If You Can Think It, You Can Bet It

The New England Patriots will meet the New York Giants on Sunday at the new Arizona University of Phoenix Stadium for Super Bowl XLII. As much as $10 billion are expected to be on the line with sports betting reaching its annual peak.

Ten billion dollars! The betting volume in Las Vegas, online, at street bookies and between office co-workers is expected to accumulate and be such that gamblers are actually advised to plan ahead of time, not only for buying drinks and nachos, but for placing bets at the online gambling websites, for access will be tight as we near kickoff.

Prop Bets
Ten billion dollars (there, we said it again) is a tremendous amount, unmatched in betting history. What do people bet on? The answer, it turns out, is not trivial. Not at all.

Sports betting goes beyond the basic win/lose or point margin. Prop bets is the name for wagers that allow gamblers to bet on other elements of the game, such as when will the first touchdown be scored, what team will be ahead at half-time, and even whether coach don Shula of the 1972 undefeated Miami Dolphins will congratulate Patriots coach Bill Belichick if the latter wins and ends the season 19-0.

Prop bets are exclusive to online gambling sites and are not offered by Las Vegas bookies. The law prohibits Vegas casinos from offering any bets on events that can be controlled.

Creative Betting
Bodog's sports book manager described the process behind the bets offered on their and their sports betting sites. Workers in the company, he said, brainstorm over the “water cooler.” The companies even encourage the workers with prizes for those who come up with the most creative and quirky bets.

That’s how we end up with such prop bets as the following:
Will Giants quarterback Eli Manning pass for more yards than his brother, Colts QB Peyton Manning did last year? Odds are 11 1/2 - 10 for Eli to pass for more than 247 yards.

Will Pats QB Tom Brady outperform the Pats QBs in previous Super Bowls XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX, all of whom are tom Brady himself? Odds vary with 6-to-5 compared to four years ago, and a minus-two touchdown passes start and 6-5 odds for the game six years ago.

Bets aside for a moment, it is sure to be an exciting game.