Back in the day they used to pay whoever put up the money.  Then at the big tournaments they started to post signs that all payouts would go to the bowler, so thing eventually changed everywhere.  If you ever want the person to put you in again the etiquette is to give them the money and allow them to give you your cut.  If you keep the money or you decide what their cut is they are never going to put you in again. 

People running brackets putting people in without them knowing is a shady deal.  It's way to easy to look around and see who has the front 5 or 6 and use them to fill spots while you are "printing" the sheets. 

They did tell me during practice, so nothing shady with the timing. I did what opienva1 suggested. When I went up I just collected what they gave me. Even though I didn't ask to be put in, I felt a little dirty collecting money that I had no risk in. I've had other bowlers tell me they were putting me in and I just let them keep if they won. If they want to give me a cut, fine, but I never asked.

Not really a fan of that. If you can't fill brackets, just return money to people. Zero reason for a tournament director to enter someone in brackets.

Personally, we had someone come run a tournament in our area around mid July and there were multiple issues with money and brackets. As far as I'm aware, there are still missing brackets and we're in December. Safe to say, they're not running tournaments here again. Surprisingly or unsurprisingly, they run some pretty big events in the middle of the country.

Fun Games
I've seen shady doings at the Bowler's Journal.  It happens at all levels.

The same problem can happen in any playground! It's not too surprising