Bonding and bracket win are sure things in Vegas

Nothing says father-daughter like sitting together for four days beginning Thursday in the Mandalay Bay Sports & Race Book wagering on the first 48 games of the NCAA basketball tournament.

It’s gut-wrenching and heartbreaking, and that’s just waiting for someone to come along and pick up the daughter.

Sure, UCLA is playing this weekend in Anaheim and the Page 2 job probably calls for a visit to the Honda Center, but how often does a father get to spend quality gambling and drinking time with his own daughter?

OK, so we do it every year, but then that makes it a tradition like Christmas, and while the wife said coloring eggs on the Saturday night before Easter is also a tradition, anyone will tell you that’s not true if you have Elton John tickets.

IT’S ALSO become a regular routine on the opening weekend of March Madness for Robert Walker, the big cheese at the MGM Mirage who sets the point spread on all the basketball games, to write out a check to Mattel Children’s Hospital at UCLA.

The kids really love Uncle Robert, and his checkbook.

Each year we match brackets, the loser in the first 48 games donating $500 to the kids on the cancer ward, and for some reason every year it’s Uncle Robert who pays up.

Uncle Robert might try to tell you he’s had a better record than Page 2 at times, or even every year, but I only believe what I read in the newspaper.

And every year, the way I read it after writing it, he loses.

I ALSO have one other decisive edge on Uncle Robert -- he has a heart.

And he bets with it.

He grew up in the state of Washington, so any team anywhere close to the edge of nowhere gets his support, which is good news once again for the kids in the hospital.

A few years ago, for example, he had Gonzaga and Adam Morrison beating UCLA, and up by nine and knowing how good Gonzaga was from the free-throw line, he thought it was game over.

It’s so nice, of course, to see a bookmaker get punched in the gut like everyone else, Gonzaga never making it to the free-throw line, UCLA winning and Uncle Robert signing his name to a piece of paper, which was then sent to Mattel.

“I still think I won,” he said, and let’s see him collect at his own windows. “At the end of that game Morrison was laying on the floor and wailing, and so was I.”

Walker, who just loves the teams from the Pac-10 in this tournament because that includes Washington State, has UCLA winning it all this year -- after playing Stanford in the Final Four.

“I see no glaring holes in UCLA and everyone else has one,” he says, and did I mention, kids, that Uncle Robert had the Patriots beating the Giants, 55-17, in the Super Bowl?

BEFORE WE compared brackets, I asked if he might help folks still filling out their sheets. What I really wanted to know was where is the smart money going, so you can see I was in no hurry to look at his bracket.

“The NCAA committee is certainly on top of it,” he said. “Only three of the first 32 games have a higher-seeded team favored.

“Kent State is seeded No. 9, but favored by a couple over UNLV, and the pros who bet these games for living, are also on Kent State.

“Texas A&M; is seeded No. 9 and favored over No. 8 BYU, but there’s not much action there, while Davidson, seeded No. 10, is favored over No. 7 Gonzaga.”

And the pros are going with Davidson.

Another close game pits Indiana against Arkansas, and although Indiana has had the coaching change, one of Arkansas’ players is questionable because of an injury, the betting line now moving in the Hoosiers’ favor.

Drake has been a popular choice of TV analysts, but Uncle Robert said the pros seem to be going with Western Kentucky. They also like Siena and Winthrop, but that’s with the points, which means those teams don’t necessarily have to win to make the big gamblers happy.

The pros are also all over St. Joseph’s matched against Oklahoma, and Cal State Fullerton because Wisconsin doesn’t figure to score enough to cover the point spread.

“No way I would take Fullerton to win outright,” Uncle Robert said, because it’s not in Washington.

AS FOR the annual wager with Uncle Robert, we differed on 10 of the 48 games to be played through Sunday. The man with a heart took Gonzaga, Oregon, Arizona, UNLV and Washington State to win in the second round over Notre Dame.

For some reason, though, he shied away from Portland State, which is a 22 1/2 -point underdog to Kansas. Obviously, he does have his cold-hearted moments.

He took Texas A&M;, while Page 2 went with BYU. He also likes Oklahoma over St. Joseph’s, Drake to beat Connecticut in the second round and St. Mary’s over Miami because St. Mary’s is up there on the map like Washington.

As you can see, this betting business in Las Vegas is very complicated.

As for the final disagreement, Page 2 takes Wisconsin to beat USC in the second round because I have a heart too, trying to save the Trojans from making a trip to Detroit.

“I’ve got UCLA winning it all, and Stanford, Tennessee and Georgetown in the Final Four,” Uncle Robert said, and kids don’t worry, he’s never won a pool with any bracket he’s ever filled out.

TODAY’S LAST word comes from Mark Kovinsky: “A year ago I had a theory that Page 2 was no smarter than a 5-year-old. My son Jake picked three of the four Final Four, posted a 48-14 record and ranked 58th in a pool of 652 lawyers. We also raised close to $2,000 for Mattel’s because of his efforts. Win or lose, we will donate $250 to Mattel’s and another $250 to Colfax Elementary School in Valley Village. If Page 2 doesn’t beat Jake, he must lead the Pledge of Allegiance with Jake at Colfax during a Monday morning assembly.”

Bring it on, kid. And if Page 2 wins, you must pledge to come with me and get Jeff Kent to smile.

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T.J. Simers can be reached at t.j.simers@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Simers, go to latimes.com/simers.