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It’s one of the most exciting times on the NCAA calendar, which is why I’ll be taking a deep dive into the world of March Madness betting today.
With its ruthless sudden-death format, few sports competitions in the world have as much jeopardy as March Madness. Having tested out the best sites for betting on this NCAA men’s basketball event, I’ll introduce you to my top five sportsbooks. Moreover, I’ll also introduce you to the most popular March Madness bet types and leave you with some expert tips.
You probably won’t be surprised by me telling you this, but nothing is perfect in the world of sports betting. That being said, March Madness is about as close as it gets – it’s fun, there’s plenty of jeopardy and there is plenty of value to be found in the odds.
However, this is offset by the fact that March Madness games and NCAA Championship winners can be much harder to call, making it a bit more risky than betting on the NBA. But the fact that there’s not a lot to separate most teams in terms of quality is part of what makes it so damn exciting.
Anyway, enough of me rambling on about how much I love March Madness – to start our guide, here at the main pros and cons of betting on March Madness:
All social sportsbooks and DFS platforms in the US are gearing up for March Madness which is easily one of their busiest times of the year. We’ve handpicked our favorite social sportsbooks and DFS sites to reveal who’ll give you the best way of getting closer to the NCAA action:
Fliff is arguably the most popular social sportsbook in the US and deservedly so. It gives you a great way to enjoy social betting on all the biggest US sports and this extends to the NCAA. The brand serves up around 130 betting lines on average for each basketball game, and you can always play for free here. However, it’s worth being careful in how you spend that Fliff Cash as this can potentially be redeemed for real money prizes. A great reward for all of that social March Madness betting.
This is another top US social sportsbook that has been picking up plenty of fans recently. Much of this is down to the fact that Sportzino has great coverage of basketball with quality odds for the moneyline, spread, totals and so on. You can play for free at Sportzino using the Sweeps Coins and these can potentially be redeemed for cash prizes. Elsewhere you’ll find the standard range of social sportsbook promos like daily login bonuses, referral offers and everything else you need to enjoy some quality social betting on March Madness.
This is a great place to try if you’re new to the whole fantasy sports phenomenon. ParlayPlay features a seriously simple way to play with two game structures called Higher/Lower and Hit-It. These simply require you to make predictions about the statistics of various players and if you get it right, you could get a healthy share of some decent prize pools. ParlayPlay is great for college basketball and should definitely be considered for this year’s March Madness.
Ownersbox has already got a great reputation for fantasy betting on the NBA, and so we can’t wait to see how it handles March Madness. The brand features two main types of fantasy contests called Lightning Lineups and Superflex DFS and their availability depends on the state that you are playing from. Both contests are pretty easy for newcomers and you’ll have a better chance of winning compared to more established DFS sites. There are also some pretty healthy prize pools and low entry fees to give you a couple more reasons to play here.
No list of basketball DFS sites is complete without a mention of Sleeper. This features a great way to let you play against friends for free, or you can download the Sleeper app and enter some pretty impressive paid contests. Here, the entry fee may be as low as $1 and some of the prize pools feature four-figure sums. The actual coverage of basketball is pretty good, although we’ll have to wait to see how well it handles this year’s NCAA tournament.
For our non-US based readers, these are my favourite picks for March Madness betting. I’ve tried a lot of March Madness betting sites for players outside of the US over the years, and there are some amazing options out there. On the other hand, I do have to warn you that there are a lot of sites that are nothing more than scams.
They promise us great odds and amazing March Madness betting promos so that we drop our guards and give them our hard-earned cash. However, you can take nothing at face value in this game – that’s why it’s important to read the small print and always use recommend sites from experts like me.
With that in mind, here’s a look at my top-rated March Madness betting websites for you to use in 2024 if you are based outside of the US:
Betting site | Welcome offer | Best for |
---|---|---|
Stake.com | 200% up to $2,000 | March Madness live streaming |
BC.Game | 180% up to $20,000 | No maximum bet limits |
Roobet | N/A | Odds boosters |
GG.Bet | Up to 20% cashback | Stats and data sheets |
Vulkan.bet | 100% up to $500 | Easy-to-use interface |
Stake.com is the best platform I’ve found for betting on March Madness, thanks to its exclusive welcome offer, user-friendly interface, and good odds. Above all though, is the fact that you can stream every March Madness and NCAA Men’s basketball game by logging into your account.
The streaming window in its mini version can be displayed alongside the sportsbook interface. This means that you can place live bets whilst watching the action simultaneously.
If you’re experienced in this betting and game and are working with a budget that’s higher than average, then I can’t recommend BC.Game highly enough. This is a legit site with a massive welcome offer of up to $20,000 and no maximum bet limits for NCAA basketball and most other sports.
On top of that, it is a crypto-only site, meaning that it supports no fiat currency payment methods. This is a big cost-cutter for them and the savings are passed on to you in the form of better-than-average betting odds.
You might remember Roobet for exploding onto the scene a few years back with Snoop Dogg at its front and center. Despite him being a big basketball fan, you and I know better than to fall for celeb-driven gimmicks, right?
Fortunately, Robot has backed up its flashy style with a whole lotta substance. It might be one of the few betting sites with no welcome offer. However, what you get instead are plenty of existing customer promos to choose from, which include odds boosters and other specials for March Madness.
March Madness is an amazing time for us passionate basketball betting fans, but I need to let you in on a little secret here. Being a fan doesn’t always help when it comes to betting on March Madness. Of course, you do need a keen interest in the sport, but pragmatism will win over passion every time.
In this respect, GG.Bet is the ideal sportsbook, as it can really help with your betting research. For every sport, league, game, and market you can find detailed stats, as well as data sheets and other helpful tools to assist you in placing better wagers.
Is this going to be your first time betting on March Madness or sports in general? If so, the last thing you want is a complex interface packed with stats, bets, and numbers that you don’t understand.
There’s absolutely no need to try to bet beyond your experience level, and in my opinion, Vulkan.bet is an ideal place to start. Its clean and user-friendly interface should provide you with a seamless introduction to the basic betting markets, such as moneylines, points spread, and totals.
All decent fantasy sportsbooks and DFS platforms will have a variety of deals that help you enjoy March Madness a little more. Here are just some of the special offers that you can pick up right now:
Every single online betting site on the planet has a welcome offer that looks great in the advert. However, don’t take the bait straight away – even just a quick glance at the T&Cs will often prove that the bonus is either worthless or a scam.
That being said, there are some decent promotions out there, especially within the March Madness betting bracket. Here are a few tried and tested sportsbook bonuses that I rate highly:
In order to understand the best bets to place on March Madness, we first need to take a look at how this unique tournament works. For those of you yet unaware, there are 68 teams at the start, which is eventually whittled down to 16, eight, four, and then the final two, who fight it out to see who will ultimately be crowned as the NCAA Men’s or Women’s Basketball Champions.
Here’s how the rounds work:
The lowest-seeded teams play four games to determine who will get the final places in the Round of 64.
32 games are played between 64 teams in a one-off elimination round.
The winning teams from the Round of 64 play each other.
Eight matches are played by the remaining teams; Sweet 16 betting is where things really start to get interesting.
This is effectively the quarter-final stage of the tournament; you can check out my specific tips for March Madness Elite 8 betting here.
The remaining four teams play one-off games in the semi-final stage of the tournament.
The final, and the biggest match on the March Madness betting calendar.
Knowing which types of markets to go for is key, and if you’re new to this, I recommend going for the most straightforward options. Here are the most popular bets offered on most March Madness betting sites:
Before we finish, I’m going to give you a peek behind the curtain and share some tricks of the trade to help you get ahead of the game with March Madness betting:
In the NBA, the moneyline is often unbalanced because of a gap between the quality of the two teams, so much so, that it’s often worth avoiding. However, the opposite is true with NCAA basketball and you will often find that the March Madness betting odds offer good value on the moneyline.
In contrast to the above, the parity between NCAA means that picking an early winner is almost impossible. When betting on March Madness, you will almost never find a clear odds-on favorite at the start of the tournament.
Above all else, take your time to study my recommended March Madness betting sites to decide which one is right for you.
In addition to their regular welcome offer, most of my top recommended sportsbooks also offer specials and odds boosts specifically for betting on March Madness.
More so than when betting on the professional game, you need to study the stats for the NCAA. Picking out a promising young talent can really help with your props bets.
At the end of the day, the name for this tournament is quite apt, because betting on it, quite frankly, can be madness – but in a good way of course. As bettors we must try to make sense of that madness and keep our feet firmly on the ground.
You can do that by registering with one of my safe and secure recommended March Madness betting sites first and foremost. Additionally, follow my top tips to help with your bets, and check back in with me for updates on this year’s tournament.
Yes, most global online betting sites accept wagers on March Madness, including those in Canada, the UK, and Europe. In the US, most states with legal betting allow NCAA sports wagering to some degree, but many have restrictions for bets on in-state teams.
Overall, the best online betting site for March Madness outside the US is Stake.com, where you can get an exclusive 200% welcome offer up to $2,000 with our promo code ’GAMECHAMPIONS’. However, BC.Game, Roobet, and GG.Bet also deserve a special mention.
The bracket basically shows the seedings and each team’s potential route to the NCAA Championship game. “Bracket betting” is popular as it involves predicting which teams will reach each stage.
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