OK boys and girls, it’s that time of the year: The Glimm is here!

It’s the NCAA tournament pool you know and love. We’ll have men’s and women’s pools. The men’s pool has the Orlov, the Kids Championship and the Glimm Family Scholarship. The entry fee is still $5, just like it was back in 1993 (take that, inflation!). We’ve got upset points, 70/20/10 winning split and last-place money back.

But there is something new this year. After YEARS of using the same software to power the Glimm, I’m migrating to a new system. This one is a bit of a Frankenstein: I found an old PHP/SQL bracket app online, and modified the code to make it work for the Glimm.

For the most part, I’ve worked to replicate the functionality we had on the old system, while adding a few things. So what’s new? It’s entirely web based, which makes the workflow a bit easier on my end (no more breaking out the 8-year-old Windows laptop that I use for the Glimm and nothing else). Most of the key reports (standings, etc.) are now responsive, so you can read them more easily on your phone. It has some cool simulations you can do once we get to the Sweet 16. And most importantly, because I control the code, I can build on what we have in future years – so give me your suggestions!

Here are the key Glimm details:

WHAT: The 33rd Annual Glimm Memorial NCAA Basketball Tournament Pool

HOW: Fill out a men’s bracket here, and/or a women’s bracket here (women’s bracket will be available later tonight), then send me $5 per bracket via venmo (username @Josh-Kleinbaum). IMPORTANT: When sending money, be sure to specify what bracket (entry name and men’s or women’s pool) you’re paying for. I’m also requesting your Venmo handle, so if you don’t pay by the end of the first weekend, I can send you a request.

HOW MUCH: Five bucks per entry for each pool. And yes, you can enter more than once (but no more than five times per pool, thanks to the Nevin Barich rule).

THE PAYOUT: In both pools, the winner gets 70% of the pot, runner-up 20% and third-place person 10%.  To give some context, the winner has taken home north of $1K in some years. There are a few other prizes in the men’s pool, too: The Orlov (whoever finishes exactly middle of the pack gets their $5 back, in cash, via snail mail), the Glimm Scholarship (the highest-finishing relative of Mrs. Glimm from the previous year gets a free entry), the Kids Champion (the top finisher under Bar Mitzvah age; details below) and the Pity Finisher (the last-place finisher gets his/her $5 back). On top of that, thirty bucks comes out of the pot to pay for Glimm infrastructure, and I give myself 2 free entries.

SCORING: For both pools, it’s a 1-2-4-8-12-16 scoring system with upset points. So that means that you get one point for picking a game correctly in the first round, two points in the second round, etc. And we use upset points – any time a lower-seeded team beats a higher-seeded team, you get half the difference between the seeds as bonus points. So if a 15 beats a 2, you get 6.5 bonus points. If a 9 beats an 8, you get half a point. The bottom line: It pays to take risks.

KIDS CHAMPION: Any kid under Bar Mitzvah age that enters the Glimm men’s pool (and makes their own picks – this isn’t about mommy or daddy submitting an entry under baby’s name) is also eligible to win the Kids Championship. Like the Glimm Scholarship (awarded to the top finisher related to Mrs. Glimm), the Kids Champion will receive a free entry to the next year’s Glimm. When filling out their bracket, kids should choose YES in the Kids Bracket drop-down. We’ll see how many kids enter to determine if there will be a kids championship in the women’s pool…

HOW TO PAY: Venmo (username @Josh-Kleinbaum). IMPORTANT: When sending money, be sure to specify which brackets in which pool you’re paying for. This year, I’m asking for your venmo handle in the bracket. If I don’t receive payment by the end of the first weekend of the tourney, I will send you a Venmo request.