The Best Bet

The March Madness tournament is one of the most important events in men’s and women’s basketball, both for players and bettors. In this tournament – you guessed it, which is held during the vast majority of March and part of April – 68 NCAA teams battle it out for the title to be crowned National Champion.

March Madness

Bettors can wager on much more than just single games during March Madness. There are multiple types of March Madness bets you can place, including Moneyline betting, ‘over’ or ‘under’ betting, and point spreads betting, to name a few. Although the odds offered by most sportsbooks will often be similar, it’s important to shop around for the one offering the best odds – even a tiny difference in odds can lead to a big difference in winnings over the course of the tournament.

Celebrity Brackets

As fans get ready to enjoy the tournament, the top celebrity sports fans come under close scrutiny. All eyes are on them to see how they will be betting.

Some celebrities to watch this season include Glen Powell (from “Top Gun: Maverick”), Candace Parker (WNBA legend), and Nate Robinson (former NBA guard). What’s noticeable is there is surprisingly little similarity between their bets.

Powell has the Gonzaga, Kansas, Tennessee, and Texas Longhorns in the men’s Final Four. Parker likes Baylor, Kentucky, and South Carolina for her women’s Final Four picks, while Robinson has selected Arizona, Kansas, Michigan State, and Virginia Tech.

President Joe Biden has declared he likes Delaware for the women’s champions, with South Carolina, UConn, and Villanova making up the rest of the final four. For the men’s tournament, Biden’s picks are Delaware, Gonzaga, Kentucky, and Wisconsin.

Barack Obama

Not only is Obama a big basketball fan, but he was also quite the player in his day. His former coach at Occidental College, Mike Zinn, described Obama as “very athletic,” both a good runner and jumper. Not known for sinking too many baskets, Obama “had a nose for the ball,” always seeming to know where to go to pick up loose balls.

Obama was more of a defender. Arne Duncan described him as a “fantastic” defensive player with an excellent grasp of other players’ strengths and weaknesses – enabling him to play very strategically. He excelled especially when under a lot of pressure, often shooting crucial baskets in the last few moments of a game.

Obama’s lucky charm

Playing basketball is one of the former president’s most favorite sports, and he also thinks of it as a kind of good-luck charm. In the run-up to his election as president in 2008, Obama spent nearly all election days playing basketball. On the day of the New Hampshire primary, he didn’t play – and that was the day he lost to Hillary Clinton.

Showing his face

During the 2020 NBA finals, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, NBA fans were able to watch the game, sitting in virtual ‘seats’. Using Microsoft Teams, Obama was able both to watch the game from his sofa and be seen ‘sitting’ among the other fans.

Obama’s brackets

Barack Obama is not only a big basketball fan but also a shrewd bettor. Obama started betting on the tournament in 2009, which was also his most successful betting year. That year, Obama correctly won 41 bets and, in the second round, scored 28 points out of a possible 32.

This year, Obama’s men’s Final Four picks are Arizona, Gonzaga, Kansas, and Kentucky. For the women’s Final Four, he likes Stanford, UConn, and South Carolina for the Final Four, backing South Carolina to lift the trophy.

Obama tends to choose the better-seeded teams, according to a writer for GamingZion.com – although this may not always be the best strategy for March Madness. However, they have to acknowledge that Obama has successfully predicted some unexpected results over the years.

Final Word

Sports betting is not the same as playing sports. To play a team sport competitively, you have to be really good. If you haven’t spent years honing your game, perfecting your physique, and gaining all the necessary experience, you will not be able to succeed.

Both beginners and experts can experience unexpected good or bad luck on the day. However, the playing field is much more level when it comes to sports betting. Looking at how the experts are betting will hopefully help you make better betting choices – yet even the experts can fail, while beginners can succeed. So, cross your fingers, wear your lucky sweater and all the best for your 2022 March Madness!