By the end of the 2023 NCAA tournament, an estimated one in four Americans will have wagered $15.5 billion in bets on the various games, according to the American Gaming Association. Last year, Matt Cappelen — a 34-year-old firefighter from Elk Grove Village, Illinois — would have been in the middle of the action. For this year’s dance, though, he’ll be sitting on the sidelines of the betting game.
“I’ve always been a die-hard sports fan,” Cappelen said. “Pretty much anything that involves a winner and a loser, I loved.”
