As Super Sunday approaches many people scurry to find a bookie or online sportsbook in which to place some bets on the game to spice up the action. In this article we’ll take a look at all the different wagering options you have in which to place bets and give you some pointers on making your superbowl betting experience one that will increase your chances of adding some money to your wallet!

The first and most common type of bet we’ll talk about is betting on the “side”. Side is just a fancy name for “team”. For the 2010 Superbowl we’ve got the New Orleans Saints playing the Indianapolis Colts. The current point spread for Superbowl XLIV (at time of print) is New Orleans +5.5 and Indianapolis -5.5. The best way to understand how a point spread works is simply by taking the final score of the game and adding 5.5 points if you bet on the Saints or subtracting 5.5 points from the Colts final score if you bet on Indy. Once you’ve done that, voila! You have a new final score for point spread purposes.

Point spreads often times confuse people so let’s take a look at an example of how to determine who wins the bet:

Let’s say you want to bet on Peyton Manning and the Colts. Your bookie offers you a point spread (aka: line or side) of Indianapolis -5.5. Let’s say the game plays out and the final score is Indianapolis 33, New Orleans 30.

From using the example above and if this were to happen, Indianapolis would be the Super Bowl winner. However, betting-wise, New Orleans would be the team to cover the spread. If you took the Colts you would subtract -5.5 points from their total score which would give them a point spread score of 27.5. New Orleans scored 30 so you would have lost your bet by 2.5 points.

Now let’s take a look at an example using a bet on the Saints. Let’s keep the same final score we used above, Indy 33/Saints 30. You would ADD 5.5 points to the Saints score. This would have given them 35.5. Indy has 33 so you would have covered the point spread by 2.5 points.

The next most popular wager you can place on the big game is a “totals” wager. This bet is very simple to explain. You simply bet on whether both teams combined will score over or under the bookie’s total posted number. Example: At time of print, the 2010 Superbowl total is set at 56.5. If you wanted to bet on the total, you would make your selection of whether both teams combined will score over or under 56.5 points.

If the game ended Colts 33/Saints 30, this would give you a total of 63 points. If you bet over 56.5 you’re a winner! If you bet under 56.5 you lost your bet.

The third most popular type of bet is a prop bet. These are considered to be “fun bets” like “who will score first” and “will the coin toss be heads or tails”. As you can imagine, there are TONS of different things you can bet on. Some online sportsbooks offer HUNDREDS of proposition wagers. We’ve got some great articles written on the best Super Bowl props on the web which can be found in the center section of our home page.

The last type of bet we’re going to talk about before we end this novle is a moneyline bet. Moneyline is a fancy word for “pick the winner” or “pick the loser”. Since NFL teams are often times not equal, this is a bet based on odds, not a point spread. At current time of print the Saints moneyline is listed at +175 while the Colts are listed as -210. If a team’s moneyline has a + in front of the number, that tells you how much you stand to profit per $100 you risk. (You get your $100 back on top of this number).

If a team’s moneyline has a – sign in front of it, that tells you that’s how much you have to bet in order to profit $100. (you get your risked amount back too if you win). In the case of the 2010 Super Bowl, if you were to bet $100 on the Saints to win straight up, you would win $175 and get your $100 staked amount back as well for a total payout of $275. If you were to bet on the Colts moneyline, you’d be risking $210 to profit $100. (You would get your 210 back plus $100 win.)

There you have it! If you have any further questions feel free to drop us a line at predictem@hotmail.com!

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Good luck with your Super Bowl betting!