Stadium seating, massages, and pop-up beer booths: Why Caesars Palace in Las Vegas is the best place to watch March Madness
- Las Vegas has many sports books, where locals and visitors can watch and bet on March Madness.
- Insider visited a few of the bigger-name establishments, and even a rundown one.
LAS VEGAS — Of all the major sportsbooks in and around the Strip, there's one that seems to stand out more than others as March Madness consumes Sin City.
If you like the sound of hot pizza being hand-delivered to you in early bird seating, stadium-style bleachers purposely built to accommodate thousands of visitors, and random cheers from bettors enjoying the action before they'd even had their lunch, then Caesars Palace is the place to be.
As a Brit, I didn't know exactly what I was looking at.
I knew about the NBA, about jump shots and buzzer-beaters, but names like Baylor, the Wildcats, and Marquette Golden Eagles seemed like a world away from the Lakers or the Knicks.
But even I knew the sports book was where locals and tourists alike flocked to place bets on the ongoing NCAA men's and women's basketball tournaments, with many looking to successfully back the next great Cinderella story.
This is what the Caesars Palace sports book normally looks like:
There was minimal time to wait to get served at the bar in the days prior to March Madness.
But, days later, when the NCAA tournament was in full swing, everything had changed and it was bedlam in the best possible sense.
There was an energy and atmosphere here, helped no doubt by pop-up beer booths, that ensured Caesars Palace was hitting its stride as a go-to sportsbook for people hoping to strike it lucky when coming to town.
It was difficult to even get into the lounge area of the sports book, where seating is reserved, let alone place a bet. But that was part of the charm. It felt like it was all happening right here.
I'd been to Circa's iconic balcony Downtown, Wynn's luxurious surroundings mid-Strip, and even, for the sake of balance, the bookies at what looked like cheap, run-down properties.
And, while all of those had their own unique advantages, nothing could replicate what Caesars Palace had going for it.
See a panoramic of the bleachers, and the long bar, before you could even muscle your way into the sportsbook, right here:
This was a place that felt like you were actually at a live game, without being at a live game, while being able to bet on multiple live games at once — and it was awesome.
If the thought of all that stresses you out too much, you could always get a rub down from one of the roaming masseuses offering back massages to anyone looking to de-stress, or even spend any of their easy-earned winnings.
It's a knockout experience
Caesars Palace isn't exactly a hidden secret just for locals.
It's UFC boss Dana White's favorite resort; it's been the site for some of Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson's most famous boxing nights; and Adele has a residency at the Colosseum.
It's got history, too, with a statue of former heavyweight boxing king Joe Louis to the side of the temporary bleachers for March Madness.
And even, surely, he'd agree that a day at Caesars Palace's sportsbook for March Madness is nothing short of a knockout.
