2025 PAYMENT CENTER
It's a St. Paddy's DAY BANQUET: NOT a bracket pool
Per our 29-year tradition, we avoid offending the PayPal or Venmo gods by not being brazen about gambling transactions. So we've developed an entire subculture around our "annual St. Patrick's Day Dinner." If you feel the need to make a notation on either your PayPal or Venmo payment -- and that's not necessary for the 90% of BreadHeads who are paying only for their own entries -- your should refer to "seats," never brackets.
JUST TO BE SURE . . .
While the world of sports gambling has undergone a radical change in the past five years, there's still no need to tempt fate where PayPal and Venmo policies on gambling transaction are concerned. Here are some words that should NEVER be entered into a payment notation on either platform. Any transactions that tip your hand will be rejected by the Bread Pool.
PAY THE FULL ENTRY FEE
For the vast majority of returning BreadHeads, payments to the Bread Pool/Meadow of Shame are locked in the Friends & Family mode, whether you use PayPal or Venmo. For rookies and others who need a refresher, please DO NOT use the Goods & Services option on either platform, because it deducts fees from this end, not from you.
WAGING WAR ON SOBRIETY AND MORAL DECENCY SINCE 1996
Depending on which package you purchased, the Jim Beam Fund collects $12-$20 of each bracket entry fee fo: RunYourPools software fees ($600-$700 annually, including the Pick 5 contest); a bookkeeper (I haven't handled the cash in years); entertainment (priceless); and attitude-adjustment purposes. When the varnish is stripped, this venture pays about $7.21 an hour. Really. But this has long been a labor of love.
When it comes to the hundreds of millions invested in "independent" March Madness pools every year, most opt for the water-cooler pool at work. Some aspire to greatness. To the latter group: Welcome to the 29th Annual Bread Pool.
HOW MANY "SEATS" (BrackEts) WOULD YOU LIKE?