2021 Men’s March Madness bracket contest rules


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To win our March Madness Bracket Contest all you need to do is pick the most winners with the point system giving more weight to later round winners. Keep reading to view the full chart below.

The March Madness Brackets App will be available February 8th to login and create your profile, review NEW features or just simply get familiar with the app. The day after Selection Sunday you will be able to start filling out and editing your brackets right until the first game of Round of 64 starts.

You can also create brackets for the Second Round, Round of 32, and the Sweet 16 Round. These bracket selections will be available once the previous round is completed until the tip-off of the first game of the round.

What are the March Madness 2021 dates?

• First Four: March 18.
• First Round: March 19-20.
• Second Round: March 21-22.
• Sweet 16: March 27-28.
• Elite Eight: March 29-30.
• Final Four: April 3.
• National Championship: April 5.

IMPORTANT! All stats are not updated in real-time and they are intended to be used as a reference only. If need to, please verify all stats before submitting your bracket.

You can buy as many brackets as you like. Once a bracket is purchased, it can NOT be deleted and is NOT refundable.

Bracket pool options are $1, $5, $10 or $25 and will only compete with brackets within the same amount and round.

GENERAL POOL

General Pool Scoring

When the Division 1 – NCAA Men’s College Basketball Tournament concludes, brackets winners will be calculated and prizes will be awarded to the top scorers.

There are 6 rounds to the NCAA tournament, for each correct winner picked, a player is awarded points based on what round the winner is picked and the points per round increase as the tournament progresses. The chart below shows scoring by round.

Players will earn points based on correct prediction of winning teams in the Division 1 – NCAA Men’s College Basketball Tournament games. The number of points awarded for each correct pick of a winning game of the Tournament will increase with each round of the Tournament. A maximum of one-hundred twenty-four (124) points can be earned if all games are predicted correctly.

The four (4) play-in games (The First Four), scheduled to take place prior to the First Round of the Tournament, are NOT included in the Bracket Contest.

The chart below shows scoring by round.

General Pools Tie-Breakers

In the case of a tie of 2 or more brackets in a pool, the championship score will be used in the following tie breakers to determine the winner:

Highest bracket score

1. The winner will be the bracket with the score prediction closest to the total amount of points scored by both teams in the final game without going over.
E.g: Final game total score: 176

2. Closest number to the team total score of the Championship Game Winner over or under.
E.g: Final game total score: 160
Final game winner score: 90

3. If after all tie breakers there’s a tie, the pool will be split equally among the winners.

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General Pool Prizes

When the Division 1 – NCAA Men’s College Basketball Tournament concludes, brackets will be calculated and prizes will be awarded to the top scoring.

The pool prize will be awarded to the top scoring bracket of each bracket category or group. One winner takes all. Pool prizes have a 100% payout and will be determined by the amount of participating brackets in the pool.

Round of 32 Bracket Rules

Round of 32 brackets will only be available for purchasing and editing as soon as the Round of 64 is completed right until the first game of Round of 32 starts. Once the first game in that round starts the bracket will be closed and no further edits will be allowed. All purchased brackets starting from round of 32 will be part of the general pool.

Please remember that purchased brackets can NOT be deleted and are NOT refundable.

General Pool Rules apply.

Scoring: A maximum of ninety-two (92) points can be earned if all games are predicted correctly.

Round of 16 Bracket Rules

Round of 16 brackets will only be available for purchasing and editing as soon as the Round of 32 is completed right until the first game of Round of 16 starts. Once the first game in that round starts the bracket will be closed and no further edits will be allowed. All purchased brackets starting from round of 16 will be part of the general pool.

Please remember that purchased brackets can NOT be deleted and are NOT refundable.

General Pool Rules apply.

Scoring: A maximum of sixty (60) points can be earned if all games are predicted correctly.

GROUPS

Different groups are available for joining. Everyone is welcome to be part of any and all groups. Each group has a specific entry fee that will be charged when joining.

Groups are optional, you don’t have to join any group, but in doing so, your chances of winning will be greater.

The groups will have a maximum of 10 brackets. Once a group is full no more brackets will be able to join.

A separate group fee will be charged every time one of your brackets is added to a group.

Please remember that purchased brackets can NOT be deleted and are NOT refundable.

General Pool Rules apply.

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The House Groups

Lucky99 Group has created different groups available for joining. Everyone is welcome to be part of any and all groups. Each group has a specific entry fee that will be charged when joining. At the end of the contest, 100% of the group pool prize will be awarded to the bracket with the highest score.

The groups will have a maximum of 10 brackets. Once a group is full no more brackets will be able to join.

These groups are all Public and anyone can join. The maximum brackets per group is 10 brackets.

General Pool Rules apply.

Available Groups & Fees

Special Groups for Die-Hard First Seed Fans

We also have different round groups

Once the tournament has started you can begin brackets at different times. These later brackets have specific house groups. Lucky99 Group will offer these groups for the round of 32 and round of 16 specifically.

Player Groups

You can create your own group and compete with your friends.

Each player has the chance to create 1 group.

An additional group fee will be deducted from your balance to create your group and any time a player wants to join; will need to cover the fee.

A Group name is required. Give your group a unique name.

Players have the possibility to make their own group public, for any player to join, or private, where the system will automatically create a group password that only the creator can see and share with his invitees.

The groups will have a maximum of 10 brackets. However, the group creator can choose the amount of brackets within 2-10

Once the group is full no more brackets can join.

General Pool Rules apply.

SUPER LEAGUE BRACKET RULES

Want to increase your chances of winning? Enter our new Super League Bracket Option!

These brackets are only available for the Round of 64.

This pool gives you better odds by offering to split the prize in 1st, 2nd and 3rd place.

This is a $50 bracket pool and will only be available for the First Round, Round of 64. Keep in mind that by entering this pool you will only compete with brackets from this pool.

You can buy as many brackets as you like. Once a bracket is purchased, it can NOT be deleted and is NOT refundable.

General Pool Rules apply.

Scoring: A maximum of one-hundred twenty-four (124) points can be earned if all games are predicted correctly.

Super League Tie-Breakers

In the case of a tie of 2 or more brackets in a position, the championship score will be used in the following tie breakers to determine the winner.

Highest bracket score: E.g. Bracket total: 124

TIE BREAKERS

1. Closest number to the total amount of points scored by both teams in the final game without going over.

E.g. Final game total score: 176

2. Closest number to the team total score of final game winner prediction over or under.

E.g. Final game total score: 176
Final game winner score: 90

3. If after all the tie breakers there are still ties, the following will apply:

Scenario #1
1st place: A tie of 2 winners: 45% each
2nd place: 10%
3rd place: NONE

Scenario #2
1st place: A tie of 3 or more winners: 100% split equally
2nd place: NONE
3rd place: NONE

Scenario #3
1st place: 60%
2nd place: A tie of 2 or more winners: 40% split equally
3rd place: NONE

Scenario #4
1st place: 60%
2nd place: 30%
3rd place: A tie of 2 or more winners: 10% split equally

Scenario #5
1st place: A tie of 2 winners: 45% each
2nd place: a tie of 2 or more winners: 10% split equally
3rd place: NONE

Super League Prizes

When the Division 1 – NCAA Men’s College Basketball Tournament concludes, brackets will be calculated and prizes will be awarded to the top scoring.

The pool prize will be awarded to the top scoring brackets. The pool prize has a 100% payout split the following way:

  • 1st place: 60% of the pool prize
  • 2nd place: 30% of the pool prize
  • 3rd place: 10% of the pool prize

F4 MISSIONS GAME RULES

Talk about new stuff! This feature gives players the chance to complete missions, obtain badges and seek Final Four Bracket Challenge entry.

Show Off With A Shiny Badge.

The object of the game is to complete all the missions and obtain the Platinum badge that will grant the entry to the Final Four Bracket Challenge which gives you the option to buy one bracket in the final four rounds of the tournament.

There are 4 Badges to obtain: Bronze Badge, Silver Badge, Gold Badge and Platinum Badge.

Bronze Badge missions

To obtain the Bronze badge you need to complete at least 3 of the 6 missions below:

  1. Buy a Round of 64 Bracket
  2. Update profile Name
  3. Share your Group on Social Media
  4. Buy a Super League Bracket (Grants a direct pass to Gold badge. Requires nickname update)
  5. Invite a friend to join the 2021 MMB group
  6. Create a group
Silver Badge missions

To obtain the Silver badge you need to complete at least 3 of the 6 missions below:

  1. Obtain Bronze Badge
  2. Join a player’s group
  3. Buy a Bracket of Round of 32
  4. Share your Round of 32 bracket on social media
  5. Join a house’s group
  6. Customize avatar image
Gold Badge missions

To obtain the Gold badge you need to complete at least 3 of the 6 missions below:

  1. Obtain Silver Badge
  2. Fill out one of your groups (Hint: you can create small groups)
  3. Buy a round of 16 Bracket
  4. Share your Round of 16 bracket on social media
  5. Share a General Pool Leaderboard
  6. Share F4 Missions Game on social media
Platinum Badge missions

To obtain the Platinum badge you need to complete all of the missions below:

  1. Obtain Gold Badge
  2. Feedback “Tell us what you think about the Final four Challenge?”

Once you are a Platinum Badge owner, it is smooth sailing straight up to the Final Four Bracket Challenge, yup, one more opportunity to WIN!

Final Four Bracket Challenge Rules

This Group is exclusive to players that have completed all challenges and have obtained the Platinum badge.

Yes, you can now create brackets for the Final Four. These bracket selections will be available for Platinum badge holders only and once the sweet sixteen Round ends until the tip-off of first game of the Elite 8 round.

Please remember that once a bracket is purchased, it can NOT be deleted and is NOT refundable.

  • Each player can buy ONLY ONE (1) Final Four bracket.
  • This is a $25 bracket challenge pool.
  • The player who defeats the first tie-breakers will win the pool prize.
  • 1 winner takes all.
  • The system will run all brackets through each tie-breaker until there’s ONE winner.
  • Choose the correct final four teams (1pt each) the most accurate choices will continue on to the tie-breakers.
  • Every time we get a tie we move on to the next tie-breaker.

General Pool Rules apply.

Scoring: A maximum of thirty-six (36) points can be earned if all games are predicted correctly.

Final Four Bracket Challenge Tie-Breakers

Highest bracket score: E.g. Bracket total: 36

1. Closest number to the Total score of the championship game without going over (regardless of the teams).
E.g. Final Game total score = 203

2. Closest number to the team total of prediction game winner without going over (regardless of the team).
E.g: Final championship score: 203
Final game winner score: 105

3. Closest number to the summary of scores of the final four games, all 4 regions without going over (regardless of the teams):
E.g: East region team score: 101 + West region team score: 102 + South region team score: 103 + Midwest region team score: 104 = 410

4. Choose the correct championship game matchup:
E.g Championship game: Team Warm vs Team Cold

5. Choose themmbrackets.gifcorrect championship winner:
E.g Final Winner: Team Cold

6. If after all tie breakers there’s a tie, the pool will be split equally among the winners.

Final Four Bracket Challenge Prizes

When the Division 1 – NCAA Men’s College Basketball Tournament concludes, brackets will be calculated and prizes will be awarded to the top scoring.

The pool prize will be awarded to the bracket that wins all tie-breakers. One winner takes all. The pool prize has a 100% payout and will be determined by the amount of participating brackets in the pool.
The winning player will also get an extra reward program if eligible*.

HOW TO …

Buy a bracket

Select “Purchase Bracket” button to start. Before each round, select your winners. Once the round starts, your picks will be locked.

Every time you buy a bracket it will go into the General Pool where it will compete with all created brackets in that specific category and prize, for example, if you buy a $1 Round of 64 bracket, it will only compete among brackets in that same category and prize. Please remember that purchased brackets can NOT be deleted and are NOT refundable.

Fill out my bracket

Every single round of the bracket needs to be completely filled to be able to be submitted. Once the Tournament begins all brackets will be locked in.

1. Enter a unique bracket name and select the bracket type. You have 3 different options of how to buy your brackets:

A. Standard
On the upper part you’ll see the team matchup of each game and on the lower part of the map of the bracket. Each time you choose the winner in a matchup it will automatically move onto the next matchup. All selections will be highlighted in green on the map. Once you finish selecting your winners, enter a championship game possible score and click the right arrow to move onto the next step.

B. Quickpick
The screen will show the option for you to choose the championship game matchup and score only and the rest of the matches in the tournament will be randomly generated by the system.

C. Classic
Conventional bracket creation in which you see the entire bracket on the screen and you choose the winners by moving them to the next position.

2. For the championship game matchup, you must introduce a final score as a tie breaker, by either using the number keys on the keyboard, or by using the arrows.

3. Every single round on the bracket needs to be completely filled to be able to be submitted. Once the Tournament begins all brackets will be locked in.

Once you finish selecting all your winners and entering a score ,click the right arrow to move onto the next step.

Choose $ value for my bracket

The options are $1, $5, $10 or $25.

Complete purchase

You can complete the purchase by selecting the button “Purchase”. You will get a purchase confirmation with the details of your bracket.

See my bracket

Once the purchase has been completed, you can see the pool information by selecting the button “Go to General Pools”.

Click on My brackets to view the brackets bought for that price/round
Click on All brackets to view all the brackets in that price/round

Brackets and groups only compete within the same round.

i.e.: $1 General pool Round of 64 Brackets can only compete with brackets for that amount in that category.

In the general pool, you can see all your brackets for that pool, the prize, the total of brackets and the total of players.

Home page

Your Home screen will hold all your activity in the contest. The amount of brackets you own, sorted by category and value.

Create a Group (Optional)

To create your own group and compete with your friends, first, select the button “Create a Group”

Each player has the chance to create 1 group.

An additional group fee will be deducted from your balance to create your group and any time a player wants to join, will need to cover the fee.

  • Choose any value for your group fee: $1, $5, $10 & $25.
  • Create a unique group name for your group.
  • Make your group public for any player to join, or private, where the system will automatically create a group password that only the creator can see and share with his invitees.
  • The groups will have a maximum of 10 brackets. However, the group creator can choose an amount within 2-10.
  • Once the group is full no more brackets can join.

Select the bracket I want to join the group with
You can select one bracket from the list of all the brackets created.

Choose a name for a group and the group type
Pick a unique Group name of upto 128 characters

You can choose your group to be public for any player to join, or private, where the system will automatically create a group password that only the creator can see and share with his invitees. The password will be sent in an email invite to your friends.

Group size
Select the size or amount of brackets your want to enter your group. Groups have a maximum of 10 brackets, once the group is full no more brackets can join.

Choose my Group Fee
Select the group pool you want to join. If you do not choose a group, your bracket will be participating in the general entry fee category ($1 pool, $5 pool, $10 pool and $25 pool).

A separate group fee will be charged every time one of your brackets is added to a group. Please remember that group joined brackets can NOT be deleted and are NOT refundable.

Invite Friends (Optional)

To play the tournament all your friends need is an active account with us. Invite as many friends as you wish to join our March Madness Brackets Contest.

You can invite your friends via Facebook or Twitter.

Once your group is created you will get a purchase confirmation with the details of your group.

To invite a friend, you will need the email. Once you send the invitation, your friend will receive an email with the information on how to join your group.

Replicate a Bracket (Optional)

Do you think you have a winning bracket and want to play it twice? You can do that.

If you chose to replicate a bracket, the additional fee will be deducted from your account.

You can choose any value you want for the new replicated bracket: $1, $5, $10 & $25. Please remember that replicated brackets can NOT be deleted and are NOT refundable. To replicate a bracket, first select the replicate button button on your bracket

  • Choose a unique name for your bracket with up to 128 characters.
  • Select the pool your want your bracket to compete in. The options are $1, $5, $10 or $25.
  • Once you have completed the process, you will see a summary with information on the replicated bracket.

Join a Group (Optional)

If you want to compete against other people, but don’t want to create your own group, the way is to Join to an existing group.

First you need to select the button “Add Bracket to a Group”.

  • Select the group/pool you want to join. If you do not choose a group, your bracket will be participating in the general entry fee category ($1 pool, $5 pool, $10 pool and $25 pool).
  • The Lucky99 Group will offer several groups for all the categories that you can join.
  • The groups will have a maximum of 10 brackets. Once the group is full no more brackets can join.
  • A separate group fee will be charged every time one of your brackets is added to a group. Please remember that group joined brackets can NOT be deleted and are NOT refundable.

Then, you will need to select a Bracket to compete with.

Then, select the group you want to Join from the list, remember that if you join a group, there will be an extra fee charged to your account, and the amount is NOT refundable.

Once you have completed the process and join the group, you will see a summary of the action with the information on the purchase and the fee.