SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — March Madness is one of the most significant sporting events of the year. And that translates to one of the busiest times for sports betting. Deadwood offers sports betting, and so do several tribal casinos. The Grand Falls Casino in northwest Iowa also offers legal betting on the NCAA Tournament and expects close to a million dollars in bets over the next four days.

A 20-minute drive from Sioux Falls, just across the border, Grand Falls is preparing for a crowd of basketball fans. Hundreds of square feet of Tv monitors line the Betfred Sports betting center.
Sportsbook Supervisor Ryan Kulbel says all these seats and tables are already reserved.

“This will be our busiest time of the year probably, Thursday, Friday all the tickets sold out probably in three days, Saturday, Sunday will be busy as well, so between the 4 days definitely our busiest time of the year,” said Kulbel.    

Cordell Deboer stopped by with his friends to place a few bets.

“It’s a tournament where the Cinderella teams win a lot, there’s a lot of upsets a lot of buzzer beaters it makes it very exciting. And everybody fills out a bracket, so you know I don’t think too many people get much work done on Thursday and Friday, said DeBoer.

For the Super Bowl, there were a lot of prop bets, like the coin toss.

But for the NCAA tournament, there are fewer options.

“For basketball, it’s just going to money lines, totals, spreads, and team totals will be the main bets that we are offering, unfortunately, we can’t offer props for college basketball games, said Kulbel.

According to The American Gaming Association, 17% of U-S adults will make some sort of bet on the NCAA tournament. But for most watching the games and rooting for their favorite team or filling out a bracket is enough. No matter which category you fall into, you can bet millions will be tuned in to the games on TV. There is a reason they call it March Madness.