There are a lot of reasons to love the Super Bowl, but one of my favorites is undoubtedly the prop bets.
To put it simply: You can bet on anything during the Super Bowl.
You can actually go online right now and find someone who will give you money if you can guess what color the winning team’s Gatorade will be when they dump it on their coach. That’s the Super Bowl, everyone!
Plus, even if you’re not the “gambling type,” the prop bets are still fun to follow; you can download a prop-bet sheet off the Internet and start your own party game, for money or for bragging rights.
It can be a little overwhelming, though. There are literally hundreds of potential wagers, and many have a multitude of options, all carrying a different level of risk and reward. That’s why we’re creating this little guide to help you find the most fun (and profitable) wagers — from a Broncos fan’s perspective, of course; rooting for Cam Newton to score the first touchdown isn’t exactly fun.
The Line
Before we go into the props, let’s talk about the most basic bet of them all: The line.
As of Tuesday, the Denver Broncos are six-point underdogs to the Carolina Panthers. If you bet the spread, you would get the Broncos at -110, meaning you would win $9.09 for every $10 you wager if the Broncos win or lose by less than six points.
If you’re a Broncos fan, though, and you want to put your money where your mouth is, the best move is to just bet the money line, which is currently sitting at +185. While you’d only cash in with a Broncos victory ($18.50 for every $10), it’s not as if you want to be rooting for the Broncos to lose by less than six anyways, right?
Take the Broncos straight up, and walk away with a big payday!
Super Bowl MVP
This is always one of my favorite bets of the year, and it’s especially interesting this time around. While the safe option is always to go with the quarterback (55% of Super Bowl MVPs have been QBs), you’d be hard pressed to find a single game all season where Peyton Manning was the “MVP” of a Broncos victory.
And while +340 is pretty good odds for a Hall of Fame quarterback in the Super Bowl, you can find better value elsewhere.
If I’m looking at anyone, it’s C.J. Anderson (+2,500). In every one of the Broncos’ big games this year, Anderson has played a huge role. All it takes is one big run and Anderson‘s suddenly the Super Bowl savior.
An under-the-radar candidate is Derek Wolfe (+20,000). There’s a good chance that if the Broncos win, it’ll be because of their defense, just as it has been all year, and Wolfe has been playing as well as anyone lately. A couple sacks, a forced fumble and Wolfe is your Super Bowl MVP!