Off We Go!

The MLB Season (and our pool) has begun!

All told, we have a record 123 brackets in this year's pool - which means that we have a total prize pool of $2,460. The first year I ran this pool (2006), we only had 19 entrants. We are growing exponentially each year!

This year, I am going to pay the top six spots and - per custom - the last place finisher will win his/her money back. Here are the projected payouts this season:

1. $900
2. $600
3. $420
4. $260
5. $160
6. $100
123. $20

If you haven't sent me your entry fee, please do so ASAP.

As the baseball season progresses, continue to check this website for updated standings and other tidbits that I feel inspired to post. You will probably want to bookmark this website, as there will be no other way to check the current standings. I will update our results every day throughout the season - provided "the real world" doesn't get in my way.

Our pool's standings assume that each MLB team will continue to perform at their current win pace. As an extreme example, St. Louis is 1-0 as I type this post. So, at their current pace, they will finish the season 162-0, which means they will easily finish over their projected win total of 85.5 points. So, everyone in our pool who picked the "over" for St. Louis will be credited with those points. By contrast, if St. Louis loses their next game (to the Brewers) and the Cardinals fall to 1-1, their current win pace drops to 81, which means that everyone who picked the "under" for St. Louis will now be credited with those points.

So, as you can see, our individual points will really fluctuate during the first couple weeks of the season. As a result, if you find yourself at the top of our standings after one week, don't start spending your winnings yet. It is a long season!

If you have a question regarding our standings, just shoot me an email. I've posted the first update (click on the scrolling bar at the top of this page), but it's a little "screwy" because most teams have yet to play a game and my database doesn't really know how to handle teams that are 0-0. More than anything else, the current standings can be used to review your own picks and see what everyone else's picks look like.

When you first open the standings, you may be overwhelmed by all the numbers you see. For now, our picks are merely being presented in alphabetical order. Once the opening weekend ends, I'll start sorting the standings by points earned.

I've also learned that the standings look best when viewed with Internet Explorer. When viewed with other web browsers, some hidden columns will appear and show more clutter. It'll still work with browsers other than Internet Explorer, but you'll see a bunch of numbers that you probably don't care about.

Good luck everyone!