Best March Madness Betting Sites

The NCAA March Madness tournament is one of the most important annual sporting events in the United States. Just about every online sportsbook offers a betting market for it. It’s a tournament that excites the whole nation, in which the top college basketball teams in the NCAA compete.

Millions of people tune in to watch March Madness every year, with many betting on it. With a growing number of states now allowing sports betting, the number of people watching March Madness will increase. 

When it comes to betting online on March Madness, selecting a reliable sportsbook is crucial. You can use this guide to learn how to safely wager on March Madness in the US with the best betting sites that are available.

What We Look For When Choosing the Best March Madness Betting Site

It can be overwhelming to choose from so many real money sports betting options. The truth is that they aren’t on equal footing, and many aren’t legitimate. The following are some of the factors we take into account when choosing and ranking the best March Madness betting sites:

Reliability and Safety

When it comes to online betting, the most important aspect should be its safety and reliability. We always check the reputation and history of a site, along with its terms of service, to make sure they’re trustworthy. As we all know, the most critical factor in predicting future performance is past performance.

We also considered previous customer reviews. You can learn a lot from how online sportsbooks deal with their clients and see patterns of poor service if any. Additionally, we checked industry blocklists to ensure the site hasn’t received a bad reputation for unethical or unfair practices. In the case of offshore sportsbooks, we always ensure that the listed sites are fully licensed and regulated in the regions of which they are based.

User-Friendliness

Another critical aspect we look at is the site design, which must be easy to navigate and user-friendly. It might not seem like an essential factor, but there are times you need to locate what you’re looking for quickly, as you need to place your bet before the line is removed from the board.

Betting Options

It’s also crucial that you have a website with a wide range of betting options. While some bettors may only be interested in making moneyline bets, others may prefer betting in halftime and totals; or even betting on props. The more options you have, the greater your chances of identifying and exploiting mispriced lines.

In sports betting, winning relies on identifying value, which can be found when the odds are set low compared to the outcome’s probability. The sportsbooks are usually very good at determining the odds on popular bets such as moneylines, totals, and spreads. However, when it comes to specific and niche betting, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to take advantage of some weak odds.

Additionally, we want an online bookmaker who has a wide range of options because it makes betting more entertaining for you. Particularly with March Madness, there are a variety of prop bets and other exciting wagers available.

Good Customer Service

Regardless of whether you’re dealing with a large or small company, your experience will often be determined mainly by how well they treat you. It’s no different for online sports betting.

We check that the betting site’s customer service page is easy to find and accessible. When we get to the website, we find the FAQ section and several ways to reach the company. We try to communicate with the customer support team through at least three different methods, such as telephone, email, and instant messaging. We then check to see how long it takes the company to respond through these channels.

Banking Options

We like to recommend betting websites with a variety of banking options. Depending on your location, this factor can be critical.

For example, in the United States, banks are prohibited from processing transactions with several gambling operators. In such an instance, you’ll have to use alternative payment methods; commonly bitcoin and certain e-wallets.

It’s also essential to have a wide range of banking options since the time it takes to process each one is different. When they cash out, make sure the website offers options suitable for anyone. Some of the most popular payment options are:

• Bitcoin Betting
• PayPal Betting
• Skrill Betting
• Neteller Betting

Quick Payouts

Unreliable betting sites will intentionally set low withdrawal limits to slow down your withdrawal rate. It’s done hoping you’ll become impatient waiting for your next payout, therefore, gambling away what’s left. It’s a part of the business model of many scam sites to ignore or delay payout requests with the same intention.

Sportsbooks already enjoy setting lines with the advantage of having built-in bookmakers. So your ability to withdraw your own money doesn’t have to be manipulated for them to make a profit. Simply put, your money is your money, so you have the right to access it whenever you want.

Reward Programs and Bonuses

It’s also important to note that every online bookmaker offers bonuses. The welcome bonuses usually include matching a percentage of the amount you deposit or giving you free bets when you sign up. Prizes like these can be highly enticing, but they usually have significant conditions attached.

The more valuable bonuses are often rewarded as loyalty points. Depending on the frequency at which you place bets and how much you bet on average, you can reap significant rewards from the bonuses. Besides cash prizes, sports bettors can expect prizes ranging from percentages of their losses returned in cash to participate in raffles or points redeemable for 

merchandise. As a reward for high rollers, loyalty rewards may include exotic holidays, compensation for losses, and even cars.

Some websites offer specific bonuses during events such as March Madness. 

March Madness Betting Options

The NCAA Division I Tournament has some of the highest betting activity per year. In total, 67 games are available for betting, so you’ll have tons of chances to wager on college basketball. Aside from filling out a bracket and joining a betting pool, each game offers sports bettors various betting options.

Here are some of the different wagering options available during the tournament.

Live Betting

Most sports bets are placed before the game starts, and the odds are removed when the game begins. With live betting, this isn’t the case. 

During March Madness, some online sportsbooks offer live betting. You can bet on a large variety of games in real-time. You can place bets on the number of points scored during each half, the next team to make a basket, and even who will cause the upcoming foul.

As the action unfolds on the court, the odds adjust, which gives you plenty of opportunities to spot weak lines and place bets at the right time.

Moneyline Betting

When you make moneyline bets, you explicitly attempt to pick the winning team. Each team will be presented with odds in the form of a three-digit number, either positive or negative. Betting on either team will generate a payout depending on how heavily each team is favored.

Totals Betting

Totals are wagers that predict what’s expected to be the combined total score that both teams will score in a game. Typically, they’re based on the total points scored. However, they can also be placed on anything from total fouls committed to the number of three-point baskets made.

Totals are also known as over/under bets. Based on their predictions, the bookmakers set a line. Depending on what you think will happen, you’ll choose a value above or below the line. If, for example, Wichita State is playing West Virginia in the second round and the sportsbooks expect a high-scoring game, they may set the line at 158.5. You must decide whether the final score will go “over” or “under”.

Future Betting

The March Madness Tournament is one of the best opportunities for future betting. In essence, you bet on events that will be determined in the future and not on a single game. Because there are often more possibilities in these types of bets than just two teams playing each other, they usually include fractional odds.

For example, the odds are placed on which team will win the tournament. March Madness participants will have odds assigned to them. Some top teams are offered at 2-to-1 odds, which means they pay out twice as much per wager. For lower teams, the odds are typically higher. A team can even have 100-to-1 odds.

Props Betting

A proposition bet can be one of the most exciting aspects of sports betting. Here, you can bet on several outcomes and possibilities. There’s no need to focus on which team wins or how many points are scored; whatever the bookmaker desires can be a wager.

Prop bets on March Madness might include, “What color Gatorade will be poured on the winning coach,” for example. In tournaments, the other favorite prop bet is, “What player will cut down the net.” 

Parlay Betting

With so many games being played every day during March Madness, especially in the preliminary rounds, parlay betting is a good idea. You can combine two or more bets into one to receive a bigger payout. But any bet that loses on the ticket will result in the forfeit of the entire stake.

Parlay bets can be as large as you like, though each extra bet reduces your chances of winning. For an 8-to-10-pick parlay, you have almost no chance of winning. But if you happen to get lucky, the payouts can be huge. 

Point Spread Betting

When teams aren’t evenly matched, particularly during tournaments like March Madness. Betting on the moneyline can sometimes be risky. With too strong a team, you’ll have to risk large sums of money you may not be able to profit from. It’s why point spreads were introduced.

Spreads allow you to level a game and give each team the same chance of winning. Points can be taken away from one side and given to another. Take, for example, the first-round match-up between Villanova and Radford. In order to give the game equal odds, 20 points are spread between the teams. Villanova -20 must win by at least 20 points to cover the spread and win the bet.

If you’re betting for the underdog, the team less likely to win would have to lose by fewer than the spread or win in order for your bet to be successful.

Final Thoughts

March Madness is one of the most popular sporting events. Many people place bets even though they usually don’t watch college basketball during the rest of the year. Across the country, office pools are set up, and sportsbooks offer their most innovative lines.

To bet on the team’s games, you’ll first need to find a reliable sportsbook. We’ve provided this guide to help you learn how to wager on March Madness legally and safely here in the US.