March Madness has arrived, promising to bring a wealth of betting activity for players across the US in legal markets. New states like North Carolina have joined the fray, and dozens of other places now allow betting on March Madness tournament action.
Chances are you’re familiar with traditional March Madness odds, such as moneylines, totals, point spreads, and even a handful of props. But sportsbooks go far beyond those (relatively) standard offerings. Here are ten off-kilter or straight-up wacky March Madness bets you can place.
Both Teams to Score in the First 2 Minutes
How about starting with a betting market that is exactly what it sounds like? The options for this betting market are a simple “Yes” and ‘No,” with odds assigned based on the match-up disparity and past performance. If you need a quick and easy market to kickstart your March Madness betting, this is a good place to start.
FanDuel Sportsbook offers plenty of this bet type, though other sportsbooks may have similar wagers available. FanDuel also offers “Total points Scored In The First Minute,” a similar market.
Race to X Points
Here’s a great way to get invested in the early aughts of a match-up. Basketball games often come down to the last few minutes, especially in nail-biter matchups. Bets on a “Race to X Points” get you in on the action right away.
Bet on a team to reach the point threshold before their opponents. The first team to hit the required threshold wins the bet. The thresholds usually start at 10 and go up to 80 at some sportsbooks. At higher point totals, you can vote for “Neither,” which means you think neither team will achieve that total.
DraftKings Player Combos
DraftKings Sportsbook has Player Combo bets that set a total line for players to either exceed or fail to meet. You can combine various stats. For example, DraftKings might let you bet on a player to combine for over or under 26.5 points, rebounds, and assists. You can choose between different combinations of those three stats to find a bet that works for your prediction.
Method of First Basket
This bet requires you to answer a single question: What will be the method of scoring the first basket in the game? You can select a specific team to make a two-pointer, three-pointer, or free throw. It’s another early-game bet that can give you a quick and fun start to March Madness betting.
Team to Advance Further
DraftKings has a bevy of March Madness props off the beaten path. For example, markets are pitting two teams against one another, and you simply have to choose which team you think will advance further in the tournament. These tend to have fairly even odds, providing some excellent value if you’re confident that one team will outperform another (even if they don’t face off in the tournament itself).
Related Pages: March Madness Betting Promos | North Carolina Sports Betting | Best Parlay Apps
Total Wins By Team or Conference
You can place Over/Under bets on a particular team or conference’s wins. For example, DraftKings has markets for “Wins By Big Ten Teams” with a line of Over/Under 8.5 (+105/-135). Similar markets are available for almost every conference plus many individual teams.
A semi-similar bet type is the “Vs. The Field” winner bet, in which you pick either a specific team or the “field” (aka all other teams) to win the tournament. Naturally, “Field” bets have worse paying odds but are more likely to hit.
Total Points Odd/Even
Maybe you don’t want to bet on the total combined score of both teams. Instead, you want to bet whether the combined total will be odd or even. Sportsbooks allow it, and you can place the bet for a slightly different type of totals wager.
Seed Number to Win Tournament
DraftKings has futures markets for particular seed numbers. You select which seed you think will win the tournament. Odds get progressively longer the further you get into the seeding pool. Here’s a look at the first few selections available.
- 1 Seed: -130
- 2 Seed: +350
- 3 Seed: +1000
- 4 Seed: +700
Sum of Seeds in the Final Four
This market has two options at DraftKings:
- Over 12.5 (-110)
- Under 12.5 (-120)
When the Final Four is set in stone, add the number of each team’s seed together to see whether you’ve won. It’s hard to predict!
Will X Seed Win in the First Round?
Finally, there are markets for a particular seed to win in round one. Predictably, lower-seeded teams have higher-paying odds because they are less likely to advance. For example, you can bet on this market:
- Will A 12-seed win in the round of 64?
- Yes: -390
- No: +275
There are similar markets for many other seed numbers.
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