Cystic Fibrosis Foundation NCAA Calcutta set for March 20th at Butte Country Club

Over the past several years, the Butte Cystic Fibrosis Calcutta has raised thousands of dollars for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.  And each year this event has steadily grown.  Probably because it's a lot of fun but also because there is some potentially big money on the line.  And that just means more for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.  This year's event will once again be at the Butte Country Club, scheduled for March 20th.

What is Cystic Fibrosis?

If you don't know, consider yourself blissfully ignorant because it's a nasty disease.  It is chronic, lifelong genetic disease that attacks a person's lungs, digestive system and other vital organs.  The Mayo Clinic explains in this video.

How does the Calcutta work?

Well, on the Wednesday evening following the selection of teams in the Mens NCAA Basketball Tournament the Calcutta is held where all of the teams participating are auctioned off to the highest bidder with 10% of the total bids given to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.  The remaining 90% is returned to the bidders in cash prizes depending on their team's final showing.  For example, the bottom 32 finishers will receive nothing, but the top finisher?  Well, last year it was 25% of the prize pool, or just a shade under $63k.  See what I mean?  This year they are also awarding $1000 to the 16th seed that goes the farthest and teams will start winning a percentage of the money after 32 teams remain in the tournament.   There are lots of ways to win, but the whole night is a lot of fun.  You do not even need to wager in order to attend, but you do need to be at least 18 years of age. Registration and appetizers will start at 5:30pm and they will start the auction at 7:30.