March Madness

It's that time of year again. The teams are seeded, the brackets are published, and the country's attention turns to one of the most popular American sports tournaments. While I'm pretty ambivalent about basketball in general (and NBA basketball in particular - I much prefer college), I do get pumped for March Madness. And it was always a big deal when I was trading.

I'm wondering if the tournament is still as popular with today's banker/trader. We used to run a full-blown Calcutta, with a fully-catered auction and all-day party (booze, strippers, the whole nine yards) before the start of the tournament. I remember one of the surest bets was buying the #12 seeds, because they have a ridiculous historical win percentage in the first round.

I like Kansas to win the whole thing this year, but that's not based on anything. They're just my favorite college hoops team from way back. I happened to be in New Orleans for the Finals when they were in it a few years ago. Good times.

So who does everyone like and why? Might be time to make a little dough betting on hoops. Also, what kind of money goes into the office pools these days?

16 Comments
 

There's a story that a couple of years ago an associate was the bookie, and he set up inconsistent odds on the final four bets... so basically one analyst figured out that it was a dutch book and he put in like 10 grand in bets in such a way that he would always win. Word got out after the betting finished and that associate eventually left.

Wall Street leaders now understand that they made a mistake, one born of their innocent and trusting nature. They trusted ordinary Americans to behave more responsibly than they themselves ever would, and these ordinary Americans betrayed their trust.
 
Virginia Tech 4everFor the third year in a row, Virgina Tech was on the bubble and got shut out by the NCAA selection committee. I don't give a damn about the tourney now. Utah Fing State? I can't wait for football season.

Wow, f*ck my life.

Array
 

Futures March Madness at CBOE is getting ridiculous. Someone today was 20 bid on 1000 lot for Kansas/Ohio St stupid (and got filled).

(aka buy a 1000 for 20, spend 20k saying one of those 2 wins it all. If one of them do win, you collect 64k)

 

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Array

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