The annual BAMO contest is an annual exam given to students at participating high schools and middle schools, most of whom are in the San Francisco Bay Area. The exams are mailed out to the schools, proctored locally, then are returned to be graded by a group of math circle instructors and educators.

The following weekend, there is an awards ceremony, with prizes for individuals and schools, lunch for everybody, and a math talk by a guest speaker.

The 20 individual BAMO prizes and 12 honorable mentions are awarded in 3 age groups: 11-12th grades, 9-10th grades, and 8th grade and below. The 3 age group categories gave the opportunity for younger participants with less mathematical experience to be acknowledged for their bold and creative participation in the Olympiad.

The difficulty of BAMO problems range from very easy and accessible to middle school students problem 1 to a die-hard problem 5, usually solved by only a handful of students, if any.

Some of the prizes given away in previous years include a camcorder, portable DVD player, Apple iPods/iPod Minis/iShuffles, digital cameras, Xavix Virtual Reality System and VR baseball game, MAA published math books, gift certificates for AMC theaters, Borders, and Hardrock Café, as well as 4 ping pong tables. In total, the prizes usually amount to about $6000 per year!