Countdown to March Madness: Story #1
(Narrator in the Law & Order voice): In the city of Las Vegas, people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: The sportsbooks, who set lines for college basketball games, and the gamblers, who love nothing more than to bet on said basketball games. These are [my] stories.
How about we kick off the journey to March Madness with some very true college basketball gambling stories that could be corroborated by those involved. Let’s begin!
The date is March 17th, 2017, myself and DDSN Research are flying into Vegas on the Thursday of the NCAA Tournament’s opening day. The sun is just coming up as the majority of the city is asleep or piss drunk zombie walking. This was our first experience during the NCAA Tournament in Vegas and I could not wait for the debauchery to begin.
We were staying at the Luxor for the weekend and we pretty much just posted up at the Luxor bar watching the opening games. I remember the shitty TVs they had but there was no other place we rather have been. The day goes on and this man from Atlanta, GA, Leon, pulls up and we end up hanging out with him for the rest of the night, which was a hell of a way to start the weekend. Leon was just as excited and ready for us three to put in a huge 3 team parlay. We argued over who should hold the ticket and it led to nothing, thankfully. It did not stop us from hanging out either. I’m not sure how many beers and bourbon & coke’s later but Leon began pitching in the middle of the casino sportsbook showing us his fastball. I would guarantee DDSN Research still has the video. Anyway, we finally escape Leon after him and I got into it after he brought up the SMU “Death Penalty” and as a life long SMU fan those are some fighting words! The next day and months, years after Leon continued to call and demand DDSN Research give him back or pay him back the Gucci glasses “he stole”. No clue where those glasses were. We head to the room and get a few hours of sleep until Day 2 of the tournament when The Ruben and Gunner land into town. Hello, trouble.
Friday day 2, it’s bright and early in the morning and its the day SMU played USC so I’m ready to post up and drink until the Ponies played! It’s like 7am on the West Coast and we roll into an Irish Bar. We are sitting at the bar top not even 5 minutes and DDSN Research has to go to the bathroom to barf. It might’ve been the bourbon and coke’s or the smell of bangers and mash at 7am. The old Irish bartender shakes his head and says “Wussy” (you know) under his breath as he’s pouring the beers. We drink a beer and head to what I feel like is a hidden gem between the Luxor and Mandalay Bay … the Ice Bar. While all the tourists go underground and freeze their asses off in an ice cave we are upstairs with all the ladies in a perfect sports bar environment. The Ruben and Gunner finally show up just in time for the SMU game. DDSN Research and myself have been pounding beers and taking shots all day. Pretty banged up. SMU tips off. It’s a miracle we didn’t get thrown out of the bar because after a hard fought game SMU blows the game and loses on the literal last play of the game. It got rowdy. I was defeated. SMU has been jobbed every which way out of the tournament since then and have not been back. To add insult to injury I head to the restroom and there is a woman coming out of the restroom wearing a USC Trojans shirt and makes a comment about SMU, just instigating a fight. I may have said something after but didn’t engage. So what did I go do to try and cheer up? I went to go meet Pete Rose. Guy charged an arm and a leg for a signed baseball, which I still have. I go up and talk to him, get my autograph and definitely mentioned that Ichiro Suzuki was a better career hitter than him. Yes, I was escorted out. I take my ball and head back to the Luxor. I roll up to the craps table where the crew was and this guy in a Houston Oilers Warren Moon jersey immediately says, “man what happened to SMU”? The whole crew then yelled, “No! That’s him! We said not to bring it up”!! He apologized but it didn’t hurt any less. I went on to gamble a healthy amount and loss on the craps table eventually heading to bed with my tail between my legs trying to get ready for Day 3.
Day 3, Long story short because it was a depressing blur. We had VIP at the Mirage where we gambled and watched college basketball until the very end. I was breaking even all day so I made two large wagers, one was on Villanova -5 vs. Wisconsin and the Badgers won outright. The other was on Iowa State pick vs. Purdue. The Cyclones came back from 19 points down but still lost by 4 points. I was so pissed and sad I walked alone from the Mirage all the way back to the Luxor, which is 2 miles. My feet were destroyed. I just went to bed defeated.
Day 4, I wake up very early contemplating how I should attack the day. SMU loss, I got my ass kicked at the craps table the night before last and then I lost a ton of money at the Mirage. So, I asked myself, “do I play one last bet and see what happens, do I just make it a chill Sunday or just fucking go all in”? I was the only one up early per usually and I head down to the ATM. Now, boys & girls you should always gamble responsibly. With that being said, I took out the vast majority of what I had left and headed down to the counter and put it all on Louisville vs. Michigan Over 139.5 game total. I felt like puking, I couldn’t stop sweating and I was ready to drink. It was only 8am pacific. Finally, everyone finishes getting ready and are down watching with me standing around the Luxor island bar having no idea what’s at stake. There’s 19 seconds left and Donovan Mitchell just made a layup for Louisville and the Cardinals cut the lead to 69-67 still trailing. I need 4 more points with 17 seconds left, anything can happen. If you bet college basketball enough then you know ANYTHING can happen. DJ Wilson gets fouled for Michigan and ices both free throws making the score 71-67. Dead ball so 17 seconds still left for 2 more points. Donovan Mitchell had the ball and manages to get a layup with 10 seconds left … game goes over the total! I couldn’t believe it at the time because I kept looking at the ticket and doing the math quadruple checking to make sure the number covered. It did. Sigh a relief and that was only the beginning.
My cousin texts me asking what the bet’s going to be for the next game: Kansas vs. Michigan State. I tell her what I just rolled my Louisville vs. Michigan winnings on: game total over 147. She rides. Josh Jackson for Kansas and Miles Bridges for Michigan State put on one hell of a show and the game soars over the total with Kansas winning 90-70 (160). Bang! She askes what’s next? So, I tell her: Rhode Island vs. Oregon over 138.5. She rides. Except this time I roll my winnings three different ways. Game over 138.5, Rhode Island +4.5 and parlayed both. The ticket writer tells me, “man you sure like those over”. Yes, Mr. Ticket writer on that day I loved them. Oregon wins the game 75-72.. all three bets cash. I am on cloud 9. Smoldering hot and made all my money back from the weekend plus some cream off the top. There was one last slate of games left and I eyed one I could not resist: Cincinnati vs. UCLA. As an SMU fan I hate Cincinnati, especially this team in particular. I bet UCLA -3. Lonzo Ball and the Bruins end up destroying the Bearcats 79-67 and I make out like a bandit. This was one of my top days in Vegas ever. I still have the shirt I wore that day and I pack it every single Vegas trip only in case of emergencies (story to come).
Play long enough and you’ll see the cards flip your way.
All timer weekend in Las Vegas.
[Gamble responsibly]
