Before March Madness started, your bracket was pristine and your bets were looking good. But today, you are crying on your office table over wasted wagers—and you’re not alone.
The American Gaming Association estimates that around $9.2 billion worth of bets are expected to be made by the end of this year’s tournament, a $200 million increase from last year.
This includes all bets made through both Nevada sports books and your office pools, and illegal channels such as bookies and offshore sites.
Most of the bets, however will be made informally (read: in your office), AGA estimates, and only about $262 million wagers are expected to be made legally.
By the time we crown a champion on Monday, around 70 million brackets would have been completed, and that number is expected to eclipse the number of voters for any single candidate in this year’s elections, whether it’s Republican front-runner Donald Trump or Democratic favorite Hillary Clinton.
