Lack of legality not stopping NCAA pools at businesses

Tourney starts today; Purdue wins first game in NIT

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OK. Everybody out of the pool.

TRYING HIS LUCK: Brian Fink fills out an NCAA tournament bracket Tuesday at Damons, 4221 Indiana 26 E. in Lafayette. Damons is giving a dinner for two and an overnight stay at the Ramada Inn to the person with the most correct tournament predictions. Fink, who is from Fort Wayne, said he fills out a bracket sheet each year. (Photo by John Terhune, Journal and Courier)

Those NCAA and NIT basketball tournament office pools and barroom brackets are not only difficult to win, they're also against the law.

"Once in a while, we get a telephone call from somebody asking about their legality. It's a form of gambling," Tippecanoe County deputy prosecutor Norris Wang said. "When it's done for money or something of value -- that's the gambling aspect. It's a scheme and somebody benefits from it."

Regardless of the criminal connotations, the pools and brackets continue to flourish, with bars, restaurants and businesses throughout Greater Lafayette trying to embrace March Madness with a friendly NCAA pool.

"I've been doing one or more (NCAA brackets) for the last 20 years," said Briant Leuck of West Lafayette, who was filling out a bracket form while having dinner with his wife, Donna, and their children at Damons on Tuesday. "The last time I won was the year before I was married."

It costs $5 to play in the NCAA men's bracket contest and $1 to enter a tournament office pool here in the Journal and Courier newsroom.

The newspaper also is involved in Power Points Inc. BracketsBall 2001, a free-to-enter nationwide newspaper contest that pays a grand prize of $25,000 to the person who comes closest to correctly picking the round-by-round winners of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.

The contest also pays $250 for one local winner from each participating publication.

Words from a winner

There are no office pools this year at Perry Chemical and Manufacturing Co. in Lafayette, but legalities have nothing to do with their absence.

"No one got one up and going this year," materials manager Mark Ehlers said. "I was a little too tied up this week to get one started."

But Ehlers is hoping to cash in -- again -- by picking Duke in the $25,000 Power Point Inc. 2001 contest, which he won two years ago.

"It was just pure, blind dumb luck," said Ehlers in recalling his brackets that correctly selected the University of Connecticut as the NCAA Men's champion and foresaw a few of the final score surprises along the tournament path.

"I sat at Big Apple Bagels and filled it out in about 10 or 15 minutes while eating breakfast. It just kind of worked. A couple of the upsets I picked actually happened," Ehlers said.

Competing for food, fun

There's no cost to enter the tourney bracket contest being conducted for customers at Damons restaurant in Lafayette.

"It's completely free, and the winner will win dinner for two at Damons and a night's stay at the Ramada Inn," restaurant manager Amanda Robley said. "We usually have a pretty good turnout. We have a lot of regulars who like to participate."

Brian and Amy Jones of Lafayette are also a part of the NCAA bracket brigade, but Brian said he tries to improve his odds like a lot of other hoops fans throughout Greater Lafayette.

"I usually play one at work and one with my friends," Brian Jones said.

Brian Fink and Jamie Till, both of Fort Wayne, play every year. "I've never won it yet," Till said.

In a separate contest, Damons' employees also are trying to pick the tournament winner, but they aren't too worried about being hauled off to jail.

"They're pretty much guessing, not gambling," Robley said.

And it appears the popular form of March Madness wagering is here to stay.

"Nobody has ever come forth to file a complaint with the police or with us regarding a basketball pool," Wang said. "If someone does, we'll be more than happy to look into it and investigate it. But first it has to be reported to a police department."