"They give people somebody to root for," Landry says.
Landry--a seasoned pool organizer--says that NCAA tournament pools, unlike other forms of betting, are fair and relatively harmless.
"They don't bankrupt people. They just give the winner something to brag about," Landry says.
Perlman concedes that pools "are of questionable legality."
But, he says, these pools do not pose nearly the threat to society that bookmaking and other forms of underground betting do.
NCAA tournament pools, he says, are much smaller and certainly more friendly.
High Level Corruption?
Landry says that a Mather house administrator's wife is actively involved in the pools.
"She doesn't know that much about basketball, but has placed in the top three for the past two years," Landry says.
"You don't have to be a basketball afficionado to participate," he says.