It’s March again, when the NCAA Tournament takes center stage on the USA sporting scene. On this page, you’ll get a crash course on how to bet on March Madness, the sites we recommend, why they stand out, and the best way to secure a valuable welcome bonus that can lead to winning real money fast.
March Madness attracts more betters than every sporting event in the country besides the Super Bowl and now, with so many online sportsbooks, there is never a better time to join the fun. Read on for more.
How to Gamble on March Madness: Step-by-Step Guide
When you’ve found your online sportsbook, it’s time to claim the bonus that’s right for you and start placing March Madness bets. It’s an easy process to get started. Here, we’ve compiled a checklist on how to gamble on March Madness:
Step 1: Join BetWhale
After finding the link to the sportsbook you’d like to bet on March Madness at, head to that sportsbook’s website to register for a new account.
Step 2: Complete the Registration Process
Generally, online casinos require your name, birth date, email address, a valid form of government identification, and an acceptable payment method.
Oftentimes, there is a spot where players can opt-in for the welcome bonus near the end of the registration process. Other times, there is a welcome bonus code that you must enter to receive the bonus offer.
Step 4: Fund Your Account
Now it’s time to deposit the funds to the betting site so you can get betting. You can deposit funds via credit cards on all the sites discussed on this page. Most also have crypto deposit options. Be sure to input the site’s promo code to receive bonus cash to boost your account balance.
Step 5: Place Your March Madness Bets
Once you are set up and have funded the account, it’s time to select your March Madness bets. Be sure to research all the March Madness betting lines and odds. Once you’ve selected the bet or bets you want to place, enter how much you want to stake, check out how much you stand to win then hit the Place Bet button.
Ranking the Top 10 Betting Options for March Madness 2024
For your convenience, our team of experts ranked the Top 10 online sportsbooks for March Madness below:
- BetWhale – Best overall option for March Madness betting
- EveryGame – Well-respected industry leader in online sports betting
- BetOnline – Many markets, and March Madness prop bets
- MyBookie – Over 25 years of experience in online sportsbook
- XBet – Clean and extremely easy website to navigate
- Game – Featuring the fastest payouts in the industry
- BetUS – Biggest welcome bonus for March Madness
- BUSR – Competitive March Madness bonuses and promotions
- BetNow – New live betting compatibility is among the best in the industry
- Jazz Sports – Competitive odds and Bracket contest
Reviewing the Best Sites to Bet on The March Madness in 2024
Now that you know how to gamble on March Madness, our team of experts will review the Top 7 NCAA Tournament betting sites in the USA 2024. In these reviews, we point out what you need to know: Bonuses, bets, payment methods, and much more.
1. BetWhale – Best overall option for March Madness betting
One look at BetWhale shows what you’re getting: A professional online sportsbook with plenty of bets and options and years of experience. BetWhalehosts a $250,000 March Madness bracket challenge with a $25 entry fee.
At BetWhale, they really emphasize March Madness betting, with not only a full slate of bets and props but also March Madness Insurance. Here’s how it works: If your over/under bet is “under” at the end of a regulation NCAA Tournament game, BetWhale will refund the wager for the full amount, up to $100.
Also, the Bracket Buster Refund can be worthwhile: If you lose a point spread beat on a Top 3 seed in the first weekend, you can get refunded up to $100. To qualify for the Bracket Buster Refund, players must bet on the Top 3 seed to cover in both the first and second rounds.
By supporting most major payment methods and with their special attention paid to the NCAA Tournament, BetWhale is one of our best bets for March Madness betting!
2. EveryGame – Well-respected industry leader in online sports betting
There’s a good chance you’ve heard about EveryGame. With years of experience in the online sportsbook industry, they are considered one of the leaders.
Taking a first look at the website, it’s easy to find where March Madness betting will happen: At their NCAA Tournament page, you’ll find a complete list of bets and props, including the fun and exciting “Bracket Challenge.”
In the EveryGame Bracket Challenge, they will pick a handful of celebrities and get them to fill out March Madness brackets. Players will then pick their favorite celebrity bracket and enter a sweepstakes. 50 winners will be selected at random and receive $100 cash vouchers for EveryGame.
One thing EveryGame could do better is offer bigger bonuses and promotions, but when you join EveryGame, you’ll know that you’re getting a very respected brand where you can be confident in betting.
3. BetOnline – Many markets, and March Madness prop bets
BetOnline checks off all the boxes of an upper-echelon online sportsbook: A reputable name, tons of bets, and both online casino and sportsbook.
Particularly for March Madness, BetOnline stands out: They offer a wide range of prop bets and future bets for the NCAA Tournament and have created their niche with the prop-building feature, where bettors can find the most creative prop bets.
With quick customer service and deposit/withdrawal times, BetOnline is establishing itself as one of the go-to online sportsbooks in the USA.
4. MyBookie – Over 25 years of experience in online sportsbook
As one of the newcomers to the USA online sportsbook block, MyBookie has made a strong industry impression in a short period of time. Despite their relative youth, they have become a very popular destination for bettors.
Focusing mainly on the American sports market, they offer a wide range of bets and props and we expect that to continue with this year’s March Madness: MyBookie has beefed up their coverage of the event with on-site analysis and predictions to help you make the best picks.
While MyBookie features a number of payment options, they also include cryptocurrency, which opens them up to new customers. Their customer service is top-notch, with a quick response time, so this is a site you should definitely check out.
5. XBet – Clean and extremely easy website to navigate
For our money, XBet has the best welcome bonus offer in the industry: At sign-up, you can receive up to $3,125 in bonus funds. BetUS will match your first deposit by 125%, which counts as the highest around.
Bets-wise, XBet has a wide range of March Madness bets, including live betting, moneyline, and point spreads for each game and props. Compared to other online sportsbooks, XBet holds its own in this regard.
One thing that stands out for XBet is its impressive user interface, which is clean and crisp, with easy-to-spot navigation so you can easily find your way from bet to bet and around your account.
At XBet , you can bet on all major sports, including the NCAA Tournament, and most importantly, they support a number of different payment methods so you can feel confident playing. They are also known for plenty of promotions, so keep your eyes peeled.
Different Types of March Madness Bets – How to Bet on March Madness
One of the reasons the NCAA Tournament is so popular for bettors is the many ways to gamble on March Madness. When you find the bonus or promotion that’s right for you, make sure it’s at an online sportsbook that features many different wagers, so you have many possibilities.
Here, our team of experts will break down the different types of March Madness bets:
Moneyline Bets on March Madness
The easiest way to bet on March Madness is with a moneyline bet. It’s simple, just pick which team you think will win the game.
Each sportsbook will determine the odds for each game. Unlike point spread bets, which we’ll get to in a second, there are no points involved in moneyline bets. If the team you picked wins that NCAA Tournament game, then you’ll receive winnings based on the odds.
Keep in mind that odds change so the moneyline bet is based on the odds at the time you place the bet.
When looking at moneyline bets, make sure you know the difference between favorites and underdogs: Favorites will be indicated by a negative number (-150, for example) and underdogs will be indicated by a positive number (+150, for example).
Point Spread Bets on March Madness
The point spread bet is perhaps the most popular bet out there: It’s a single-game wager on a team to win or lose by a certain number of points.
Like moneyline bet odds, these point spreads will be determined by each online sportsbook and likely will vary, so make sure you find the best point spreads for your bet.
Point spread bets are most popular in football but they work the same in the NCAA Tournament: By taking the favorite (Duke -7.5, for example), you’re betting that Duke wins their game by more than 7.5 points. By taking an underdog (Villanova +5, for example), you’re betting that Villanova will win or lose by less than 5 points.
Generally speaking, the odds on point spread bets are -110, because the point spread equalizes the field quite a bit.
Totals Bets on March Madness
An interesting spin on March Madness betting is totals bets.
These bets are simple: Wager on a single game’s point total. Online sportsbooks will place over/under numbers for each game. Decide if you think that game’s final score–combined, between both teams–will go over or under the total.
The biggest difference in totals bets is that you’re not betting on a particular team to win. Also, many online sportsbooks include halftime totals, which is the same thing, except for the total points scored by both teams in either the first half or second half.
Halftime points totals can be a big boon for players who are in-tune with how certain teams play. And if you’re watching the first half of a game and see how the play is going, it might be the right bet to make for the second half.
Prop Bets on March Madness
How to gamble on March Madness in the most exciting way possible? Prop bets have become very popular over the years, mostly developing from the many bets available each Super Bowl Sunday. While there aren’t quite as many prop bets in March Madness, there are a lot of creative bets that you can place if you want to deviate from the normal bets offered.
For bettors who like to stay loyal to their bracket pools, this is the perfect betting complement. The majority of these bets revolve around certain statistics. It’s good to know exactly what types of bets are offered at USA online sportsbooks.
Live Betting on March Madness
With the rise in technology and many USA online sportsbooks embracing branded mobile applications and faster websites, a new, exciting form of March Madness has been gaining steam: Live betting.
Live betting is exactly how it sounds: You can bet on a March Madness game live, even after tip-off. Throughout the game, the odds change in real-time, which can provide bettors with an interesting advantage if they expect the outcome of the game to change.
For example, if a team struggles out of the gate, you should be able to find better odds if you think they’ll come back and win. Part of the beauty of the NCAA Tournament is that, with so many teams from different conferences playing, oftentimes the game is a bit of a crapshoot and it takes time for teams to adjust to the playing style of the other opponent.
While there are nuances with live betting, it’s certainly become more popular and figures to only increase as this year’s NCAA Tournament begins. Many believe it is the betting style of the future.
Parlay Bets on March Madness
Here’s where your March Madness bets get wild: With parlay bets.
Parlay bets are a group of at least two bets that are tied together to multiply odds and greatly increase the overall payout of bets. Winning parlay bets is also more difficult because bettors need to win every leg of the parlay bet for it to cash out. So, for example, if you have a six-team parlay and win five of those bets, you’re still out of luck: You need to win every one.
Parlay bets are the true home run swing of March Madness betting. With parlay bets, the odds are multiplied together to provide a massive payout, in the case of a winner. For example, if you bet a $100 three-team parlay of moneyline bets, (two favorites at -150 and one underdog at +200), then that $100 would result in a $733 win.
While parlay bets provide the best opportunity for players to win big, it’s best to get familiar with Mach Madness betting first, because a lot needs to go right–and a lot can go wrong–to end up ruining a player’s parlay!
Futures Bets on March Madness
By now, the futures market has been hot for quite some time. Futures bets are a bet on a team to win the NCAA National Championship. Oftentimes, online sportsbooks begin accepting bets far away, even months before the season starts.
The opening lines for these teams may provide an opportunity to get great value on a team you feel is flying under the radar. Keep in mind that the odds for these bets will adjust frequently–so it may suit bettors to look for buy-low opportunities which will cash out the most money in the future.
How to Bet on March Madness – Conclusion
This guide explained to you all steps to bet on the March Madness events. Finding the best March Madness betting site is really a matter of preference. With so many online sportsbooks available, you’ll need to ask yourself what you’re looking for. Is it the best bonus? If so, then BetUS is your option. The most prop bets? BetWhale has you covered there.
After reading our reviews and complete guide, you’ll be well-versed on what you need to make your choice. Overall we recommend BetWhale but it comes down to what you’re looking for, but each of our Top 10 online sportsbooks offers a unique betting experience on March Madness. Good luck!