees must be submitted with your bracket entry. I will no longer accept brackets with promises to pay later. I do apologize if this inconveniences anyone, but I have had a number of unsavory situations over the years that have forced me into this. This is the only way that's fair for everyone.

• I DO NOT ACCEPT CHECKS!
  All entry fees must be paid IN CASH.
  No exceptions for any reason.

• Blank brackets will be available via the online link in the menu by 10:00 AM on Monday, March 15. I will accept brackets from other sources, but please make sure that the bracket you use is correct. I've had several cases of incorrect brackets over they years.

Who Can Play???

• This year's tourney pool is open invite to anyone who can directly get me their bracket entry(s) and fee(s) as described above.

• I will accept indirect entries via a sponser, who will be required to get me your entry(s) and fee(s) directly, as described above. Please see the Sponsor Information section below.

• I will be making collection arrangements with other individuals over the next few weeks, to aid in collecting brackets/fees from various remote locations. I will list the names/dates/times/conditions of these arrangements (as I make them) in the Collection Arrangements section below.

• I do reserve the right to decline entry to anyone for any reason I see fit, prior to the start of tourney play... so please don't piss me off.

Sponsor Information

• Anyone who can get me their entry(s) and fee(s) as described above, is also welcome to invite their friends, family, coworkers or other acquaintances, to participate as well.

• As a sponsor, you will be responsible for getting to me (by the deadline) the entry(s) and fee(s) of the person or persons you are sponsoring. You will also be responsible for delivering any prize money that they may win. If you agree to that AND they agree to that, you can sponsor as many people as you like.

• If you are planning on sponsoring a large number of individuals (10 or more), I would encourage you to contact me ahead of time. Prehaps we can make some arrangements to ease the burden on you.

Collection Arrangements

• Medco Employees
  
  As always, I invite my co-workers at Medco to participate in my tourney pool each year. For those who are not working out of the Waukesha office, please let me know in advance how you intend to deliver your entry and fee.
  
  PLEASE NOTE: This year, I will only be collecting brackets on WEDNESDAY (3/17). I will be in the office from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. There is NO bracket collection on Thurdsay this year. If this does not work for you, please e-mail me in advance, and I will do my best to work out a solution.
  
  

• Gasthaus Collection
  
  I will be at the Gasthaus resturant in the bar area from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM on Wednesday night (March 18), collecting entries from my fellow Stein Club-ers and anyone else who wants to get them to me there. The Gasthaus is located in Waukesha Just south of I-94 from the Hwy T Exit.

• Salt Lake City Contingent - Medco and Beyond
  
  Jada Wuthrich will be collecting all of the SLC entries and shipping them out to me. Please check with Jada for her schedule. If you miss Jada's shipment, you will need to make arrangments with me directly.

• AZ Contingent - Medco and Beyond
  
  Kevin Niezgodzki will be collecting all of the AZ entries and shipping them out to me. Please check with Kevin for his schedule. If you miss Kevin's shipment, you will need to make arrangments with me directly.

• Memphis Contingent - Medco and Beyond
  
  Keith Wilson will be collecting all of the Memphis entries and shipping them out to me. Please check with Keith for his schedule. If you miss Keith's shipment, you will need to make arrangments with me directly.

Scoring

• I've assigned a point value for games in each round of the Tourney. If you correctly pick the winner of that game, then you score the points associated with games in that round. The person with the most total points at the end of the tourney, wins the pool. The point assignments are as follows:

• As has been the case for the last several years, the 64th seed to the tourney will be determined by a play-in game on Tuesday night (March 16). The winner of this play-in will face one of the #1 seeds in one of the 4 regional divisions.
  No points are awarded for this pre-tourney game.

Prize Distribution

The exact details of the prize distribution will be determined once the total pot is accumulated and all brackets are accounted for. They will be announced in the Prize Distribution page of this site. 100% of the accumulated pot is redistributed in prize money... I DO NOT TAKE A CUT OR AN ADMIN FEE.

At minimum, the top 4 highest scoring entries will receive prize money, and there will also be a $5 consolation prize awarded to the LOWEST scoring entry. The prize for 1st place will be no less than 30% of the total pot. I will add prize distribution for additional places, if the total pot gets large enough to support them. All ties will result in the even splitting of the prize money for the place or places affected.

Prize money will be awarded as quickly as possible following the conclusion of the Tourney.

Results & Standings

I will be maintaining all results and standings on this web site. I will be doing my best to provide updated results as frequently as I have time to.

If there is a need for any major changes or announcements, they will be made in the Discussion Forum, so please check out the forum from time to time.

As with past years, I'll be using a software package to manage this year's tourney scoring. While there are no known bugs in the software, it is still dependent on my entering in all of your bracket picks correctly... and contrary to popular belief, I am actually human. So with that, all participants are responsible for double-checking their own scores, for accuracy. All requests for review/corrections must received PRIOR TO Final Four weekend.

If you do find that something is amiss with your score, I do keep your original paper copy on file and will happily review it to find any errors that I might have made in my entry.

Correction Policy

As you know, I must manually enter each and every pick for each and every bracket entry, into my Tourney Pool management software, to properly manage my pool. I do take great care when entering in your picks, but even I am prone to the occasional mistake. It is YOUR responsibility to follow the results and standings and verify that I am correctly tracking your points. If at any time, you think that I have made a mistake, please let me know immediatly. I will be very happy to review anyone's bracket entry, and apply any corrections, up through my cut-off date, which is the end of day on the last Friday before Final Four Weekend.

This year's cutoff date is Friday April 2nd.
As of Saturday April 3rd, ALL bracket entries WILL BE FINAL. I will no longer apply any corrections after this time... even if I did make a mistake.

Questions, Comments or Concerns

If you have any questions, comments or concerns, please feel free to start a new thread in the Discussion Forum. I'll be checking the forum frequently and will try to answer your questions as quickly as possible. Or, if you prefer, you're welcome to send me an e-mail via the link on the menu. Do note though, that this is my home e-mail address, so I may only be able to respond on nights and weekends.

GOOD LUCK TO YOU ALL!

- Big D.