March Madness Pool Calculator
Running or joining an NCAA bracket pool? Calculate the total prize pool, payout structure, and your expected value. Enter the entry fee, number of participants, and payout format to see the breakdown.
Ad Space
How Bracket Pools Work
In a March Madness bracket pool, each participant pays an entry fee and fills out a bracket predicting the outcome of all 63 games in the NCAA tournament. Points are awarded for correct picks, typically increasing in value as rounds progress. The participant(s) with the most points at the end win a share of the prize pool.
Common Scoring Formats
Standard Scoring (most common)
- Round of 64: 1 point per correct pick (32 games)
- Round of 32: 2 points per correct pick (16 games)
- Sweet 16: 4 points per correct pick (8 games)
- Elite 8: 8 points per correct pick (4 games)
- Final Four: 16 points per correct pick (2 games)
- Championship: 32 points (1 game)
- Maximum possible score: 192 points
Payout Structures
Winner-take-all is simplest: one person gets the entire prize pool. Top-3 splits are popular for larger pools (e.g., 70/20/10). Some pools also award prizes for the worst bracket or best bracket through specific rounds.