You've probably considered at one time or another running your own NCAA Tournament Pool – that is, before you reconsider and forget about it for another year. Leafing through stacks of brackets to update standings late in the night just doesn't sound very appealing – as fun as participating in a pool can be (when you're not the organizer). You can relax, though, and while you're at it, get into the digital age! Computers and web resources make it very simple and quick to run a pool, as long as you take all the steps to get it right.
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First, know that betting money on the NCAA Tournament is shady in terms of strict legality. If you're running a pool at the office, be sure that HR doesn't have any problem with a friendly pool among coworkers. Alternately, you could choose to run a pool online with friends and family or opt for one of the big sports sites that runs a pool online.
Run your pool online, using one of the Internet fantasy game portals to create your bracket. First you need to create a league – give it a name and a password, and then invite whomever you wish to join the league.
NCAA pools and cash wagers, again, are of dubious legality. For those interested in the topic in general, you might consider the following. Determining the cost is tricky; players will want a good payout, but will not want to have to break into the grocery money to participate. Be reasonable, but also try to make participating worth people's while.
Payout is similarly tricky. Winner gets everything? Splits for first, second, and third? Think about all of your options, including what you'll do in the event of a tie.
Money collection needs to be finished by the time the tournament begins. For those who don't make the hard deadline, it's probably best to decline their participation. There is no need to stress yourself out trying to get someone to cough up the entry fee when they have no trouble coughing up their bracket! If your participants are mostly online, spread across the country, you can use Paypal.
Don't take a “cut†for running the pool. Running a pool is legally dubious; if you start taking a cut you get into bookmaking territory.
As you can see, the digital age makes it easy to run an NCAA Tournament Pool. Much is done automatically online, so the organizer mostly just needs to get some friends and handle the money.
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