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It should come as no surprise to sports gambling enthusiasts that on the day the NCAA Division 1 Men’s Basketball Tournament bracket was released to the public, it dominated the gambling market nationwide. As we approach the start of the annual college basketball tournament, people everywhere, even those who don’t gamble, will be participating in online pools, office pools and pools amongst friends in the hopes of correctly picking this years tournament champion.  

The numbers are staggering, as many as forty million Americans will participate in some sort of pool, generating more than $12 billion in gaming play. Similar to the Superbowl, even those who don’t follow or watch college hoops will find themselves overwhelmed and intertwined with basketball fever for the next three weeks. The tournament has been known to cause massive distractions at work and at home; especially during the first four days as games are played all day and all night.   

The biggest hope for gamblers is the underdog card. Online sportsbooks generally see a huge boost in revenues during the tournament as a large number of people pick underdogs throughout the tournament. However, if one of those underdogs turns out to be a wise choice, one can win a substantial amount of money off a rather small wager. Sometimes in this tournament, it hurts to know too much.