Which is all to say that Calcuttas are not generally happening at the local bar or among office workers. And one year the game was robbed-crooks snatched $600,000 in cash-but the organizer, a well-connected gambler, put the word out and the money was returned. According to gamblers who attended, the pot regularly hit $1 million. There is no rake or vigorish, but some Calcuttas take a percentage off the top and donate it to charity.Ī legendary golf Calcutta took place for years, between the early 2000s and 2018, at a golf course on Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. All the money raised during the auction goes to the pot and winners of each stage of the tournament receive a certain percentage of the pot that is predetermined. The rules are simple enough: teams are auctioned off to individuals or groups, and the highest bidder “owns” that team for the duration of the tournament. The practice is said to have started in Kolkata, India in the late 1800s, when British colonists used the format to bet on cricket and other sports that feature single-elimination tournaments. Neal doesn’t technically own any team, of course, but the amateur sports gambler “bought” these college basketball squads for the duration of the tournament during a type of sports wagering called a Calcutta auction.Ĭalcutta pools have been around for more than a century. “We’re still in the red on paper, but I hope that will change quickly with a few wins.” “Right now, we’re on a heater,” he says of the March Madness run his teams are on. His wife doesn’t know about his ownership stakes, but hopefully by the end of the NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament his $19,000 investment will turn into $50,000. Neal, a 36-year-old insurance broker who lives in Ohio with his wife and two children, is the proud owner of the University of Texas, University of Connecticut, Tennessee, Creighton and Florida Atlantic men’s basketball teams.
Money Ball: A Calcutta auction is one of the most popular-and lucrative-ways to bet on March Madness. With brackets busted, it still pays to play the game within the game.
Professional gamblers wager millions on the NCAA Tournament using an auction-style format that brings out casual hoop dreamers and sophisticated quants.
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