How to Bet on the Superbowl

How to Bet on the Superbowl
by Predictem.com Staff

Football betting “looks” very confusing, but once somebody explains it to you or you view an example of how it works, you’ll catch on very quickly as it’s not as confusing as it first appears.

There are three main types of bets: sides, totals and moneylines. Let’s explain each one in full detail below along with an example spelled out for you.

Sides: This is a bet in which you select one team or the other to bet on vs. a point spread. Let’s use the 2009 Superbowl as an example:


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Pittsburgh and Arizona played in Superbowl XLIII. The odds at the sportsbook looked like this:

Arizona
Pittshbrugh -7

The Steelers were a seven point favorite. Any time there is a minus sign (-) after a team’s name, it means they’re the FAVORITE. The spread can be thought of in two different ways. The first way you could look at it is that Pittsburgh is starting the game down by 7 points. Another way you could look at it is that you have to deduct 7 points from the favorites final score and if they still have more than the other team they have “covered” the point spread. If they DON’T have more points than the other team (underdog), they lose against the spread.

Note: Many sportsbooks don’t list the underdog’s spread. It is ALWAYS just the opposit of what the favorite’s spread is. Example:

In the example above, the Arizona Cardinals were a 7 point underdog (+7). This means that you can either view them as UP 7 points before the game starts or that you ADD 7 points to the underdog’s final score and if they have more than the other team has, your underdog pick is a winner. In the example above, the final score of SB XLIII was Pittsburgh 27, Arizona 23. Pittsburgh bettors lost and Arizona backers won since Arizona got within the 7 points they were given for betting the underdog point spread. Before we move on to the next topic, we should note that IF this game would have ended something like 31-24, that would have meant the game landed right on the point spread number and your bet would be a “push” and your money would be refunded.

We’ve heard of some local bookies who count pushes as a loss. If you’re playing with a bookie that counts pushes as a loss, you need to dump them and either find a new local or get online and start playing. That is absolutely WRONG to charge a loss on a push !

Totals: The next type of bet you can make on the “big game” is a totals wager. This is very simple. On this bet, you’re wagering whether the total combined score by both teams will go OVER or UNDER the posted number. In the Pittsburgh/Arizona Super Bowl the over/under (total) was posted at 54. The final score was Steelers 27 and Cardinals 23. Adding those two scores together we come up with 50. Fifty puts us UNDER the number so all UNDER bettors would have cashed their betting tickets. Should the game have landed right on 54, it would have been a push and your wager would be refunded.

The Moneyline: This bet allows you to wager on a team WITH NO POINT SPREAD. You are basically paying extra money to bet on the favorite without having to deal with a spread OR you’re getting a higher potential payback by taking the underdog in what is called “straight up” (to win outright). As a rule of thumb, you should never bet on moneyline favorites as if you lose one often times you have to win 2 times just to make up for the loss. That style of betting will get you in a hole REAL QUICK!

Conversely, betting on underdog moneylines is a very astute wager. If you feel that “the dog” can potentially win the game outright, you can get paid nicely for correctly selecting that winner. Here’s an example of a moneyline bet:

Arizona +260
Pittsburgh -300

Underdog moneylines are based on what a $100 wager would profit for you and favorite moneylines show what you have to wager to win $100. If you risked $100 on Arizona and they would have won straight up, you’d have been paid out $260 PLUS your risked $100 for a total of $360. If you had bet on Pittsburgh, who did indeed win the game, you’d have risked $300 to profit $100, for a total payback of $400.

Ok, now that you know how to bet on the Superbowl, you will need to find a reputable place to place yoru wager. There are OODLES of sportsbooks online. How is one to know who the rock solid ones are vs. the ones that disappear in the middle of the night with your hard earned coin? That’s where we come in!

We’ve been in the industry since 2001 and are in-the-know of which online bookies are crappy and which are safe to deposit at. With that being said, let’s take a look at a few of the bigger, more established places where you can bet on football games:

Bovada Sportsbook – Not only can you bet on the SB here, you can play online poker and casino games as well. Bovada has a great success rate at processing credit cards for deposits too which makes depositing easy! Their current offer gives you a massive 100% bonus up to $100 in free cash!

Intertops – One of the oldest and most trusted sportsbooks on the internet. They have a huge menu of wagering options as well as one of the best loyalty rewards programs on the web!

5Dimes – This place may have the biggest selection of wagering options of anywhere online. Their a great book, but not very easy to deposit at as you will need to wire or person to person transfer them your money. On the bright side, NOBODY pays out faster then them as their courier payouts get to you within a few days. They have the largest assortment of Super Bowl props too.

Still have questions about betting on the Super Bowl? Feel free to drop us a line at: Predictem@Hotmail.com