How to Bet on March Madness

March Madness is the best time in sports for dedicated basketball fans and casual spectators alike.While the super fans are already doing deep analysis on every team looking to find an edge, seasonal hoop heads who have only been tuned in for the past week might be more motivated to go beyond the usual bracket this year.This NCAA Tournament often brings in a host of first-time bettors, and this year’s competition is expected to draw more than $3.3 billion (yes, billion) in wagers.

That makes this the perfect time to educate new bettors on what exactly they can bet on during the tournament and more importantly how it all works.There are a ton of different ways to bet on basketball, but this will cover the most common ways to make a wager on hoops.Betting the moneyline means betting on one team to win the game.

The favorite in the game will have a minus next to their odds, and the underdog will have a plus.That just means that you have to wager a bit more on the favorite to make a profit compared to the ‘dog.Here’s an example using $100 as the betting unit to make it simple to understand.

(You do not have to wager that much money if you place a bet.) Iowa is a -140 favorite to win against Clemson, which has +140 odds.If you placed a $100 wager on Clemson to win the game, you would gain $140 if they win, plus you get back your initial stake of $100.

If you wanted to gain $100 by betting on Iowa to win, you would need to wager $140, which would be returned to you if they are victorious.Betting the spread means you are betting the margin of victory for the game.

Sportsbooks set the spread, or line, for a game, and it can move up or down before the game starts based on betting activity, injury information, etc.Similar to betting the moneyline, the team with a minus in front of the number is the favorite and the team with a plus is the underdog.However, the odds for the spread are typically set at -110, though they can range from +100 to -120.

Iowa is a -2 fav...