BILLINGS — In the first four days of the NCAA tournament last week, Montana Sports Bet reported that 37,231 bets were placed around the state.
Montana Sports Bet is operated by the Montana Lottery. Coordinator Brady Shulz said the boost from March Madness rivals the Super Bowl.
"The total bets placed during those first four days is what we sometimes see during full weeks," Shulz said. "The popularity is huge."
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Shulz said that bettors fared pretty well, with Montana Sports Bet paying out $992,851 to winners from Thursday to Sunday.
"Our payout on March Madness was about 91 percent," Shulz said. "So, players didn't completely beat the book but they did pretty decent, I'd say."
It's a boost also welcomed at casinos and sports bars around the state with a Montana Sports Bet machine on the premises. While the businesses don't receive much of the bet, many enjoy the extra crowd.
"The first day of full games, it was just busy," said Rhett Hightower, a partner at The Winner's Circle, a bar on Grand Avenue. "It was an extremely boosted amount of people in here than normal."
Hightower added that their bar was so busy that they needed an extra supply run to get them through the weekend.
"We actually kind of ran out of food towards the end, and had to run out at the end of the day," Hightower said.
While the kitchen at The Winner's Circle being back open for the first time in more than a decade is a hit, Hightower said the sports betting influx hit them too.
"For the tournament, we saw about a 15 percent increase just in the tickets being run," Hightower said. "It's as close to Vegas sports book gambling as you can get here in Montana. Between that and the food being open again, it helped a lot."
And with the Sweet 16 tipping off Thursday evening, Shulz said it will likely be another great week for Montana Sports Bet.
"The meaning of the games and the popularity of the teams that are still in it is escalated even more," Shulz said. "There might be less teams, but you might see even bigger bets."
Additional crowd that Hightower welcomes — knowing what it can do for the other parts of their business.
"That just kind of translates to people hopefully hanging out for awhile and watching some of the game," Hightower said with a smile. "Maybe placing different bets for halftime."
