Sounds like a real piece of work.
At the tournament I mentioned earlier, the guy has everyone draw a poker chip out of a bag and writes the numbers down in order. Then the brackets are filled out in that exact order according to the numbers on the bracket. Easy and transparent.
Likely the guy you're talking about is paid very little, and feel entitled to create an advantage for himself. If the job paid anything decent, it would probably be harder for someone to be a jerk about it. idk
Yeah, back in the day I ran across a TD that ruled his own roost:
- Got a free pass to play plus a free drink
- If he wasn't in the top three spots he paid a fourth place if he got fourth
- Assigned players as he saw fit. When a friend came with me, we always had to play each other in the first round
- TD was usually on the week side of the bracket
- Until he learned how to play safeties, that was chicken$hit pool to him even after they adopted BIH rules
Nothing I liked better than playing a brutal safe, putting him in jail and listening to the commotion he caused. He eventually adapted and became good at safeties but it was funny while it lasted.
One saving grace was that the owner would ante up to play and if he won (often), he'd roll over his winnings to the next week's tournament and increase the pot for the winner. That increased the number of players the next week and we all played that much harder to take down first place. Smart owner and a real nice guy -- he more than made up what he rolled over the next week in increased food and drink sales and goodwill.