Legal sports betting in Massachusetts joins March Madness dance
PLAINVILLE - Under the glow of TVs lit up with college hoops, customers studied tournament matchups Thursday, for the first time in Massachusetts casinos. "There's 10 TVs here, I've only got one in my house," said Corey Parker, a customer at Plainridge Park Casino.
"This is an extra layer of excitement," said the casino's sportsbook manager Ryan Blake. For an industry still reeling from the effects of the pandemic, legal sports betting meeting March Madness, is right on the money.
"It's different than when you're at home," said Blake. "This type of thing is very big for all of our servers, the rest of the slot department, anyone that works in the casino is seeing an uptick right now because of sports betting."
Experts say the odds for betting on single games at casinos are better than winning on an entire bracket.
University of Colorado Boulder statistician Mark Ablowitz explains the chances of getting perfect picks. "Even brackets of 32 teams would be nearly impossible, essentially impossible," he said. "When you go down to a bracket of the Sweet 16, however, then it's more reasonable. Then the odds are 32000 to 1."
