When a bad beat makes for a good time

What had been a wildly entertaining ride to the Final Four left us with two of the most antiseptic Blue Blood pairings in recent memory. And after Coach K’s magical last dance came to an end Saturday night, the casual fan was left to decide whether to root for Kansas to cut down the nets for a fourth time or North Carolina for a seventh.

Thank goodness for legalized, convenient online sports betting.

Mattress Mack finally had his moment last night, clearing more than $11M when the Jayhawks came from behind to win the national title.

He wasn't the only one who cashed big. We found some of the best from a wild title game 💰https://t.co/63mAq829OU

— Dimers.com (@DimersCom) April 5, 2022

Not only would a bet spice up my otherwise negligible interest in the outcome of Monday night’s National Championship game, it might also provide the opportunity to end a dreadful March Madness of wagering. I’m not overstating when I say that I lost 80% of my bets on tournament games; and I’m not talking about ambitious parlays either, I’m talking about drawing the loser on 4 out of every 5 even-money bets. I even lost $50 on double-digit favorite Iowa in the opening round — on the moneyline. It's the last time I'll be fading DimersBOT, that's for sure. In my defence, though, I've only recently become acquainted with that little gambling god.

Maybe it’s not such a good idea to bet on something that calls itself ‘Madness,’ I thought to myself, but in the final game some sense of order is bound to be restored. I figured I’d bet with the crowd, which certainly had a better record than I this season. Two hours ahead of tip-off, Caesars Sportbook was showing that two-thirds of the money coming in on the spread was on Kansas to cover the 4 points. ESPN called the over 150 total points a virtual lock, so I split my last college basketball bet of the season between the two and all of a sudden was invested and excited to see this one play out.

I bellied up to the bar a sports fan of many competing interests. When Kansas went up by seven early I was excited, and even when North Carolina went on an 18-3 run to close the half and take a 40-25 lead, I was optimistic that even if my spread bet was a goner, the scoring in a blowout was bound to pick up and I could at least break even on the over.

Check out some of the big winners from Monday night's National Championship game

Little did I know Kansas would all but erase the deficit before the first TV time out of the second half, and by now I was feeling I could win both bets, even into the closing seconds when Kansas, leading 72-69 with 4.6 seconds left needed only to inbound the ball and hit a pair of free-throws to win by 5, cover the spread and allow me to at least break even with my over bet still falling six points shy.

Even when Kansas guard Dajuan Harris inexplicably stepped out of bounds — twice — giving the ball back to North Carolina with 4.3 seconds left, my hopes were renewed by the new prospect.

I just needed North Carolina to hit a three and send it to overtime, guaranteeing the over pays off and leaving the door open for the Jayhawks to still win by 4 in the extra session. Surely I was due a stroke of luck.

After two hours of rooting relentlessly for Kansas, I was now awash in Carolina Blue.

Let’s go Tar Heels!

Alas, Caleb Love’s 25-footer only grazed the front of the rim, time expired, Jayhawk fans were ecstatic, and I again lost a pair of even money bets. I was now even poorer in my Caesars app, but richer for this more immersive experience that only sports wagering can provide.

ICYMI | The Kansas Jayhawks are your 2022 National Champions 🏆

Who cashed a futures ticket last night? ✅ pic.twitter.com/s26jU6uvKd

— Dimers.com (@DimersCom) April 5, 2022

Thank goodness for legalized, convenient online sports betting.