Realize that hot teams are overbet and cold teams are underbet. Betting the teams that won their conference tournament in impressive fashion to get off to a fast start in the NCAA tournament has historically been a good way to see your bankroll dwindle. You’re not the only one who saw those clubs look great all weekend. The “one month a season” bettors saw it too. Not only are these teams likely to be overbet, they’re likely to be pleased as punch to have won their tournament. Conversely, solid teams who played poorly last weekend may prepare as though they have something more to prove at the exact same time that bettors look to beat them.

Coaching matters. Leadership matters in any organization, and rarely does a team make the Final Four with a coach that wouldn’t be in almost any analysts’ Top 20 of hoops mentors. We’ve got strong opinions, both positive and negative, as to the relative quality of many coaches in the NCAA tourney and it will be reflected in our handicapping.

Pick up on actual conference strength ASAP. The Big East is clearly the best conference, with great teams and great depth. The Big Ten is probably next. ACC and Big 12 are seen as being not what they’ve been in the past. The Pac Ten is seen as being weak. Opinions vary wildly on the mid-major conferences. But no matter your opinion, you can use the early results of certain conferences as a handicapping factor in later games. If a particular conference performs poorly during the daytime Thursday, that information may prove valuable on Thursday night and Friday, as the conference’s representatives didn’t play as tough a schedule as originally appeared. While the same is true for a conference that overachieves, the negative usage of this factor has more value, as an overrated big conference may have several teams in the tourney while the perception of an underrated conference leads to fewer bids for those leagues.

Don’t bet the future book. Now that the field is set, the future book is a lousy proposition. Invariably, betting the money line and letting it ride gets you a better return on almost any “lose and you go home” proposition. Importantly, it also gives you better flexibility so you don’t have to hedge out at poor odds to guarantee profits. This is the case almost every time. Future books are enormous profit centers for the sports books. Ignore them, go with the money line, and let it ride.

Don’t forget about “March Mildness”: The differing emotional stats of various NIT teams allow for some outstanding opportunities. There are teams so crushed to miss the big dance they have almost no chance to win. The trick is to work hard to read everything possible about these games, look through the “coachspeak”, and put yourself in the shoes of the participants. A developing young team that never really had a shot at the NCAA’s can be a great bet against an experienced major conference team jilted by the selection committee whose emotional mindset is in question. We’ll have extensive NIT coverage as well as NCAA selections on our free hotline at 1-770-618-8700, a 24-hour voice mail broadcast. We’ll also be emailing information on the NCAA and NIT to those on our S&G News distribution list. Opt in at www.consumerbet.com/signup.html for this valuable free information.

Profit in your office. If you run your office pool place this note on the brackets. “Thanks to last year’s winner (insert name here) for his generous gratuity in recognition of all the hard work we put into this pool, which returns 100% of all entry fees as prize money”. Only a cad of a winner wouldn’t slip you a couple hundred if that notice makes the rounds. It may also guilt last year’s winner into actually giving you the gratuity the stiffed you on last year.

Bet Smart. If you are not a $500 per game bettor, do not bet $500 per game just because this is the NCAA tournament. If you have a visceral physical reaction as you sweat out a $50 bet, why are you betting at all? I don’t play poker, therefore I don’t sit with the pros in the Bellagio poker room when I’m in Vegas. If you’ve got a little fun money that you won’t miss, by all means take your shot, but too many people overextend come Super Bowl and NCAA tourney time. Don’t be an idiot.

Take Advantage of Sports Book Bonuses to Put Yourself Ahead. If someone’s going to hand you a few bucks, why not take it. For some information on sports book bonuses check out the article entitled “Bonus Time: All You Need to Know About Signup Incentives at Offshore Sports Books” which can be read at http://www.consumerbet.com/articles/a5.html.

Want More? We’ll be sending out some special email-only reports to those signed up to receive our free informative Sports & Gaming News content via email. You can do so by visiting http://www.consumerbet.com/email.html. Remember we value your privacy and don’t sell or rent your email address, we’ll just use it to send you our Sports & Gaming News updates, so hit that link right now and register to get this valuable information for free. Call 770-649-1078 to get on board for our March Madness late phone service package. Remember to call our free hotline at 770-618-8700, a free 24-hour service with analysis and selections every game day. Thanks for reading. Good luck, be careful, and enjoy the madness.