The Super Bowl is the end of the
line as far as betting football goes. You only have one game left to wager on
. . . but sportsbooks worldwide offer hundreds of different
bets that can be made for this one single game, essentially giving the
opportunity for every play to affect a wager of some sort.
This all came about years ago in
Las Vegas as books tried to spread the money
out. They didn’t just want one big decision for the day; they want 10,
15 or 20 big decisions. From a books’ point of view chances obviously are
better if there are 20 major decisions compared to one. Proposition bets
essentially smooth out the risk for the sportsbook.
Larry Gibbs, of LarryWins.com and GamblersWorld’s “House Handicapper”,
feels strongly about these types of bets, referring to them as “lottery
plays”.
“As a serious professional
handicapper it is my business to convince others to target wagers
astutely. As an honest human being, I am encouraging clients
to stay away or if they must, just stick their toes carefully in the proposition
waters.”
“Unlike the traditional vigorish
(commission) standard of 10 percent, the odds are stacked against you while the
bookmaker invents odds in their favor. Adding to this
disadvantage is their actuarial research indicating where the public is likely
to place their money. IE: it is likely that the true odds for
the Panther’s Stephen Davis to score the 1st touchdown is 10-1 or
more while the public is offered 5-1 or less. This “Lottery”
principle is in force daily through your state government, who pay extremely
unfair payouts based on true odds of winning.”
Still with all of this in mind, many
of these props are entertaining and can turn a boring fourth quarter or lopsided
game into something worth watching. Let’s take a look at some of the crazy props
offered for this year’s New England/Carolina matchup.
How about betting BEFORE the game!
That’s right, the outcome of the coin toss. Now you can bet on more than just
heads or tails. Olympic
Sports always offers hundreds of Super Bowl props of every type and variety.
In their WarmUp Props lineup is also a line on which team wins the toss, who
receives the opening kickoff and who will kickoff. You can get four plays in and
only twenty seconds of the game has gone by!
There are always different player
props, usually based on stars on both sides of the ball. It makes sense that there would
be wagering offered on Tom Brady, Jake Delhomme, Antowain Smith, Steven Davis
and a host of other ‘stars’. However, in poking around at
various OSGA Endorsed sportsbooks, I also found some ‘He Hate Me’ props.
And yes,
I love the fact that this guy’s name has followed him from the
single year of the XFL. But you have to wonder if there would there be just
plain Rod Smart props, if not for the moniker?? You can bet
Total net rushing
yards and Total Kickoff Return Yards from a player who had 20 carriers during
the regular season and finished 15th in the league in returns yards. But still,
you gotta love He Hate Me! I’ll take under 2.5 yards rushing for
-165.
This is also
the inaugural year for the pay-per-view halftime extravaganza known as “The Lingerie Bowl”, where
supermodels will play a football game dressed in lingerie. Ok, interesting
enough. But how much more interesting will it be if you can bet on which
supermodel will score the first touchdown or whether the jersey number of said
model will be even or odd?? I think I’ll take this one: Will any player
celebrate a TD by flashing the crowd?? Yes for +500! After all, it’s
pay-per-view and anything goes.
In addition to
just wagering on the game and wagering on the halftime activities, BetOnSports offers wagering on
the advertising that will run during the Super Bowl. Which Super Bowl marketer will have
the most popular ad according to USA Today ad meter? Pepsi is the favorite here
at -120.
Finally,
the crazy prop of the year goes to BetOnSports:
Prop
#3311
What will be
the color of sport drink poured on the winning coach?
Purple/Black
+300
Green/Blue
+150
Orange/Yellow
+175
Red/Pink
+150
Clear/Grey
+175
Note: if the winning color is not listed or not shown on TV all wagers
will be cancelled.
Enjoy the
game.
Jim
Quinn
Webmaster
OSGA