A huge cheer just went through the MGM Grand.

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When Bill’s not in Vegas he’s
usually in Miami following the
Heat. Visit Heat or 3peat Central.

And with that Kansas win, Jeff Bravo let out a sigh of relief.

"They covered by eight," the Little Rock man said. "now it's all house money."

After what felt like a slow day, the Strip is booming again.

Maybe everyone just needed to recover from their Saturday night.

"Now," Bravo said, "its all good."

With Michigan failing to slay Duke, the Centrifuge Lounge next to the MGM Grand's sportsbook erupted in relief. The losers said nothing.

They simply sipped their cocktails and, in one case, crumpled up the ticket and through it to the floor.

Pete Herbst, a 24-year-old from Lake Mills, Wis., was one of the joyous ones. He'd just won his fourth straight bet, good for a cool $600.

"I've been going along up and down all weekend," Herbst said. "This last bet with Michigan was for only $105, but I'll take it any day."

Vegas is finally starting to slow down.

REGULAR SEASON

When Bill’s not in Vegas he’s
usually in Miami following the
Heat. Visit Heat or 3peat Central.

After a Saturday night that was the busiest of the weekend, folks are starting to head home. The procession of bleary-eyed couples in jeans and sporting travel bags heading out of town has replaced the glitzy stream of people dressed to the nines heading out on the town.

Even the sportsbook, the heart of the weekend's activities, seems slow by comparison to the past few days.

But business has already been good. One sportsbook director told me that profits were up about 3 percent before Sunday and some of Saturday's games were tallied.

"We've done really, really well," he said.

Still, there's a day left of games to be wagered on. And some folks are still clinging to one of Vegas' finest weeks, hell-bent on letting the good times keep going until Monday finally arrives.

On the one hand we have President Obama and his 15-1 record on Friday picks.

On the other we have Ben, a 34-year-old from LA who has yet to win a single sports bet.

"I hadn't watched a single half of college basketball yet this season," he said.

He was sitting at a poker table in the MGM, contemplating his losses — several hundred dollars.

Across the table, his buddy Adam was laughing. Adam lifted up a bulging black briefcase full of stats and info.

"I," Adam said triumphantly, "am doing very well."

The casinos seem as full as they've been all week, but the sheen of those first hours in Vegas have given way to some weariness and sleepless nighta.

There are more five-o-clock shadows and men futily rechecking their tickets.

What Vegas gives — hope and  hype — sometimes comes with a cost: cash and sleep.

It’s 2 a.m. and I’m at XS at Encore. Green strobe lights. The silver glint of steel ice buckets raised above dancing throngs, searching for whoever ordered it. Girls dancing on poles, rotating chandeliers, dance music. This is Vegas as night creeps up on the day.

As the afternoon games wind down toward paydays and heartache, things at the Hilton sportsbook are getting interesting.

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When Bill’s not in Vegas he’s
usually in Miami following the
Heat. Visit Heat or 3peat Central.

A gentleman in a blue Adidas cap dropped at least 10-straight F-bombs, flung some papers on the floor and slammed his fist violently on the desk at which he's apparently losing some serious money.

A group of Ohio State fans in from the Buckeye State for the weekend, guys you'll hear more about in Monday's story, start hooting and hollering. They love it.

"That guy," one of them tells me, "has been betting $500 per race. Not. Good."

Yep, as in dog and horse races, not basketball.

Maybe that's karma, March Madness style: If you gamble on the ponies and puppies while the rest of the country is fixated on the Big Dance, things can go wrong.

Around us, beers are being guzzled, men are screaming at the screens, and the Ohio guys are hooting and hollering.

"The best part about all of this," says Ron Paydo, a banker who's had a nice run of luck so far, "is hearing everyone cheering for all these different things. Over, unders, prop bets — it's awesome."

Fans in the Hilton sportsbook just went nuts on that shot by George Mason. And, at The Palms Casino Resort, a guy I had talked with this morning just won $500 on GM's win over Villanova. He took the Patriots and gave a point.

Pete Rose has been sighted. The sportsbooks are booming. The women are still in their going-out dresses, and the guys are sporting 5 o'clock shadows and wads of hundreds. And it's not even noon.

REGULAR SEASON

When Bill’s not in Vegas he’s
usually in Miami following the
Heat. Visit Heat or 3peat Central.

"This is great," said The Palms Casino Resort race and sportsbook director, Fred Crispi, as he eyed long lines at the window.

Yes, it is. Buds in hands, dollars flashing, guy after guy throwing money down.

Five-hundred on this game.

Four-hundred on that one.

Let me have a three-note on George Mason.

Two-hundred on Notre Dame.

The green keeps walking through the windows, and Vegas, as much as any other time a year, keeps feeling like Vegas.

It's Friday morning in Vegas for most of us and still Thursday night for everyone else, including the eight guys singing slurred Sinatra at a bar at the MGM Grand.

At the sportsbook, the line is again fierce with the games an hour away.