Betting on propositions–or prop betting–has long been a staple of wagering on the Big Game That Concludes The NFL Season. Here’s a quick KLAS recap:
This year, Nevada bookmakers are hoping for a record $100 million handle on the biggest sports betting event of the year, and have set up hundreds of similar side bets which are expected to account for 10 to 30 percent of the total amount wagered.
“I’ll bet the coin toss,” said Cleveland resident Pete Giantoni, who walked through the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino with a Patriots cap on. “It’s a 10-second bet and you know if you win or not. You don’t even have to watch the whole game.”
As Super Bowl bettors trickled into Las Vegas on Thursday ahead of the big weekend, oddsmakers refined their most outlandish lines.
Station Casinos was taking bets on who would perform better: Giants quarterback Eli Manning this year, or his older brother Peyton in last year’s Super Bowl. Peyton was favored by 15 passing yards and four receptions. But the early money was on Eli.
The Las Vegas Hilton was taking bets on the jersey number of the first player to score: over or under 43.5.
And on which will be greater: Amani Toomer’s receiving yards, or Tiger Woods’ fourth-round golf score in the Dubai Desert Classic. Woods is a 15.5 point favorite.
Caesars Palace would pay out to the people who could pick the winner of both the Super Bowl and the Daytona 500 two weeks later. The Patriots and Jimmie Johnson were the favorites at odds of 7-2 against.
The vast array of options guaranteed that even if a play ends in a red flag, a yellow flag or a time-out, someone, somewhere had action on it.
“Almost every play means something to the betting public,” said Chuck Esposito, the assistant vice president of race and sports book operations at Caesars Palace. “That’s how big this game has become.”
Super Bowl Betting Frenzy in Vegas
But is there betting on the commercials? That seems to be the aspect of the Big Game that most non-football people fixate on.
My prediction for Sunday: a lot of people will watch the game, some people will bet on it. Some of them will lose money, others will win. Yes, that sounds incredibly obvious, but have you heard the sorts of things passing for “analysis” in the past two weeks? Stuff like, “Well, the Giants defense has to keep Tom Brady from throwing the ball effectively.” Ya think?
On a related not, one of few bad things about being in South Jersey two weeks ago was seeing all of the fair-weather Eagles fans pulling their Giants blue out of their closets. I don’t have a problem with people who legitimately follow the Giants, or the Devils, or other North Jersey teams. It’s just the folks who say they “bleed green” when the Eagles winning, then suddenly become Giants fans when the chips are down.
On the list of global injustices, this is a pretty small one, but it’s annoying nonetheless.