WTVM Legal Break – March Madness

Injury & Accident Attorney Serving Nearby Areas of Columbus & Fort Benning, Georgia and Phenix City, Alabama

Are you betting on a bracket this March Madness? Gary talks about the legality of joining a pool and what to look out for in some cases.

Transcript:

Maureen: Hello there and welcome to Legal Break. I’m Maureen Akres, and with me today our guest as always, Gary Bruce- the Law Offices of Gary Bruce, right here in Columbus. Thank you for joining us.

Gary: Good to be here, thank you.

Maureen: Yes, every Wednesday we enjoy it. Now we have a question, a special question for you, the NCAA basketball tournament is upon us. And we understand you got a very special, favorite team. Tell us a little bit about that and why.

Gary: Well I grew up in Kentucky, I went to the University of Kentucky. So, that’s a big part of basketball. Yeah, Basketball is all a part of being from Kentucky, so we’re kind of excited. We’ve got a good seed. We’ll see what we can do, hopefully they can overcome North Carolina and UCLA and go for the big win.

Maureen: And all the others. So, quite a few- 64- a bracket of 64 teams playing in, right?

Gary: Well, there’s more than that. But this is the big week, you know. This is the one when even the casual fan can have fun. You know, because it’s just one game after another, they’re exciting. Buzzer beaters, the underdog, Cinderella stories, the whole pitch, so this is kind of fun.

Maureen: We all remember the Gonzaga of years ago. So, it’s fun there are brackets out there. Now, have you filled out the real time bracket that WTVM has?

Gary: Well I guess I’m going to. I’ve been kind of reluctant to fill out brackets because I usually vote with my heart instead of my head. So, I don’t do very well, you know. So anyway, I probably will though, it’ll be kind of nice.

Maureen: It’s real easy to get to. It’s right there on our homepage, there’s a logo and everything, you can fill it out. Just a lot of fun, what’s really cool about this one Gary, and you might like this, is that you can actually change your pick up until like four minutes left in the game. So, you’ve chosen team A and they’re not doing so well, you can actually switch your pick. But only up until four minutes left in the game, then you can’t switch anymore. It’s easy to find on WTVM’s website. So tell us if some people wager money this time of year on these brackets and such as that. Is that legal? Can they do that?

Gary: They say billions are spent or wagered. But here’s the deal: is it legal? No, probably not. It’s not in Georgia or Alabama, it’s not legal. It’s legal in Vegas, you know. But so what do you do? But are you going to be prosecuted, I hate to speak for our local law enforcement, but I don’t think so. You know, as long as it’s not some big game, it’s a few dollars. What I’ve read and what I think is important, if you own a business, don’t sponsor it, but don’t worry about it. Enjoy it, have fun, it’s casual. You know, the only crime that I see is when someone who doesn’t watch basketball wins it all. That’s the part I don’t like.

Maureen: And so we’re shooting for Kentucky, right?

Gary: I am, I don’t know about you.

Maureen: Very good, thanks so much for joining us today, Gary. We look forward to seeing you on the very next Legal Break.