Sunday’s Super Bowl will surely be the biggest game played on the field this season, but there remain many more important games to play off the field. As the Super Bowl has evolved into the current spectacle that we know and love, the gambling world has kept pace. Traditionally, betting on the Super Bowl was limited to your dad’s office pool, but lately that has not been able to satiate the needs of the football junkies who can now manage their fantasy teams and wager on the big game via the information superhighway. In recent years, as everything else has become interactive, so too has gambling; enter proposition bets.
For those who need constant action (and you very well may if your team is not playing), proposition bets allow every aspect of the game to be bet upon. Want to start with the coin toss? At straight odds, it will cost you $100 to win $100, but what’s better than spending all of next week’s Wisey’s fund before kickoff?
So, you’re down $100 because Donovan McNabb called heads instead of tails, but don’t fret, that means Tom Brady has the ball and you can eagerly await the fate of your next bet. Deciding not to hang too much money out to dry before the first play might be a good idea. You might want to consider leaving the door open for a bet on whether Brady’s first pass will be complete or incomplete. When Corey Dillon gets that first touch, you’ll be able to rest easy for another 35 seconds. At 2.5-to-1, which means a $100 wager will win $250, count on the Eagles’ blitzing defense to induce a Brady incompletion. Just like that, you’re $150 in the black with 59 minutes left to play.
After a three-and-out the Patriots are forced to punt. You passed up the first-punt bet so you could lay some dough at 19-to-1 that a field goal would hit the upright or crossbar in an unsuccessful attempt. Sure, it’s a ridiculous bet, but at 19-to-1, how can you go wrong?
As the Eagles storm down the field, you begin praying that somehow, some way, McNabb will find construction-worker-turned-tight-end Jeff Thomason for the game’s first score. At 29-to-1, this bet actually makes sense when you consider the Eagles’ propensity for throwing to the tight end in the red zone. At 12-to-1, RB Dorsey Levens may also be a sound investment.
If this is too much excitement for you, a bet that covers the entire game may be more your speed. Want to keep track of how many times first downs are measured? Sit tight as you wait for the chains to trot on the field for the second and last time at a cool 4.25-to-1. If you are not a sports fan, then sit tight. After the Eagles score first, you’ll have to wait for Jamie Foxx to win Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards on the 22nd for your 11-to-1 long shot to definitively mark the end of your Super Bowl Sunday.
