So the past 3-4 years we've been going to Umami Burger in SLS to watch the games. It hadn't been too bad until last year when they tried to charge us a minimum, and they're food selection had decreased. Undoubtedly from the SLS not doing well, but whatever. It has been nice since there is a sports book right in the restaurant, but with the apps being popular now I don't see that as a plus. Also, this will be my first March Madness going on opening weekend. We have usually have done the sweet sixteen weekend.

So my questions:

1. What apps do you think are the best and easiest to use for sports betting?

2. What places do you think are the best to watch the games? With or without a food and drink minimum.

3. I think I know the answer to this, but maybe you can clarify. Do any of the major sports books take reservations for non-high rollers?

Personally I would prefer to be in a place that also has a poker room. That way I can play some cards if I want and not have to travel away from my friends. With that said, the only places I can think of are Aria, my normal room, Bellagio, and Wynn, but I'm not sure we have a chance of reserving seats in any of those places. The Venetian is not an option as I hate that place.

Thanks for your input.

1. caesars/mgm/wynn/westgate/southpoint apps would give you good coverage for line shopping.

2. Sportsbooks will be insane, try sportsbars, offstrip especially.

3. Most sportsbook seats will be reserved/or need to camp out from 4am. Caesars will let you buy/reserve seats in advance - but will be pricey for march madness.

Most casinos will have "viewing parties" that get you in a special area with free booze and food and betting windows. These run $100-$300.

Check out the MMILV (March Madness in Las Vegas) Facebook page, ask an admin to be admitted. Lots of great info, centered around college basketball and the Vegas experience, especially opening weekend.

My recs based on what you said so far for you to evaluate:
How many in your group?
How important is it for the group to watch all the games...or would people want to stick & move and float around different places?
Read 2018 reviews on the MMILV page of all the different casinos and watch parties, see the pros & cons. Note: not all parties are the same year to year. Some are being announced now, with all likely by the week after Super Bowl.

The parties can be pricey and depending on what you guys/gals are looking for might not be worthwhile.

Low/normal rollers will have 0.000% chance of landing reserved seats in a book for a group. Maybe -0.000%.

If you go the paid party/reserved seat route, just do that for Thur &/or Friday. Those are the busy days, Saturday and especially Sunday really slow down (and you may have a shot in the books actually).

Slight recommendation to maybe try a couple different spots over the weekend to get a feel for what you & crew like. If you do the paid parties, pick one close to a casino with a poker room (ie, Cosmo party right next to Aria).

Downtown also has a couple lower cost setups (again, see MMILV reviews from 2018 for the details).

Oh, get an app - William Hill has a couple spots throughout Vegas (so not tied to just one casino) where you can create an account and load up and empty it out. Any app will work in Nevada state lines. Not worth funding 2 or more apps IMO for a typical low/normal roller, not worth the headache. You have to fill out some paperwork and wait for approval to download the app and depending on your arrival time, good luck doing this Thursday morning before the first game. Get this done Wednesday.

Also having the app will give you that freedom to audible and change sites as the group wishes, maybe find a sports bar/restaurant out of casino that will allow you more options.

But be sure to be around a book/viewing party at least for parts of Thur or Friday, energy is pretty cool.

@droopy. Thanks for the info on the Facebook page. Will check it out for sure.

Our group is really small this year. Only 3-4 of us. Damn guys being married with young kids is killing what this trip was in the past.

My main concern is having a seat for the day, and then hopefully being close to a poker room in case I want to step out for a while. As far as parties, we don’t need anything over the top. Just the basics of tv’s, food, drinks, and a seat. We have one guy who is a low roller, but I’m willing to pay for his access if it means he joins us.

Thanks again for the input.

Westgate is where we watch - you can reserve a seat in their theater for $35/day. Pretty simple access to beverages, TV setup in the theater is very good (giant screens) food is OK-ish at best and they do have a low limit poker room (1-2 or 1-3NL mostly, not sure how busy it during MM - I'm a poker player but get that fix on Wednesday before friends arrive and the beverages start flowing). Brad Owen & Andrew Neeme hosted a Meetup game at Westgate on Wednesday night last year.

Again, read the reviews but that might not a be bad option as the cost to have a reserved seat isn't much and wouldn't be worst thing if you bailed or only did the one day. It's obviously off strip but is a quick cab or Uber and if you pay to reserve the seats don't need to worry about lining up by 6AM.

If you are used to books like cosmo or bellagio or aria, westgate will slightly disappoint. We went once on our last trip and I'm glad to have seen it but I won't be back. Just a bit too dirty for me


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Thanks for that input. We might check it out one day, but not sure.

Sadly my two buddies are not interested in doing a party where we pay $200 min for food and drinks. They are ok standing and watching, and I’m all about comfort. Oh well, I guess I will sit in a comfy poker chair at Aria and watch the games.

This, every possible question is asked, usually multiple times. I am not much of a sports better but the apps are the way to go from the conversations there, the lines are very long all the time.

I’m liking the FB page so far. Any idea how many people are 2+2 posters? I will definitely be going with the apps. The lines can be bad enough on the sweet sixteen weeekends. Can’t imagine how bad they will be opening weekend. As of now, planning to do William Hill and Caesar’s.

No idea on how many are 2+2.. i have followed the group for a few years and they poat all the viewing parties and the little places, and there is a meet up the night before on wed night downtown. They charge lime $20 for that but u get some drinks and probably hotdogs. They have a lot of door prizes, things like passes to viewing parties signed balls and stuff. Very good site, like here there are some dudes who are the warloards. Read through over a beer and you will get good info. There are people who post odds each week.

Hate watching the Big Dance in a sportsbook. Even if you can manage to get a good view of the games you want to watch, they can only put the sound on for one game at a time and the odds are against you being the one you want to watch.

I feel the same. I’m worried this could be a train wreck considering how packed it will be, but we will see. There is now the possibility of more people coming. I’m not holding my breath due to past experience, but I will hope for the best.

Yeah, also heading out for MM for a bachelor party. Decided on the sweet sixteen since we figured opening weekend would be a total dumpster fire. Have a call in to Lagasee's Stadium for a quote on one of their semi private rooms. There will be 10-12 of us so I'm thinking if we can get in for less than $200/person, that's probably what we'll do.

Appreciate the heads up from the thread about the William Hill app, seems like a total no brainer.

Haven’t used the apps in the past, but definitely will this year. William Hill will be my main one.

I’ve wanted to try Lagasse’s, but sadly the reviews on the food haven’t been great. If you do it right up a report for us.