The Super Bowl is the most-watched sporting event in the United States and the biggest betting spectacle. ESPN states that $23.1 billion was gambled on the game for last year's Super Bowl LIIX.
The Super Bowl will be held in the Big Easy, New Orleans, and this Super Bowl LIX betting guide will guide you through everything you desire to understand about gambling on the Super Bowl. You will learn about the bets, betting online on the Super Bowl, how to find promotions and bonuses, and best sites for Super Bowl betting.
Super Bowl Betting Options Explained
With all of these bets on the board, it's advantageous to know your options before betting. Whether you're looking at old-fashioned bets like the spread and money line or more complex bets like parlays and in-play betting, having a sense of how each functions will make you a smarter bettor.
Here, we break down the most popular Super Bowl bets.
The Bets
For the Super Bowl, there are a lot of gamming options. If you want to know how to wager on the Super Bowl, you will have to know all those options. We will explain the types of wagers there are: the spread, money line, total, parlay, proposition bets, live betting, and futures. There are some extra wager options, such as teasers and pleasers, but in this instance, we will discuss the more popular wagers.
For the examples, we will refer back to Super Bowl LIIX between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers, where the Chiefs prevailed 25-22 overtime. The 49ers were favored by 1.5 points to win with a total of 46.5.
The Spread
Bookmakers make the spread in trying to get even a money wager on the game so they will earn a profit. In a spread bet, the favorite is indicated by the – with the number preceding it and the underdog by the + with preceding. Thus, in the last Super Bowl, the 49ers were -1.5 favorites while the Chiefs were +1.5 underdogs. If you bet on the 49ers to cover the spread, they need to win at least two more points; if you bet on the Chiefs, they need to win or lose by less than two points.
For last season's Super Bowl the 49ers lost to the Chiefs 25-22, so KC covered the spread and San Francisco did not.
Totals
The combined bet also known as the Over/Under bet, since you are betting whether or not the total points attained by both teams will be higher or lower than the combined. The total in last year's Super Bowl was 46.5 and the score was 25-22, therefore 47 points were obtained. Therefore, the over would be the successful bet while the under would be the losing bet in this scenario.
Moneyline
The moneyline is simply wagering on a team to win straight-up with no spread and the odds are a reflection of the favorite and underdog. Therefore, the moneyline in the KC-San Fran game would have been:
- 49ers -130
- Chiefs +110
Just like the spread bet, the – prior to the number is the favorite, and the + is the underdog. Placing a $100 bet to use as an example, you are betting $130 to win $100 on the 49ers and $100 to win $110 on the Chiefs.
Because you are just picking a winner without a handicap, you're betting more to win less on the 49ers and less to win more on the Chiefs.
Parlays
A parlay is multiple bets, known as legs, in one bet, and you need to win all of the bets for the parlay to be a winner. You are able to build parlays from two or more picks and the more legs on the parlay the bigger the payment, but the lower the odds the bet has to succeed. The legs could be spreads, totals, moneylines and proposition bets all in a single bet. You are able to build the same sports parlays, cross sports parlays and same-game game parlays.
An example of a three-leg same-game parlay from last Super Bowl would be:
- Wager the Chiefs +1.5
- Wager the Over on the game
- Wager if Patrick Mahomes throws for over/under 265.5 yards
Live Betting
Live betting is where the bets are made as the game is being played. It is fast and dynamic, and the odds will change according to action taken in the game. Suppose the Chiefs were the 1.5-point underdog for last year's game, and if they had begun well, scoring more points than the 49ers in the first quarter, the live bet odds would be reversed such that they would have been the favorite.