Overview

Easy Pool is a College Basketball Tournament Pool Manager.  Our objective in developing Easy Pool was to make it simple and easy for someone to manage the yearly office pool in March.

We will refer to the person who manages the pool as the pool master.  The pool master is the person who will enter in all the starting teams, all the player/participants names and picks, and then update the pool with the teams who advance.  It is up to the pool master to make sure all the information he or she enters into the program is accurate.

The pool master will do most of his work on the Tournament Grid. This is the screen where the pool master enters in the starting 64 teams and then updates the screen as the tournament advances.  It is extremely important that the pool master makes all of his selections accurately. The tournament grid screen is the default view when you start Easy Pool.  Once the pool master has entered in all the starting teams and all the player/participants names and picks, he shouldn't have to leave the Tournament Grid.  Easy Pool will automatically calculate the score based on the information the pool master enters into the Tournament Grid.

At any time during the tournament the pool master can display the current standings and individual reports by selecting Show Leaders.  From there the pool master can print the standings or detailed reports for the player/participants.

Easy Pool can be used from year to year.  After clearing the old data out of the database, the program is ready to go again.

If you’re ready, we can get started!


Getting Started

The first thing the pool master should do is enter in the starting 64 teams.  Select Grid / Input Starting Teams in the Main Menu.  Type in the first team in that bracket and press Enter.  Work your way through the entire pool.  For more information, see Loading the Starting Grid.

Next the pool master should enter in the names of all the players who will be participating in the pool.  Select Add/Delete Players under the Pool menu.  As you enter each players name, click Add or press the Enter key to add the player to the list.  See Adding and Removing Players  for details.

Easy Pool comes with the default setting of 5, 7, 10, 20, 35, and 50 points for each round.  You can change these values for your pool.  See Points Setup for details.

Now is the time to print Pick Sheets if you want to.  Under the File menu, select Print / Print Pick Sheets.  All the players make their picks at this time.

The next step is to enter in the players’ picks.  Select Edit/View Player Picks under the Pool menu. You will see an Edit/View Picks floating toolbar appear just under the tournament grid heading.  Scroll through the list and click the name of the player whose picks you want edit and then use your mouse and click the winners the player has chosen.  Continue for all the players in the pool.  See Players' Picks for details.

When you are finished entering in the players picks, click on the Return to Tournament Grid button.  Easy Pool automatically saves all the information you've just entered.  Most of your work is done - all you have to do now is track the tournament.


Displaying Scores

To display scores, you can:

1. Under Results in the Main Menu, select Show Leaders.

2. Click the right mouse button anywhere on the grid, and select Show Leaders from the Popup Menu.

The current standings for the entire pool are displayed in the list.  The command buttons give you the following options:

Print Standings

Prints the standings as they appear in the list.

Print Standings to File

Makes an ASCII text file of the standings as they appear in the list.

Display Player Report

Displays another window containing a detailed report for the selected player in the list.  If no players are selected, this button is disabled.

Print Player Report

Prints the detailed report for the selected player in the list.  If no players are selected, this button is disabled.

Print Player Report to File

Makes an ASCII text file of the current standings and the detailed report for the selected player in the list.  If no players are selected, this button is disabled.

Print All Players Reports

Prints a detailed report for every player in the list.

Close

Closes this window.

If your printer supports multiple copies, you can make multiple copies of the reports or the standings.


Tracking the Tournament

Once all the starting teams, players, and players picks are entered, the pool master should work off the Tournament Grid.  Follow the tournament and select the advancing teams accordingly by clicking the winners.

If you make a mistake when clicking the advancing teams,  you can:

1. Select Grid / Erase an Advancing Team in the Main Menu, click OK at the prompt, then click on the team you want to erase.

2. Right-click the team you want to erase and select Erase Grid Cell in the Popup Menu.

3. Select Grid / Undo Last Selection in the Main Menu.

If you want to lock the screen from accidental entries, click Grid / Lock Grid in the Main Menu or in the  Popup Menu  You will need to unlock the grid later if you want to select any advancing teams.


How to Register Easy Pool

You must register Easy Pool if you want to add more than 3 players to your pool.  Once you register Easy Pool you will be given a registration code that will unlock the program. Enter your name and registration code in the screen that appears when you start Easy Pool. The screen won't appear after that. Easy Pool will track 2000 players once it's registered.

To register Easy Pool:

1.  Send $16.95 to:

Blue Ravine Software

P.O. Box 6477

Folsom, CA.  95763-6477

California residents must include 7.75% sales tax (total $18.26).

Please include your email address if you have one and we will email you the registration code.  Or if you like, give us your address and we will mail the registration code.

2.  Credit Card orders:

Go to the Easy Pool web site at http://www.easypool.com for information regarding on-line and 800 number credit card registration.

If you have any questions regarding Easy Pool, contact us at:

support@easypool.com


Loading the Starting Grid

In the Main Menu, select Grid, then Input Starting Teams.  Enter the name of the first team in the starting grid.  You can click the Enter button or hit Enter on your keyboard to add this team to the grid.  The highlight cursor automatically increments to the next team in the grid.

You can move through the grid by pressing Enter or clicking the Enter button, using the arrow keys, or by selecting the grid cell you want to edit with the mouse.

NOTE:  If you change the starting grid in the middle of the tournament, you may experience a short delay after changing an existing team name.  This is because Easy Pool must replace every instance of the previous team name with the new team name for the entire database.


Points Setup

To change the point values for each round, select the Points Setup option under Pool in the Main Menu.  Enter the point values that you want to use for your pool and click OK.

The maximum point value for any round is 99999 points.

NOTE:  You must have access to the system Registry on your PC in order to make changes in the point values.  If your PC is on a network and you are unable to change the point values, contact your network administrator to get Registry write privileges.


A grid is a view of the entire tournament field.  In addition to the Tournament Grid, grids are used to display players’ picks.


Adding and Removing Players

To add players to the pool, select Add/Delete Players from the Pool menu.  Enter the players names as you want them to appear in the pool reports.  If you want to use a player’s first and last names, enter them normally with a single space in between.  If you wish, you may enter a single name for a player.

To remove a player, select that player’s name in the list and click the Delete button.  That player and his/her picks are deleted from the disk.  To remove all players from the pool, click the Delete All button.  You may add and remove players at any time.


A pick sheet is a printed copy of the Tournament Grid with the starting teams filled in.  Players can fill in their picks and return them to the Pool Master.


Editing and Viewing Players' Picks

To edit or view a player’s picks, you can:

1. Under Pool in the Main Menu, select Edit/View picks.

2. Click the right mouse button anywhere on the grid, and select Edit/View picks from the  Popup Menu .

The Edit/View Picks floating toolbar appears just below the grid title.  Pick a player off the displayed list, and the grid containing that player’s picks is displayed.  You can enter or edit the player’s picks by clicking his/her selections with the mouse.

The Tiebreaker window appears when you select a winner from the final pairing.  Easy Pool uses the total points of both teams in the Championship game as a tiebreaker.  The number must be between 0 and 999.  The tiebreaker is only used to break first-place ties at the end of the tournament.

When you are done editing, you may want to lock the grid to prevent accidental changes to the player’s picks.  Use the  Popup Menu or select Grid / Lock Grid in the Main Menu.  When you are finished, select another player from the list or return to the Tournament Grid.  Any work you have done on this grid is saved automatically.

NOTE - In order for the Easy Pool Projector to generate accurate data, all of the teams in the grid except for the champion should be either yellow or gray when you have finished entering a player’s picks.  If you go back to a pick from an early round and change it, it will be displayed in black.  Be sure to re-select the picks in the subsequent rounds until there are no picks displayed in black.

A good way to check your work is to run the Easy Pool Projector after you have entered all the players picks, but before the first game of the tournament has been played.  All players should have an identical maximum score.  If any players have different maximum scores, check their picks as described above.


When you lock a grid, all input is blocked.  To unlock a grid, clear the checkmark in the Lock Grid item in either the Main Menu or Popup Menu .


The Popup Menu can be shown by clicking the right mouse button anywhere in the Easy Pool main window.  Many of the most-often used features are available here.


Reset the Database

Before you begin a new pool with Easy Pool, you must clear all the old data out of the database.  Follow these steps:

1. In the Main Menu, select Pool / Add/Delete Players.  Click Delete All to remove all the players and their picks from the database.  Close this window.

2.  In the Main Menu, select Grid / Delete All Advancing Teams.

3. Again in the Main Menu, select Grid / Delete All Starting Teams.

You are now ready for a new tournament.