The Super Bowl is the biggest sports betting day of the year. Here is a helpful guide for how to get into the wagering bonanza for Super Bowl LIII.
For those living under a rock, the Super Bowl is the National Football League’s championship game. This year’s edition should be a historic game, at least in terms of the sports betting surrounding it.
The legalized sports betting in 8 states should yield record numbers of wagers. Below are the basics for the game.
Super Bowl 53 Game Details
Date
February 3, 2019
Location
Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia
Kickoff Time
6:30 p.m. EST
How to Watch & Listen
Watch the live broadcast on CBS or the live stream on CBS All Access and listen on the radio at Westwood One.
Types of wagers on Super Bowl LIII
Regardless of where one chooses to wager, there will likely be the same types of bets available at every sportsbook. Knowledge of these types of wagers is essential for finding success during the Big Game.
Point Spreads
Point spreads are both the most common type of sports bet. The spread, which is sometimes called “the line,” is the sportsbook’s best estimate for the margin of victory of an upcoming contest.
The spread appears on betting displays as either a positive or negative number. Both teams will have the same spread digit next to their names.
However, the team with the negative number is the favorite, and the positive number the underdog. The bet, then, is whether the favorite will exceed the spread in its victory or the underdog will lose by less than the given margin.
In the latter case, the underdog is said to have “covered” the spread if the bet succeeds. An underdog covers if it wins the game outright, also.
Moneylines
The moneyline is both simpler and more complicated than point spreads. At its most basic, moneyline bets are purely wagers on the eventual winner of a given contest.
The complicated part, and the part that involves the three-digit number listed on the betting board at the sportsbook, involves the payouts for the bets. As with point spreads, the negative number goes with the favorite, and the positive with the underdog.
Basically, the number listed for the favorite is the amount a bettor must pay to receive a $100 payout. Conversely, the underdog’s number is the payout a bettor will receive for a $100 bet.
There will certainly be a moneyline for Super Bowl LIII. These bets can be good wagers for sentimental favorites.
Totals
Totals bets are commonly known as the “over/under.” These bets refer to the combined point totals that both teams manage to accrue.
A sportsbook will designate an amount of points as its totals line. Bettors will then wager if they believe the two teams will combine for more or less points than the established amount.
These wagers are heavily dependent on the teams involved. A bettor might take the “over” if the game features two prolific offenses. On the other hand, he or she might bet the “under” if both teams have vaunted defensive units.
Futures
Futures bets are long-term bets that tend to be placed at the beginning of a season. They usually pertain to eventual outcomes of team or individual seasons.
A typical futures bet will be given in terms of straight odds. A winning futures bet will be paid according to its prescribed multiplier.
So, there will not be any new futures bets made before or during the Super Bowl. However, there will certainly be a chunk of bettors cashing in their tickets when their preseason selection wins the Big Game.
Propositions
Proposition bets, or “prop bets,” are wagers on events that typically are indirectly related to the sporting event at hand. Rather than any sort of wager about the outcome of the game, they focus on granular events that are rather insignificant in their effect on the game itself.
Typical prop bets for the Super Bowl might be wagers about the outcome of the coin toss, or perhaps the halftime performance’s length. They tend to place a lower premium on the bettor’s knowledge, and are, instead, more of a pure gamble.
However, they can be a way to inject more fun into the proceedings. If a gambler tells a story about a wager, the subject will almost certainly be a prop bet.
Parlays
Finally, parlays are a common bet you might see in a sportsbook. However, parlay is just a fancy term for a wager that combines multiple events.
Each event that the player bets upon is called a “leg” of the parlay. Since predicting multiple events is more difficult than predicting just one, the payouts on parlays are much higher than the other bet types.
However, they are also riskier. Even one incorrectly wagered leg causes the entire ticket to lose, so parlays are very much an all-or-nothing proposition.
Professional sports bettors would never touch parlay wagers because of their risk. On the other hand, a parlay with entertainment money can be a fun way to take a chance at a large payday.
Conclusion
The Super Bowl has become almost a national holiday in the US. Certainly, with sports betting spreading throughout the land, this year’s game will take on an extra level of importance for many.
Hopefully, this guide will help you to bet more wisely on this year’s clash. Good luck, and remember that above all else, it’s supposed to be fun.