T1B

i personally think it's one of the dumbest, most media driven things ever to try and pick the whole tournament before it starts. it's just stupid....from any rational standpoint.

However, ESPN has a bracket contest with over 3 million entries and there are exactly 4 people who picked the final four as it is. that's a mere 1:750,000 ratio.

That's some pussy odds..

Sin,

If money wasn't involved, not nearly as many people would participate in these bracket pools. Especially in those office pools when casual or non-fan by some freak chance enter and somehow pick all four Final 4 teams and win the pool against a bunch of others who have been following the sport all year. It's a game of chance. There's a total of 63 games (64 if you count the play-in) that you're selecting from and I highly doubt anyone is going to get them all right. I do enjoy the process before the first game and predicting how things will turn out and fill out ONE bracket to refer back to throughout the tournament but I don't live and die with my picks like others might. If I'm dead wrong on everything I pick but the tournament has been enjoyable to watch, I can live with it. I can enjoy the tournament just the same if there wasn't a way for me to win money from it.

That's mostly why I don't see the attraction in sports gambling. You bet hard earned money on something you have absolutely no control over and you put yourself through emotional hell in hopes that you somehow are correct and your 'investment' isn't a total waste. Gambling is just a dangerous hobby to get involved in because you're putting your own money on a hunch. That's all a bet is. You think you know how a game will turn out based on knowledge and information you may have but you don't have any influence on the matter so you're throwing your money out there in hopes that you're right. I like doing these free contests online and participating in the pools we have on this board because there isn't any risk at stake. Just take a bunch of guesses and maybe you win and maybe you don't. It won't cost your kids' college fund or your retirement fund or the mortgage on your house.

Shoalzie wrote:you have absolutely no control over

...or do you?

~mysterious silence~

The potential problems of gambling are pretty clear. Thing is though, for every addict that ends up "losing his mortgage" due to gambling, there are thousands of others who aren't even betting more than $20 a game (people like me). Just like everything else, sensationalists want you to believe that if you place one bet, it's inevitable you'll lose your job, your family and you'll probably even kill yourself. These are the same people that drill into your head that if your kid is playing out the yard for one second unattended, he/she WILL get molested. Gambling is just like anything else in that you utilize self control. If you really develop the urge to sell your wife's wedding ring or you're dipping into your kids' college fund to finance your bets, then yeah, you probably should just stay away completely.

Shoalzie wrote: That's mostly why I don't see the attraction in sports gambling. You bet hard earned money on something you have absolutely no control over and you put yourself through emotional hell in hopes that you somehow are correct and your 'investment' isn't a total waste.

If you gamble enough you've seen everything and that keeps you from going through any emotional hells!

MgoBlue-LightSpecial wrote:

Shoalzie wrote:you have absolutely no control over

...or do you?

~mysterious silence~

Sincerely,
Steve Bartman
Jeffrey Mayer

:wink: