The MOP mailing list was built from people who at some time in the past six years registered a free member account at either www.myofficepool.ca or www.draftbuddy.com. I created a website feature at MOP which allowed all members to specify what topics they were interested in, whether it be our football pools, March Madness Survivor pool, fantasy baseball or what have you.

Working together, the feature allowed me to segment the mailing list and send newsletters to users about topics they wanted to read or be reminded about.

This worked pretty well, but with the great turnout in the recent World Cup Pool, I jumped into a new higher cost service bracket for the mailing list program. Kind of like jumping into a new tax bracket, which everyone tries to avoid like the plague.

While it is a cost of doing business, just looking around most people can sort of tell I’m not making much money on this website/hobby (click an ad people, click an ad please). As a result of this unexpected extra cost, plus the new pool features to allow people to create their own pool groups, which should result in more communications between the group admin and their friends in the group, I got to thinking, “why not just can the email newsletters?” Who likes email anyway?

So, I’ve decided to do away with the large mailing list and in the future will only email the following people:

1. Pool group admins, otherwise known as members who create their own groups to invite their friends to play in their own private pools
2. Members who join the official MOP $20 Poolies group, otherwise known as our low stakes degenerate gamblers like myself

Of course, exisiting and new members still need a valid email address to receive pick confirmations from the pools, but most of you can expect fewer emails from MOP in the future as a result of this change. Less writing for me; less clutter in your inbox. Sounds like a win-win idea… just don’t go forgetting us now, ya hear?

The World Cup 2010 starts THIS FRIDAY! We have over 350 entries in our overall pool! If you’re not in yet, don’t miss out!

In the interest of streamlining and getting the proper message to everyone on our mailing list, I’ve divided this newsletter into the following sections:

1. You’re Not In The Pool Yet. Help.
2. You’re In The Pool. What Now?
3. Soccer? No Thanks.

Please find the section that applies to you and read on.

You’re Not In The Pool Yet. Help.

The first thing you need to know is you are running out of time. Once again, the World Cup starts THIS FRIDAY!

Okay, this is pretty easy. All you need to do is login at the website and join the pool. This puts you in the overall pool. From there, you have TWO options:

A. Play for $20, joining the MOP $20 Poolies group Select this group on the picks form, and send your payment online prior to the start of the first game. Prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd.

B. Join another group (or create your own) If you were invited to another group, then select that group on the picks form and input the password if necessary.

Voila, you are all set. Check the detailed rules for more info.

You’re In The Pool. What Now?

You’re already in? Awesome. Thanks for registering at the website and contributing to the already great turnout in the overall pool.

If you are set in the pool group you are taking part in, then you are probably good and ready for the soccer action to begin. Keep in mind you can edit your picks anytime up to the start of the first game.

Once the Group Stage of the World Cup is over, then you will have to return to the website to submit your picks for the Round of 16, then the Quarter-Finals, and Semi-Finals and Final.

If you aren’t in a pool group, then you can join my group, MOP $20 Poolies if you like. Go back to your picks form, select this group, and send your payment online prior to the start of the first game. Prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd.

If you were invited to another group but are having trouble getting in – which is most often caused by registering with a different email address then the one that received the invite – then let me know and I’ll help you out.

Group Admins, if you are having any issues administering your group, then email me and we’ll get it figured out.

Thanks again, and enjoy the World Cup and the World Cup Pool!

Soccer? No thanks

Not a soccer fan? No problem, but understand you will be in the minority for the next month or so. If you can live with that, know that American Football pools are on the horizon and will be ready relatively soon. Also if you’re a fantasy football junkie, shoot me an email and I’ll direct you to the best draft prep and tracking tool around.

You received this email because you have “Sports Pools – Soccer” checked off as one of your mailing list preferences. To change that, login at the website, go to your MOP page, check only the items you want to receive emails about, and submit your changes. Hopefully we catch up with you in one of our future pools.

That is it. I might do a quick last call email later this week, but just to be sure you don’t miss out, get in the pool! See you there!

This is a message just for everyone who created a pool group for the World Cup 2010 Pool at MyOfficePool.ca.

Off the top, thanks for coming to the website, and creating a group taking advantage of this new feature. I hope it is working well for you so far.

The World Cup is now less than two weeks away, and I still see a number of groups with not a lot of people in them. I’m going to go through some of the functionality of the pool groups to make things easier for you, but my overriding message here is, “what can I do to help?”

If there is a way I can help you get more people in your group, or a way to make it easier for your invitees to get around the website and in the group, then let me know and we’ll try to work it out.

Pool Group Features

Okay, the pool groups have gone through a couple rounds of changes, so if you haven’t read the recent blog posts, you might have missed some of the latest stuff.

1. Group Password

Initially, all invitees to your group needed to join by way of a personal invite from you through the website. Now, you can bypass that by setting a group password and just letting people know what the name of your group is and what the password is.

When they join the pool, at the bottom of the picks entry form, they can select the pool group from a drop-down list (note only groups that use a password are in the list), input the password and they are in.

A big benefit of this system is that people in your group can pass on the info to any of their friends so they can join too. It helps spread the word faster. Of course, you retain complete control to remove unwanted people from your group.

2. Mark Paid / Unpaid

If you are running a pool with a little cash on the line, then you’ll want to keep track of who is paid or unpaid. You can do that simply by going to your pool group admin panel and marking each individual in your group as one or the other, update group members, and that information is saved.

Note however the paid or unpaid status is not shown on the results page, so you’ll have to keep pestering the potential deadbeats in your pool until they pay up.

3. Email Your Group or Invitees

On your pool group admin page, you’ll potentially see two separate lists of names or email addresses. They are split between people who are already in your pool group, and those who you sent an official invite to but haven’t joined the pool or your group yet.

To the right of this, I added a text box for each list of just the email addresses, separated by commas. You can select this entire text, copy it (CTRL-C on Windows) and then paste it (CTRL-V) into your email program, so you can email a message to one list or the other, or both.

This should be much better than keeping track of the names and email addresses separately, and making sure you included everyone on your email when you are relaying info about the rules, how to send you money, prize payouts or just rallying them to get in gear and get in the pool.

 
I think that gives a good overview of the key features of the pool groups. One thing to keep in mind about trying to get people into an office pool is that people are notorious procrastinators, especially for an entertainment distraction like this.

Depending when you sent out your latest invites to the pool, you might want to send out another reminder this week, but then almost certainly you’ll want to send one out Monday or Tuesday of next week with a “Last Call” or “Final Reminder” urgency to it.

The World Cup starts a week from this Friday, so that final reminder should be close enough to the deadline they can’t procrastinate much more, but with enough time they can get in without feeling rushed.

 
Again, if you have any questions or issues with your pool group, then let me know. If you want to disband your group for whatever reason, let me know and I will delete it for you, so you’re then free to join another group.

Well, I’m here to announce yet another round of new features. This wouldn’t have been possible if not for my Mom taking care of my kids this past weekend – thanks Mom – which gave me some time Saturday to plug away at a couple things that should make inviting and getting people in to your group even easier.

Group Password Option

The first new thing is a password system for the pool groups. If you already have a group, or create a new one, then go to your pool group admin page (click the “Create Group” or “Invite Friends” link from the results page), and you’ll see below the pool group name box another box to input a password, if you so choose. It works this way:

• If you input a password and save it, then instead of sending out invite emails through the website like before, you can send a larger email to your friends with a link to the pool, and your group name and password.

  When they join the pool, all they need to do is select your group from the drop-down box at the bottom of the picks form, input the password, submit to join the pool and they’re golden. The other benefit of this is your friends can forward the info to their friends, so they too can join your group, as long as they know the password.

• If you do not input a password, then you as the group admin have complete control over who gets invited into the group. Just continue to use the invite system through the website. Making things easier now, people who receive what I’ll call “official” invites into the group will be prompted at the bottom of their picks entry form when they join the pool to select the group they want to join.

The two functions above can be combined, so even a group using the password option can still send out official invites, and those invitees can join the group without the password.

I think this all sounds a little more complex then it really is. All in all, it maximizes the ability to get people into your pool group, and if some people do happen to get in that you’d rather not be there, then you (group admins) have total control to boot those people from your group should that become necessary. You can do that using the features discussed last time.

Traditional MOP Pool Group

Given the MyOfficePool.ca history running a single pool in the traditional fashion of collecting twenty bones per entry and distributing the winnings to the top finisher or finishers, I can understand the confusion from some long-time members when that was no longer an option for the World Cup. Or, it was an option but it wasn’t as obvious, I guess, or automated.

From good buddy Cacciatorini, “so, can I still play for $20, or not?” The answer, is yes.

Again, as mentioned last time, I have my own pool group. It is $20 per entry, and we’ll pay out 1st/2nd/3rd like we do most of the past pools, 55%/27.5%/12.5%. 5% is held back to cover the cost of collecting the money. The group is called Unofficial MOP $20 Poolies.

I added some features to make this easier to join and pay for your entry. First, everyone is automatically invited to this pool group. Don’t have a group to join? Want to play for a little cash? Come on in and join mine. $20 per entry, must be paid up front, no exceptions. Payouts as above. Pretty fair setup, if I do say so myself.

Second, the MOP$ accounts are back online to help automate the payments for this pool. When you enter the pool, then you’ll see the options at the bottom of the entry form to join a pool group. If you click the option for Unofficial MOP…, then the payment options should appear.

After you submit your picks, and if you choose to pay via PayPal, then you will be redirected to that site to make your payment. When that is complete, your MOP$ account will be updated, your entry marked as paid, and you’re all set.

If you pay by INTERAC, then I will update the entry as paid after the money is received. Cheque/check payments are also okay, but they must be postmarked prior to the start of the pool and I have to receive them within 5 business days from the start of the pool. Really your best bet is to use one of the online options if possible.

Okay, that is it for the admin stuff regarding the World Cup 2010 Pool. If anyone has any questions then let me know, but that should be the last of the changes to the pool.

Just a couple weeks to go and we’ll all be ready for a month of soccer action on the world stage. Oh baby, hard not to get psyched, but in case you aren’t quite there yet, maybe the following video will do it. Enjoy!

The first is, our World Cup 2010 Pool is up and running! World Cup starts June 11th! Woo-hoo!

The second thing is, you can create your own pool group, essentially allowing you to run your own World Cup Pool by inviting people you know to your group. If your group wants to play for some money, then by all means, do so. If not, that’s fine too. It is your group after all. We’ll do the heavy lifting actually recording the picks and updating the pool for you, from start to finish of the World Cup, and we’ll do it all for free too.

This all sounds fine and good, but a couple small issues spun off from our good intentions, which is what I want to address here.

Unofficial MOP $20 Poolies Group

With regards to the pool itself, some guys and gals who were used to just heading over here, joining my pool, dropping $20 and hoping and praying (some more hoping and praying than others), were like, “huh?” “What is going on?”

In short, yes, you can still play for $20 if you like. I started my own pool group, right here at this website I found (ha). So, if you are used to playing in my pool, go ahead and join my pool group, send me $20 before the start of the World Cup, and we’re good. Here are the key points as to what is a little different than in the past:

• there is no official MyOfficePool.ca play for money pool
• join my pool group called, Unofficial MOP $20 Poolies (yes, I changed the name)
• to make things easier, you are automatically invited to join my pool group when you join the overall pool
• of course, you don’t have to accept this invite, if you are creating your own or joining another pool group
• the website will not automatically prompt you to submit payment, since the money is not running through MOP anymore, but me personally
• I’ll send an email to everyone who joins my group later on explaining how to send me the money, and what the prizes will be – likely 60%/30%/10% for 1st/2nd/3rd

If you have any questions, then by all means drop me an email at mike@myofficepool.ca.

New Pool Group Features

The next thing I realized after putting in the first batch of pool group features was that, these could be a lot better. And better they now are. Yesterday I uploaded a bunch of improvements for our pool group admins to make their jobs a whole lot easier managing everyone in their pool group. Here is a rundown of the new features:

• your pool group invite list is now broken up between who has joined your group and who hasn’t
• you can mark each person who joined your pool group as having paid, or not paid
• you can remove any person from your pool group if desired (they will still be in the overall pool)
• you can uninvite any person who hasn’t joined your pool group yet
• there is a text box of email addresses you can copy and then paste into your email to send a note just to people who joined your pool group
• there is a text box of email addresses you can copy and then paste into your email to send a note just to people you invited to your pool group but haven’t joined yet, to send them a reminder perhaps

The one thing we don’t have is an alternate way to invite people to a pool group, short of the pool group administrator (the person who created it), sending individual invites through their admin panel. There were thoughts of using a unique sign up link and/or password system, but after discussing it with a couple people who created new pool groups, there was no consensus on what would work the best.

What I’m going to do is leave it as is for the World Cup Pool. As above, only the admin can invite people to their pool group through the website. However, if you do have a large group of people who you want to invite to your pool group, then send me an email, and I’ll see what I can do on the backend to make things easier, such as inserting all the invites into the database and the admin then emailing their group of poolies all at once.

All right, that is enough of the admin stuff. Have fun recruiting for your pool group, and enjoy the World Cup! We’re getting there, just three and a half weeks away!

People are starting to think about it as the media hype slowly builds, but what else are people thinking about? How about, where am I going to find an office pool to join for me and my friends for the World Cup?

Look no further than the World Cup 2010 Pool, right here at MyOfficePool.ca. The biggest pool in our history was back in 2006 for the last World Cup. That pool returns after a long slumber to let you follow and cheer along your squads from the opening Group Stage right through to the final.

New Feature: Pool Groups

There is a new feature at MyOfficePool.ca, starting with our World Cup Pool. You can create your own pool group, and then invite and compete against your friends and family. All you have to do is this:

1. Join the overall pool. This is free.

2. Create a pool group. This is also free.

3. Invite your friends to join. There is no limit, invite as many people as you like.

Pool Rules

The way this pool works you only have to make your picks for the Group Stage, picking who will finish in 1st and 2nd place in each group, to start the pool.

Then before the start of the each subsequent round – Round of 16, Quarter-finals, Semi-finals and Final – pick the winners for that round. Instead of picking the entire tourney before the start, this keeps the pool active and you are (almost) never out of the running.

Points are accumulated each round based on your picks (being right of course) and a scoring table, included in the detailed rules.

No Group? Join Mine

If you don’t want to create your own group, or don’t have a group to join and want to play for a little cash, then you can join my group, Bulge the Old Onion Bag (love that line). This group is a $20 entry fee, payable to me – Mike – prior to the start of the pool. No exceptions. Let me know if you want in and I’ll send you an invite.

Okay, so that is it. The World Cup kicks off the first game on Friday June 11th at 10:00 am Eastern. As with all of our pools, you can edit your picks anytime you like right up to the deadline, so by all means join today and then mull over your picks for the next 30 days. If you’re starting a group to invite friends, then you may want to get them thinking about it now.

Enjoy the pool. The next month cannot go fast enough!

Bayern pulled a rabbit out of its hat managing a draw in the closing seconds at Milan. Even playing at home with the return of Mark von Brommel and Victor Kahn, Milan proved too much with two goals scored close together in the first half, and cruised to the win after that.

Hmm… I can’t find a Liverpool-PSV highlight at all. Best I’ve got is the crowd singing, “You’ll Never Walk Alone” for over 4 minutes recorded on some guy’s phone. That is definitely not worth our time.

1. Goal #2, Alan Smith – Beautiful one-touch passing up three-quarters of the field. Turns out to be the game winner as a bonus.
2. Goal #6, Michael Carrick – With no hesitation, turns and fires into the top corner from 25 yards.
3. Goal #3, Wayne Rooney – Roma looks completely overmatched on this one as ManU moves up the field. Perfect cross by Ryan Giggs and flick by Rooney.
4. Goal #4, Cristiano Ronaldo – More of a one-man show on this one, but what a show. He was itching to get in on the goal scoring at this point.
5. Goal #1, Carrick – An unexpected strike catches the keeper out of position, and kicks off the fireworks.
6. Goal #5, Ronaldo – More nice passing to set up a another cross by Giggs which manages to find Ronaldo for an easy convert.
7. Goal #7, Patrice Evra – A nice effort.

It took the full-time to get a decision on this one, but Chelsea prevails over Valencia in what turned out to be a much closer competition than our pool picks (heavily favouring Chelsea) would seem to indicate.

Excellent action in the AC Milan-Bayern Munich match. AC Milan is the only team still alive in this year’s tournament that made it as far as the quarter-finals a year ago. They looked to be in good shape starting at home against Bayern, who were down two notables, keeper Oliver Kahn and midfielder Mark van Brommel. Thanks to some incredible goal keeping by Michael Rensing (seriously, two insane saves in the first half) and scrappy play to the final seconds (literally!), Bayern earned a 2-2 draw and now look to be in the driver’s seat.

A lopsided affair in the Liverpool-PSV Eindhoven match, but many a Liverpool fan will be happy today with a practically guaranteed pass to the semi-finals. It was a 3-0 drubbing of PSV on impressive goals by Steven Gerrard, John Arne Riise and Peter Crouch.

Once these games kicked off then the picks appeared in our Champions League Pool, and it sure looks like there could be a fair bit of movement in the standings after this round. Our top 4 entries each picked a different pair of winners from the opening two matches. One of them is going to get both right, and one is going to get both wrong.

There is more consensus in the picks from today’s matches, Roma-Manchester United and Chelsea-Valencia, but the bonus points for the goal predictions will be a big factor, as could a Roma or Valencia upset shake things up.