Vegas March Madness Betting Strategy

March Madness Champions Are Balanced Teams. This is the simplest March Madness betting. K.I.S.S Your Betting Strategy. Keep It Simple Stupid. Vegas is a land where drinks appear out of nowhere and parties to pop up like Starbucks locations. You drank till late in the evening and woke up before 8:00 am to find a spot to watch the first game tips. For some, the only way to do March Madness in Vegas is through the Watch Parties.

  1. About 47 million Americans bet on March Madness last year, which comes out to one of every five adults in the country. If you’re going to find yourself in Las Vegas for the event, we’ve listed the best sportsbooks in Las Vegas that offer March Madness betting.
  2. Halftime Betting Strategies and Tips for March Madness First Half vs. Second Half Betting? Based on personal experience, and that of many other smarts out there, first half betting can be tricky, as several issues can affect the lines, from poor preparation to issues such as nerves and unexpected mistakes.
  3. March Madness is a sports phenomenon that’s impossible to replicate anywhere else. The upsets, the dramatic storylines, and win-or-go-home format gives fans the ultimate entertainment experience. For sports bettors, it provides the opportunity to significantly grow, or drain, their bankroll in just a few short weeks of action.

For basketball fans, Las Vegas is the perfect backdrop for an over-the-top NCAA March Madness.

If you’re planning a trip to Las Vegas during March Madness and you are wondering how to get the most out of your experience, you’ve come to the right place.

In this guide, we’ll share essential details and tips for enjoying one of the biggest events in basketball – March Madness in Vegas 2021.

The Aria is one of the hottest venues to watch March Madness

March Madness Men’s NCAA Tournament: When Is It?

In 2021, March Madness kicks off on March 14 with Selection Sunday. The dates for other events that are associated with the tournament include:

  • First Four: March 18
  • 1st/ 2nd Rounds: March 19 – 22
  • Sweet 16: March 27 and March 28
  • Elite 8: March 29 and March 30
  • Final Four, National Championship: April 3 and April 5

Vegas is the best place to celebrate March Madness

March Madness – What to Expect

The 1st and 2nd Rounds, March 19 through the 22, are the most action-packed in Las Vegas. This is the time when most people flock to the city for March Madness events.

Some expectations to keep in mind:

  • Casinos are packed and there will be lots of table action overall.
  • Hotel prices will be much higher due to demand, so be sure to book early.
  • Nightclubs will have longer lines and be more expensive overall.
  • Casino sportsbooks will be packed very early, so if you want a seat get there early!

While the other dates of the tournament aren’t as eventful, the party atmosphere is still pretty impressive; even more so than the norm for Sin City.

During March Madness, Las Vegas turns into a haven for basketball enthusiasts and those who just like to gamble on the game, even if they aren’t avid fans of the sport. In fact, nearly 3 million people plan trips to the city during the month of March just so they can take part in the festivities.

If you happen to be in Vegas a week before, be sure to check out all the St. Patrick’s Day Festivities in Vegas.

Westgate Sportsbook is one of the hottest betting locations for March Madness.

March Madness Vegas Tips and Info

Here are some tips and info that will help you prep for your big trip so that you can get the most out of the experience:

  • Link up with Social Media. If you want the latest updates on all of the happenings, take to social media. Check out Facebook, where you can find groups that are completely dedicated to March Madness in Las Vegas. Join one of these groups and you’ll have instant access to up-to-the-minute information on the biggest and best activities, live events, and much more. You can even find out the latest updates on the score, goings on at venues, and the wait time for sportsbook counters.
  • Be prepared for crowds. There’s really no way to avoid big crowds during the month of March in Las Vegas; particularly during the first week of events. Opening day falls on St Patrick’s Day, which means there will be even more partygoers than you can imagine. Prepare yourself. Know that it’s going to be crowded and establish a plan. Keep tabs with social media to find out the latest details on the best places to watch, place bets, and grab food and drinks. Knowing the best spots to go – particularly if you are traveling with a group – will help you get the most out of the experience.
  • Consider going off the Strip. While it’s definitely true that the Strip is THE place to be in Las Vegas any time, including March Madness, it’s not the only place to consider. If you’re trying to avoid crowds, consider heading off of Las Vegas Boulevard. The entire city is enthralled with the tournament, and you should be able to find some pretty awesome and lively (but way less crowded) spots off the Strip.

Check out Mirage Casino for your sportsbook action while you’re visiting Vegas during March Madness.

The Best Sportsbooks to Watch March Madness Games in Vegas

If you’re going to be placing wagers on the game, there’s no doubt that you’re going to want to head over to a sportsbook; and there are plenty to choose from in Las Vegas.
During March Madness, some of the best sportsbooks to watch the games include:

  • AriaThe Aria offers 90 HD screens, so you’re pretty much guaranteed to have an awesome view of ever dribble, pass, and swoosh.
  • Venetian – Featuring one of the most advanced video screens on the continent, you’ll be amazed by the views you’ll be able to get of the games here. There are 118 lavish betting stations, too.
  • MGM Grand With 36 65-inch LCD TVs, 24 42-inch plasma TVs, and seating for 104 people, you’ll have front-row seats to the nail-biting games.
  • Caesars Palace. At this acclaimed casino, you’ll find six 12-foot by 15-foot screens, 12 50-inch plasma TVs, and a 20-foot by 50-foot LED board for your unobstructed viewing pleasure. There are also 140 sports seats with 12-inch flat screens situated on each table.
  • Mirage – Watch the events on the huge 85-foot HD projection screens that offer 4X resolution of 1080p. Talk about an amazing view!
  • Westgate -Offering an immense 220-foot by 18-foot 4K video wall and more than 350 seats, you’ll feel as if you are actually at the game when you watch it at Westgate’s sportsbook.

March Madness Vegas Viewing Parties and Events in 2021

Las Vegas is the proverbial party paradise, and as you would expect, dozens of viewing parties and events are held throughout the city during March Madness.

View some of the various viewing parties around the strip and all of Vegas below.

Circa Madness Under the Sun – Watch Party

March Madness Betting Sites

Enjoy hoops while lounging in the sun or in the pool at Circa’s stadium swim.

General admission tickets starting at $20.

Circa Las Vegas Watch Party 2021

Enjoy all the march madness NCAA action starting March 18th.

3 Stories of TVs to watch and bet all the games.

Want to play some golf while you watch some basketball? TopGolf is the place for that!

TopGolf

Located near the MGM Grand, TopGolf is a great spot to hit some golf balls and watch the tournament madness. TVs are virtually everywhere you look, and there’s even a pool, so you can take a refreshing plunge if you get too heated!

Watch parties can be reserved for the following days:

  • Friday, March 19
  • Saturday, March 20
  • Sunday, March 21

Get an exclusive seating area.

Full menu and bottle service available.

AmeriCAN Beer Bar, credit Instagram @americanbarlv

AmeriCAN Beer Bar March Mayhem 2021

During the first four days of the tournament, AmeriCAN hosts a viewing party. There are dozens of screens, and as the name suggests, there’s a plethora of beer; in cans, of course!

Premium open bar option.

When: March 19- April 5th

The Still Brackets and Beers 2021

This iconic sports bar at The Mirage is the ultimate man cave experience with more than 50 craft beers, dozens of cocktails, and 27 different televisions. There’s not a bad seat at The Still, and the food is amazing too and prepared in a refurbished trailer that was abandoned in the backwoods of Tennessee.

The Still at the Mirage is on the casino floor and serves fabulous tacos and burgers, as well as super healthy foods like rice bowls with grilled tuna.

Rockhouse March Madness Party

Enjoy March Mayhem at Rockhouse at The Grand Canal Shoppes inside The Venetian.

Premium open bar packages March 19 – April 5th.

Beer Park Tournament Madness Viewing Party

Outdoor deck at Beer Park on the Vegas strip. Photo credit – Beer Park website.

Beer Park is offering a wide variety of seating options from individual seats to big tables with an included food and beverage minimum per person. Watch the NCAA Tournament right on the strip outside Paris hotel and indulge in over 100 beers including 36 beers on tap.

  • Prices: Prices starting at $175 and up to $1000+ depending on number of people and type of seating
  • Dates: March 19 – April 8th

The Still Brackets and Beers Event

Catch all the March Madness action at all the The Still’s Bracket and Beers Events. Enjoy the tournament on 27+ tvs and drink from a selection of 50+ craft beers.

  • Location: The Still inside Mirage
  • Prices: Round 1 – $125 F&B Minimum per session, $250 F&B Minimum all day, Round 2 – $100 F&B Minimum per session / $200 F&B Minimum all day
  • Dates: All tournament long, starting March 19

March Hoops View Party at The D

The D Las Vegas is hosting March Madness viewing parties with its exclusive Man Caves.

Event details coming soon.

Cabo Wabo Cantina in Las Vegas, photo via facebook @CaboWaboLV

Cabo Wabo March Mayhem 2021 – TBD

March Madness Vegas Odds

Enjoy March Madness with great food like nachos, wings, and taquitos at Cabo Wabo. Watch the games on several TVs including a 200-inch video grid, a 200 projection screen, and two 80″ HD tvs in their luxury viewing room.

Details coming soon.

Hoops on the Strip at Montecristo Cigar Bar

Enjoy watching the March Madness festivities with reserved tables, couches, and more at Montecristo Cigar Bar. Price includes drink credit and cigars your party.

  • Location: Montecristo Cigar Bar inside Caesars Palace
  • Prices: Starting at $150per person
  • Dates: Starting March 18

Hoops on the Strip at Vista Cocktail Lounge

Enjoy watching march madness in family style seating with open bar and access to the all-you-can-eat buffet.

  • Location: Vista Cocktail Lounge inside Caesars Palace
  • Prices: Starting at $276 for two
  • Dates: Starting March 18

Caesars Palace Race and Sportsbook Watch Party

Enjoy some of the best action in the Caesars Race and Sportsbook.

Enjoy the games on a 143′ HD LED screen with state-of-the-art 4-Zone Directional Sound.

Reserve your seat starting at $111.

  • Location: Caesars Palace
  • Prices: Starting at $111
  • Dates: Starting March 18

Westgate Hoops Central 2021

Enjoy college hoops on giant HD screens in a smoke-free environment!

Due to current state COVID-19 restrictions, tickets will initially be limited to 50 tickets available per day.

  • Location: Westgate International Theater
  • Prices: Reserved seats for $50 includes one free domestic beer
  • Dates: Starting March 19 – March 22

Plaza hotel Downtown Las Vegas

March Mania at Plaza – TBD

Details for 2021 TBD

Ellis Island Hoops Mania 2021

The brand new Front Yard addition to Ellis Island is where the annual Hoops Mania will be held this year. Half-day or full-day options are available, and guests will get reserved seating, a T-shirt, food on the buffet, and all the craft beer they can guzzle.

  • Location: Ellis Island
  • Prices: Starting at $125
  • Dates: Starting March 19

PBR Rock Bar March Mayhem 2021

One of the biggest viewing parties on the Strip, the PBR Rock Bar party, is at Miracle Mile Shops and offers half and full-day packages that include premium seating, open bar, and food.

  • Location: PBR Rock Bar Miracle Mile Shops
  • Prices: TBD
  • Dates: Starting March 19

SAHARA March Mania Viewing Parties 2021

NCAA Basketball fans can reserve their March Mania experience for the first round, second round, final 16 and final 8 viewings from Friday, March 19 through Tuesday, March 30 at venues throughout the resort including the SAHARA Theatre Lounge, CASBAR Lounge, The Tangier and Paradise Lounge.

There will be plenty of drink and food specials as well.

Pricing starts at $250 per person which goes towards a food and beverage minimum.

More details on events.

Other Top Bars in Vegas to Watch the March Madness Tournament

If you’re not really gambling and you just want to take part in the action, instead of hitting a sportsbook, consider watching the games at a sports bar. You’ll be able to keep tabs on the score, munch on great grub, and wash it down with whatever type of beverage suits your fancy.

Blondies

The Miracle Mile Shops in Planet Hollywood is where you’ll find one of the best sports bars on the Strip. With more than 60 big-screen TVs, including a massive 12 foot wide one, Blondies always has a game on and offers the best happy hour specials.

There’s also a super cheap lunch and a late-night menu that will satisfy all your cravings.

Experience an Unforgettable March Madness in Las Vegas

Whether you are an avid basketball fan or you are just looking to the ultimate party experience, then heading over to Las Vegas during March Madness is an absolute must. No matter what you do or where you, you’re pound to have an unforgettable encounter.

Madness

Vegas March Madness Betting Strategy Odds

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Contrary to popular belief, the “most wonderful time of the year” isn’t the holiday season. March Madness is a sports phenomenon that’s impossible to replicate anywhere else.

The upsets, the dramatic storylines, and win-or-go-home format gives fans the ultimate entertainment experience. For sports bettors, it provides the opportunity to significantly grow, or drain, their bankroll in just a few short weeks of action.

Unpredictability makes for a difficult sports betting scenario, but there are always methods to overcome it. In this article, I’ll lay out some considerations to take into account when betting on the NCAA Tournament.

1 – Look at Schedules

It seems really obvious, but so much information can be gained just by looking at a team’s schedule and individual game results, and not only their record.

Keeping up with literally hundreds of Division 1 college basketball teams throughout the course of a season is impossible. Even the biggest college basketball fans aren’t going to know much about a decent percentage of teams who find their way into the Big Dance.

One way to get some sort of feel for the mid-major teams who get in via their conference tournament is to examine their schedule. Whether you look at BPI or RPI, there are some real metrics to use to your advantage.

While the “indexes” provide some insight, it’s important to go through the matchups to see how a #14 seed might match up against a #3 seed traditionally powerful school. Note that I’m not saying you should be using this information for upset purposes (at least not necessarily), but it can help you choose games when betting against the spread.

For Example

See how a team performed against the top teams in their conference, or best teams they played out of conference. Also, look to see if they’ve dominated opponents throughout the season, or if they’ve been beating opponents at their own level by a low average margin of victory

Vegas March Madness Betting Strategy

Although this tip applies especially to teams you don’t know much about, it’s also extremely valuable for the teams you’re used to seeing in the tournament. When the same teams show up every year, bettors have the tendency to think they know them inside and out.

Keep in mind that there’s only one thing worse than making a bet when you admittedly don’t know anything about a team—making a bet on a team you think you know, but actually don’t.

The best way to avoid falling into this trap is by browsing the team’s results throughout the year. To reiterate, it sounds simple, but it’s some of the most valuable research you can do.

2 – Pick Some Upsets

Sports gambling isn’t so much about getting everything right as it is about making high-value bets. You should already be doing this for any game you’re betting on, but it’s especially important to look at all the odds before betting on NCAA. I’m referring to, specifically, the moneyline.

March Madness is notorious for all the crazy upsets and Cinderella stories. Capitalize on these by taking a few risks, especially in the first round, and choosing a couple low-seeded teams to win outright.

It goes without saying that you’ll lose most of these bets, but the goal is to have your wins cover your losses and then some. My suggestion would be to put a relatively insignificant amount of money on these games and spread it around across several different contests.

Don’t forget to acknowledge the class #12 seed versus #5 seed annual upset. Yes, you can almost take it to the bank that at least one of the four games will end with the lower seed winning outright. If one doesn’t stick out to you right away, play the two with the most favorable odds.

Although upset potential will exist in every round of the tournament, you probably won’t find the value of the first-round odds in later rounds. If you’re going to make picking underdogs on the moneyline a key part of your strategy, do it early and often.

3 – Evaluating the Underdog

Choosing underdogs, even against the spread, is tough for a number of reasons. First, it forces bettors to wager money on a team that they’re admitting is worse than the other. Essentially, you’re hoping for a team to keep it just close enough to win. Second, it can get overly-trendy.

Most bettors have come across an “expert” at one time or another who has recommended that you should always bet underdog-heavy. At least in the NCAA tournament, this isn’t always the case.

The numbers vary from sport-to-sport, but in the NCAA tournament, betting on the underdog is actually a little risky.

Over the years, underdogs have covered the spread just 44% of the time in the tournament. I hear you, “The tournament is all about upsets! How is this possible?”

March Madness Betting Line

Sportsbooks set lines with careful consideration of how the public is thinking. The public bias usually leans toward the favorite in nearly all sporting events, but for some reason, March Madness has proven to be the opposite.

Be wary of underdogs except in one particular instance: if it’s the first round and they’re an underdog by double digits.

Although I’ve laid out that underdogs haven’t covered more than half the time in the tournament, when the spread gets too large, it’s a different story. The odds aren’t overwhelming, but first-round double-digit underdogs in the past five years have covered at a rate of over 50%.

4 – Look at Location

Each year, the NCAA Tournament is broken down into four regions that play in different parts of the country. Without fail, there are always a few teams who luck out and get to play in relatively close proximity to their school. This might feel like an advantage, but for bettors, it can also be a trap.

The location bias is very real among gamblers, and oddsmakers have taken advantage over the years. When a team, especially a top seed, has a tournament game close to home, conventional wisdom would say that the location is worth at least a couple of points. The reality shows there isn’t much impact, if any at all.

This isn’t to say that it’s a bad idea to bet on a team playing close to home, but it’s important to only make the play if the odds agree. The advantage of playing at home is largely overvalued by sports bettors and this scenario is no different.

If your first move once the bracket is released is to find the games where a team is playing close to their school, you’re probably best moving on to a new method.

5 – Pick Your Spots

As I mentioned earlier in the article, it’s impossible to know a great deal about every team in the tournament. But, there’s a good chance you have watched a few teams several times throughout the season and have a good feel for how they’re playing. These are the games to make your money.

With so many games in such a short period of time, one of the most difficult parts about betting on the NCAA tournament is knowing how much money to bet and which games to bet it on. Assuming you aren’t going to bet on every game, your first decision is picking your games to play.

You don’t have to only stick to the teams you’re familiar with, but reserve your biggest bets for matchups between teams or featuring at least one team that you’ve played regularly throughout the season.

As a side note, remember that risking too much on one game, even one that you feel confident about, can really hurt your bankroll moving forward. Don’t bet too big, and live to fight another day.

Conclusion

Putting a few extra dollars in your pocket during tournament time doesn’t have to come through the office bracket pool. Follow these tips and you might just be the real winner come April!

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