Sweet Sixteen

Understanding The Madness

The 1st very long weekend of March Madness has come and gone and hopefully everyone made it out the other side relatively unscathed. If your like me you spent the majority of the round of 64 and 32 (I refuse to call them rounds 2 and 3) in and around vegas at various sports books, bars and craps tables. Now while its not for everyone, if you love March Madness and love gambling I can not endorse this experience enough, plainly stated its my favorite time to go to Las Vegas.

The Calm Before The Storm

It starts when you arrive on Wednesday, its the smell, its having that sports book sheet to scribble on and create the perfect cheat sheet, its getting to know the employees at the sports book as you, to his/her amazement, place bets on all 32 1st half unders and last but not least its the constant talk about taking it easy on the first night because games start at 9am.
Finalize all your bets, get that lottery ticket parlay in and off to the tables to get that first fix. Wednesday night at the tables is like the first couple rounds of a poker tourney, play aggressive but don’t go bust, remember 48 games and 4 days to go. Undoubtedly crashing at 1am will quickly turn to 4am and BAM just like that your behind the eight ball…games start in 5 hours.

Round Of 64

The alarm sounds, nothing feels good but drag your ass out of bed, pound some alka seltzer and start the recovery process as the first game tips. Head down for some breakfast(obviously at a location with the game on) and give your body the fuel it needs to make it through the day, in no particular order of importance, apple juice, water, coffee, eggs, meat of some kind and a cigarette. Holy crap everything feels better and just like that the first half under of the first game comes in, you start thinking 32-0, stop it, focus on game and start making those mental notes for the round of 32.
Now there are multiple games on and you have relocated to a sports book. There really isn’t anything like it, the raw irrational emotion flowing through the room is awesome, unbelievable, scary and sad. As games come close to 0:00 on the clock you see fans backing the dog rejoice as the continue to make those critical free throws, mean while backers of the favorite are questioning everything in the universe, How could Duke loose to Mercer? Now sports books are cool but honestly for the optimal watching experience everyone must go check out the LVH.
The sports book is a classic one of the last real books in las vegas which alone is a reason to make the trip on the monorail, but the icing on the cake is their 2500 seat theater with 5 massive HD TVs, cheap beer and food and an army of avid gamblers and sports fans reacting to every moment in every game. 16 games in the books and back to the tables, time to chase your days sports betting losses or let them ride…lets double up. Holy crap its 4am again…games start in 5 hours. Wake up and repeat.

Round Of 32

You’ve survived 32 games over 2 days and 3 nights at the tables but it feels more like 5 days. The first games of day one feel like distant memories as your body is scrambling to stay sane. The approach to the round of 32 is much more about picking winners and playing less spreads. Let me introduce you to the money line round robin parlay. The concept is simple, find 3 or 4 teams you like to advance and tie them all together in every way possible on the money line.
Yeah its putting a lot of eggs in one basket but remember your laying negative odds. Just trust your reads, you watched every game you have a feel for these teams and how they are playing now. Play the match ups you like and don’t look back. Things start well you’ve already cashed 3 out of 5 MLs your at the tipping point, one more and your golden 2 more and its strip club with bottle service time. Then it happens, you cant believe it some how this mid major has handled the length and athleticism of the big conference favorite and looked like the better team, not struggling to score and hitting their free throws.
Still you have a shot, down 2 with seconds left, overtime here we go…then it happens a 3 pointer off the back iron…ARE YOU KIDDING ME…THANK YOU SYRACUSE. There goes your dream scenario and now you have to settle for a small profit, greatness was so close. By saturday night you feel like a marathoner at mile 21, your body is now rejecting this activity you have forced upon it. Lets take it easy tonight…we know how that will work out…Wake up and repeat.

Reflection

Whether you are driving back through the desert or flying back through the skies, reflection will take place reliving the winning moments and questioning yourself on the losing ones. How could i be so dumb, man that parlay i hit was pure genius. I cant wait to money line parlay the 1 seeds or fade cinderella. And just like that you’ve transitioned for the past to the future. Get your thoughts together, play the match ups and trust your reads and prepare to dominate the Sweet Sixteen…games start in 4 days.

 Sweet Sixteen Odds

Ryan Kramer and Sean Green are writers and co-hosts for the Sports Gambling Podcast. Follow the show on twitter @GamblingPodcast.