Casinos

Thursday

Ben Domenech

Don’t let gambling scaremongers ruin your March Madness bracket

Editor’s note: The views stated in this article are the author’s opinion and arguably contentious. Derek Webb, a California resident mentioned in this piece, offers his alternative view here. Today tens of millions of Americans will happily place a billion bets they know they will lose. The tradition of March Madness office pools, one of the healthiest forms of camaraderie-based parlay gambling, will take place all across America, with people who have never seen a single game played by any college basketball team this season picking UC San Diego over Michigan, because they know a guy who knows ball and he has a feeling. Or, even more popular, the all-mascot bracket, which will struggle with this year’s Houston-SIU game – because they’re both the Cougars. Best to flip a coin?

college basketball gambling march madness

Monday

Neal Pollack

My World Series of Poker debut

I played in the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas this summer for the first time. The most common question I got on social media and in person, from dozens of people who’ve never suffered through a poker tournament before, was: “How do you qualify for this?” The answer is: you show up, pay your money, and then you’re in. Anyone could do the World Series of Poker tomorrow. I don’t recommend the WSOP as an activity if you’ve never played poker before, but as a human with a bank account or some other sort of cash reserve, you’re technically eligible. The other question, once I started posting my results, was: “Are you still in the tournament, or are you eliminated?” Don’t be a dope.

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