ENTRY FEE
$25. Simple as that. $5 from each $25 collected will go towards the cost of buying the Jouster domain, hosting fees and be some compensation for the work to build the site. That amounts to approximately 17 cents an hour for development.
MISSING PICK DEADLINES
In the event that a player misses entering their picks before the closing deadline, they will be automatically given 0 points for that round. That being said, they will be able to continue participation in the next round and just because you have 0 for one round, does not count you out. Depending on the circumstance, there may be exceptions that would be assessed on a case by case basis. Bottom line, just make sure you don't miss the deadlines.
SCORING
Everyone starts with 120 points each round. If the team you predicted wins, you will maintain the designated points for that round in that series. If they lose, you will have the designated points removed, or "jousted" from your total.
The same goes for predicting the amount of games the series will go. If you're correct, you keep the designated points for that round in that series, wrong however and, you guessed it, jousted!
The winner of each round will recieve a bonus of 10 points. The runner up will recieve a 5 point bonus. If there is a tie for first or second place at the end of each round, all first or second place players will recieve the corresponding bonus points.
Anything other than the above stated... Worthless.
FINAL TIE BREAKER RULE
The importance of first round performance has now been elevated. In the event of a tie in the final standings of round 4, the tie will be broken by virtue of best performance in the first round. If the tied players are also tied in this round, the deciding factor will be based on second round performance, and so on. All players will then get bumped down once the tie is calculated. In other words, there will only be one first place and one second place winner. No splitting of the pot. It also serves as a possible reward for doing well in these first few rounds that don't offer the amount of points as the later rounds.
POINTS BREAK DOWN
Round 1
Picking the correct team: 10
Picking the correct number of games: 5
Round winner/s bonus: 10
Round runner up/s: 5
Round 2
Picking the correct team: 20
Picking the correct number of games: 10
Round winner/s bonus: 10
Round runner up/s: 5
Round 3
Picking the correct team: 40
Picking the correct number of games: 20
Round winner/s bonus: 10
Round runner up/s: 5
Round 4
Picking the correct team: 80
Picking the correct number of games: 40
Round winner/s bonus: 10
Round runner up/s: 5
The WINS column is where series wins will be tracked for your viewing pleasure.
THE PAYOUT
$20 of each entrance fee will go towards 'THE PAYOUT'. 70% of 'THE PAYOUT' will be awarded to first place. 30% of 'THE PAYOUT' will be awarded to second place. The last place finisher receives a complimentary sympathy voucher granting free entry into next years Jouster. Ties for last will be broken by who did worse in round 1, 2, or 3. Players who miss making picks in any round are not eligle for the last place voucher based on the "Sand Bagging" scheme.