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Where to Celebrate Duke's Big NCAA Basketball Victory

In case you missed it last night—we watched despite our bracket being busted in the first round—Duke ended the hopes and dreams of Butler in the Men’s NCAA Basketball Championship. We kind of thought the Blue Devils would steamroll the Bulldogs without a problem, but it was a very exciting game. Even more exciting than the game are the celebrations planned for this afternoon, so if you want to celebrate with your Dukies here’s where to do it.

It’s a little too late to party it up with the students, as Duke University slammed the gates shut on many entrances last night before the game even began. After the final buzzer sounded, students—probably fueled by several adult beverages—hit campus to light bonfires supplemented with several of the school’s benches. Nothing says celebration like burning down your school.

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How To / March Madness / → All Tags

Get Tickets to Next Year's Final Four Now

Crushed by your team's performance in the Big Dance this year? Show your conviction that they'll be next year's Cinderella story by entering in the ticket lottery for next year's games. For lower rounds, check out the list of host cities (make sure to scroll down to "2010: Future Sites") and hit "Click for Ticket Info" to fill out a free request for tickets on Ticketmaster; the presale starts in May.

The 2010 Final Four ticket lottery for next year's finals, held in Indianapolis, is a bit more complicated because you have to back up your words with cash: Head over to this site and be prepared to keep clicking and clicking to put down your $160-$180/person payment.

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Where To Watch The Final Four Fury In The Motor City

We’ve told you time and time again that our bracket is too jacked up to win us cash and prizes. We have UConn and UNC in the championship game, so at least we can still hope for that. Once again we learned the hard way that an office pool is not an effective economic stimulus—at least Tax Day is only a few weeks away—let's hope for a refund.

We’ll be watching this weekend’s games at home, but if you’re lucky enough to head to Detroit, here are a few spots that might be worth your time. Detroit gets a bad rap, but times are tough in Motown. So if you’re heading up that way, spend big, sleep a little, and tell everyone what a great place it is—that’s just the Jaunted way of helping out.

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Four More Places Left To Take In March Madness

Please don’t judge us, but we had Duke in the Final Four. Even when we played with the scenario generator thing, we don’t know if we can even pull off second place. Maybe we can just write-off our gambling loss during the next tax season—probably not. Well, there’s always next year, but at least there’s still plenty of games to watch.

Only those on the west coast will have to sneak out a little early to check out the games today, but we say leave work and see the games in person. All those papers that you pushed around yesterday afternoon before you left will still be there on Monday. There’s four cities left where the Sweet 16 teams will battle it out for the last four spots, so here’s some suggestions if you’re in a few of them.

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March Madness Gets Underway And We Already Lost

If you’re like us your bracket is already a train wreck. Did you really think that Virginia Commonwealth could beat UCLA in the first round? We did and they were so close except for that last second air ball. We’ll just have to hope that the second half of the first round goes a little better today. At least all our Final Four teams are still in it—an improvement from a couple years ago—woops!

With a cool boss you’re likely taking in some of the afternoon games right in the office break room, with an exceptional boss you’re watching the games in person while the TPS reports collect dust back in the cubicle. There’s eight cities getting in on the first and second round action, so here’s some suggestions if you’re in a few of them.

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HotelChatter / March Madness / → All Tags

Hotels Heart March Madness

"It's the most wonderful time of the year..." for college basketball fans. The NCAA College Basketball Tournament has officially started today and no one loves March Madness more than hotels, especially those in Las Vegas. Our sis HotelChatter has the latest scoop on what's going on where:

· The Sahara: The Sahara's NASCAR Cafe is selling Brew Towers which hold 15 beers and Shot Trees which hold five to 10 of your favorite shots.

· Encore Las Vegas: The new resort from Steve Wynn is offering $199 rooms and tickets to former Indiana coach Bobby Knight's "Survive and Advance" show tapings.

· NOLA Marriott: Rooms here are an unbelievably low $69 now through April 13th and while the deal is set up to draw you to the New Orleans Hornets games, Bourbon Street is just a few steps away in case you need to celebrate your school's win.

· Final Four Hotels: Should you want to head to Detroit for the championship game on April 4th, HotelChatter recommends the city's new MGM Casino Hotel.

March Madness / Sportsbooks / Betting / Vegas Travel / Gambling / → All Tags

The M's Sportsbook Will Take Your Mobile March Madness Bets

While it might be hard to justify staying away from the action of the Strip in Las Vegas, the just-opened M Resort (about 15 minutes from the Strip) boasts a mobile gaming network.

This means that you can play games like slots, blackjack, roulette, baccarat and poker on mobile hand-held devices throughout the resort. Also now that March Madness is here, you can watch your bracket picks win or lose in the hotel's sportsbook all the while gambling to (hopefully) raise more funds for those sports bets.

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Travel News Briefs / iPhone / St. Patrick's Day / March Madness / FareChase / → All Tags

Rapping Flight Attendants Won't Be Caught on Video by iPhone 3.0

With so much travel news raining down on us, we don't always have time to give every story its own forecast. Here's more of the day's news, in brief.

· iPhone 3.0 Software is Announced: There doesn't seem to be that much new here on this revolutionary gadget except the ability to copy and paste (thank you lord!) and possibly a way to send photos and audio files via text messaging (MMS.) We're still kind of in shock that the iPhone doesn't have video capabilities. Think how cool it would be to videotape your flight attendant rapping and send it to the masses via inflight WiFi? [NY Times]

· White House Goes Green: President Obama and his wife Michelle okayed dying the White House fountains green. Now, if only they could okay the fountains spitting out money, then the recession would be over! [Us Weekly]

· The Sahara Las Vegas Has Gone Mad: March Madness mad that is for the upcoming NCAA basketball tournament. The hotel's NASCAR Cafe is now offering three-foot-tall Brew Towers which can hold 15 beers and Shot Trees which can be filled with five or 10 of your fave shots. Yes, bring your friends.

· Natasha Richardson in Tragic Ski Accident: Unbelievably sad news about actress Natasha Richardson. She suffered a serious head injury while skiing at Montreal's Mont Tremblant resort. Reports say she is brain dead. Ski helmets may look uncool kids, but they are necessary. [NY Post]

· It's the End of the (Fare)Chase: Yahoo! is shutting down it's travel-metasearch engine, FareChase, on March 25. [Travel Weekly]

· Oh, and Happy St. Patrick's Day!