NFL: 2011-12: Super Bowl Prop Betting
Lenny Del Genio
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We’re still more than a week away from Super
Bowl 46, but there’s already excitement in sports betting
circles as the Propositional Wagers, often referred to as Prop
Bets, have been released for the big game.
For those sports bettors who may be unfamiliar with prop betting
on the Super Bowl, or in general, allow me to clarify. Prop bets
allow you to wager on outcomes and situations beyond just the
typical pointspread and how many total points will be scored.
Some of the most popular prop bets involve which player will win
the MVP award (Tom Brady is the favorite at 13/10 odds), what
the highest scoring quarter will be (2nd quarter is +170), how
many total touchdowns will be scored in the game (current odds
at 6.5) and how many passing yards Eli Manning will have
(currently 315.5).
Of course, Super Bowl prop bets can also range from the comical
to the absurd. For instance, you can wager on whether or not the
opening coin toss will come up heads or tails. How about whether
or not Kelly Clarkson will omit a word from the National Anthem
(Yes is +250)? Do you like watching the halftime show? If so,
you can bet on what color Madonna’s hair will be at the start of
her performance. Any color besides blonde will return you +250
odds. Even after the game is over, you can still win money by
betting on what color the Gatorade will be that’s dumped on the
winning coach!
If you are interested in any of those props in the above
paragraph, you can check them out for yourself at
BOVADA, where
they are currently offering a
Free $100 bet for the Supper Bowl.
My work is done in that department as you are on your own.
There’s no pertinent information I can offer to help you
handicap the theatre of the absurd.
However, for now, I want to look at the “more serious” prop
wagers. The popularity of Super Bowl prop betting dates back 25
years to Super Bowl XX when the Bears met the Patriots. At the
time, William "Refrigerator" Perry was all the rage and there
was a lot of talk on whether or not the Bears big man would
score a TD in the game. During the course of the regular season,
the Monsters of the Midway had given the ball to 'the Fridge' in
several short yardage, goal line situations with success.
Capitalizing on this phenomenon, many Vegas sportsbooks put a
wager up on the board (at 40/1 odds) that allowed the public to
wager on whether or not the Fridge would cross the goal line in
Super Bowl XX. By kickoff, the odds had incredibly dropped to
2/1 odds as the public decided 'what the hell' and got down on
Perry. Of course, as we all know now, Perry did score and the
books got busted big. As an aside, I thought it was a shameless
decision by HC Ditka to hand the ball to Perry rather than Hall
of Fame RB Walter Payton, who played his entire career in
Chicago and was making his only Super Bowl appearance. Sounds to
me like old "Iron Mike" may have gotten down at 40:1 odds! It
should be noted that Ditka has since apologized many times for
not giving Payton the ball.
By the way, that game was probably the perfect time to introduce
prop bets. At the time, it was the most lopsided Super Bowl in
history with the Bears crushing the Pats 46-10 for the
franchise's only Super Bowl win.
When I wrote this article last season, I gave away two free prop
bets. Both cashed. I will be personally wagering on both again
this year. One of them will be included with my 25* Playoff
Total of the Year (which will be available at
Guaranteed Picks Page this weekend). Here is the other.
Will there be a special teams or defensive touchdown scored in
the game? Yes +145 | No -175
The key to prop betting, as far as I’m concerned, is to find
value or ‘plus money.’ This is great value at +145 odds for
there to be a non-offensive touchdown scored in Super Bowl 46.
Last year saw Nick Collins return a Ben Roethlisberger
interception 37 yards for a touchdown. Four of the last five
Super Bowls have now seen a non-offensive TD scored. The
Patriots led the AFC in takeaways at 34 while the Giants weren’t
far behind with 31, which were tied for fourth in the NFC. Bet
Yes +145
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