Guide to Superbowl Betting

This year's Superbowl XLII (42) kicks off February 3, 2008 at the University of Phoenix's state of the art, 73,000 seat facility. A lot of people will be betting they can pick the winner. In 2006, 94 million dollars was wagered on the Superbowl in Las Vegas alone according to the Washington Post. www.washingtonpost.com, and that 94 million from Nevada was just 1% of the total amount bet on the game according to statistics kept by Bettors World, an online betting service at www.bettorsworld.com/super-bowl

The majority of that money will be bet on the most common Superbowl bet, the straight bet which is also called the side bet. For this you have to understand what is called the point spread. The point spread is created by paid experts who mostly work in Las Vegas. A point spread is the predicted scoring difference between a game's two opponents. If you bet $50 on the team that's favored by 7 points, they have to win by more than 7 points in order for you to win $100. If you bet your $50 on the team that's getting 7 points, your betting the underdog. If they lose by less than 7 points you've won $100. If you bet the favorite you can lose your money even if they actually win the game. If you bet the underdog you can win money even if they actually lose the game. Through Superbowl XXXVIII (38), the favorite won and covered the point spread 19 times so it's not as easy as it looks. The number of points a team gets or gives varies by day and by who is creating the point spread. Here's a tip from Sports Insights, www.sportsinsights.com/Sports-Betting-Tips.aspx , another online betting site. Bet the favorite early, bet the underdog late. Shopping around for the best point spread is a really smart thing to do. If your going to be in Las Vegas this applies even more. Here's another tip if you will be in Vegas for the game. The off-strip casinos almost always offer better point spreads than the strip hotel sports books. The off-strip sports books have to offer better point spreads to compete with the sports books on the strip where most of the tourists stay.

If you don't want to bet the point spread, you can bet the odds line. All you have to do is pick the winner of the game. There is no point spread. The difference between a point spread straight bet and an odds line bet is in the profits you get if you win. The more favored a team is the less money you will make, and the more a team is an underdog, the more money you will make. With an odds line bet if you bet $50 on the favorite and they win you may only get back $75, sometimes even less if they were heavily favored. If you bet $50 on the underdog, you will get back $100 and more because they were not expected to win.
Through Superbowl XLII (41), the favorite has won the game 29 times so it's easier to win than a straight bet.

Some of the other bets you can consider are, totals, parlays, and props.

When you bet on the total, you make a bet on the total number of points scored in the game. Oddsmakers will predict that total. You can bet there will be less points than they predict or more points than they predict. If you bet $50 and win, you get back $100.

To win a parlay you have to correctly predict two things abouts the superbowl, for instance, you might bet that the favorite will cover the point spread and that the total score of the game will be less than the oddsmakers have predicted. The benefit is that parlays pay a lot more if you win. The disadvantage is that winning is harder to do. There are hundreds of combinations of parlays out there to bet on. With many you have to predict more than two things right.

And If you really want to stay with the action on every play of the game you can find an almost unlimited variety of prop bets like most interceptions, most rushing yards, who will score first, most sacks, most passing yards, or even match up two players against each other. The best way to make money on Superbowl betting props is to find a few that you really like and then do the research. If you don't have a lot of research going for you then stay with the straight bet or an odds line bet.

Good luck. Take a look at the many options you have for Superbowl betting, don't bet more than you can afford to lose, and enjoys the game and the commercials.

SOURCES
Neal Tucker, All Bets Are On, Feb. 3, 2007 www.washingtonpost.com
www.bettorsworld.com/super-bowl
www.sportsinsights.com