It is the biggest sports betting day in the United States and one of the most-watched and wagered events worldwide. And with the continued growth of American football in Ghana, and a number of Ghanian American football players to root for, more and more sports betting services are offering Super Bowl bets.
But some people who are familiar with the game may not be familiar with betting on it since it happens only once a year. And suppose you only came to follow American football because of fandom for defensive ends Ziggy Ansah or Ebenezer Ekuban. In that case, both born in Accra, betting on the sport might be a little intimidating.
It shouldn’t be.
Betting On American Football
While you might take some time to fully understand the NFL, betting on the NFL is quite easy. There are two basic ways to place football bets – the point spread bet, which means one team must win by a certain amount. Otherwise, the bet loses, and the moneyline bet, which is a win/loss bet on the game, with different odds for each of the two teams.
An example of a point spread bet is the Cowboys being favored over the Giants by 7.5 points. If you bet on the Cowboys, and they win by eight or more points, you win your bet. But if the Giants keep the score to within a touchdown, or win themselves, a bet on New York is the winner.
For a moneyline bet, you are only betting on the winner of the game, and since there is no point spread to designate the favorite in the game and the underdog, each side pays different odds.
For this hypothetical Cowboys-Giants game, a winning bet on the Cowboys pays -275, while a bet on the Giants pays +240. That means if you bet $100 on the Giants, you will win $240. If you want to win $100 for betting in the Cowboys, you need to bet $275.
Betting On the Super Bowl
The game structure and basic betting for the Super Bowl are no different from the other games played throughout the season. Other than these being the two best teams in the NFL, point spreads and moneylines work exactly the same way.
The only difference in betting on the Super Bowl is how you choose to evaluate the teams. There is no true home-field advantage like there is in the regular season, so that’s less of a consideration. And you’ve just seen how each team plays against the best teams in their conference, so you have a little better data to go on when making your pick.
There are also two weeks of programming specifically about that single game, and every one of the people on television will give you their own advice. You just have to choose which to listen to, if any at all.
Fun Super Bowl Betting
One thing the Super Bowl is most known for, at least in betting circles, are the dozens and dozens of unique bets that you don’t usually get to play for most other American football games.
There are, of course, the regular proposition bets that you can play, like the total number of yards each quarterback will throw for, as well as most other statistics that are kept during a football game – rushing yards, sacks, time of possession, etc. But the real reason you want to place proposition bets during Super Bowl Sunday is for the insane bets.
The very first bet of the game is the length of the National Anthem. Some singers like to draw out their moment in the sun, others rush through the song, and there is money for you to make by betting on it.
You can then bet on the coin flip. It’s a 50/50 proposition, making it the ultimate game of chance.
If there is a dignitary in attendance, you can wager on how many times the television camera shows them. You can bet on the color of the Gatorade dumped on the winning coach. You can even bet on if the MVP says he’s going to Disneyworld or Disneyland and who that person will be.