The Most Popular Types Of NCAA Tournament Pools

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Even the casual sports fan will fill out an NCAA Basketball Tournament bracket when the March Madness rolls around. However, while brackets are the most common type of pool for the tournament, they aren’t the only pool used for the annual event.

Outside of betting on the games at BetOnline (BetOnline Review), Bookmaker, Bovada, etc. and filling out a bracket, here is a look at the most popular types of NCAA tournament pools.

The Bracket Pool

The bracket pool will always be the most popular college basketball pool. It provides every different type of fan with a rooting interest in the tournament at one price. Pools can range from thousands of dollars to exactly $1 depending on the group of people involved. These are clearly also the most popular at the office as well.

The concept behind the bracket pool is simple. Entrants pick their predicted winners for each game based on how the tournament unfolds. At the end of the tournament the person with the most correct picks wins. Some bracket pools are set up so that the point total for each correct pick increases as the rounds progress. However, the majority of them are simply one point for each right answer.

The Bidding Pool

Another type of pool that is starting to catch on with people is the bidding pool. Every team is up for auction and goes to the highest bidder. Then all of the money collected in the auction going in to a pot. The owner of the winning team will collect all of the money based solely on correctly predicting which team wins it all. The one thing many people like about this pool is the fact that it is possible to find good value.

For example, if the No. 1 seeds are purchased for $20 each then there is a good chance there will be some No. 4, 5 and 6 seeds available for around $5. Therefore, the person that gets two No. 4 seeds, a No. 5 seed and a No. 6 seed has collected four potential winners for a combined $20 risk, which is the same amount of money that the person with the No. 1 seed has risked for that one pick.

The Lottery Pool

Lottery pools are usually reserved for the later rounds of the tournament. That's when the number of teams is down to around eight or 16. The basis for these types of pools is that players draw numbers between one and eight or 16 depending on how many teams are left in the tournament. Then they get to pick their predicted winner based on the order they draw from the hat. The person that draws No. 1 from the hat gets the first pick. Then No. 2 from the hat goes and so on. It’s a simple concept that can be a lot of fun. That's why it's no surprise this style is catching on more of late.

The Box Pool

The final type of pool we will look at for the NCAA Basketball Tournament is the box pool. That's the staple of sports pools. The reason that the box pool works so well for this tournament is that there really are no bad numbers. Another factor that can lead to excitement in box pools is the number of points that can be scored in a small amount of time. Entire games can swing on a dime in the March Madness tournament and that makes following each box that much more exciting.

If you're looking for more than just the regular March Madness odds, now you know which pools to play to spice it up.