CAN I BET ON WHO WINS THE SUPER BOWL COIN TOSS? ABSOLUTELY, HOW MUCH WOULD YOU LIKE TO WAGER?
Who will win the coin toss, how long Carrie Underwood takes to sing the National Anthem or will a member of The Who smash a guitar during their halftime performance? These are just three of the hundreds of proposition bets that can be made in Las Vegas or online at off-shore sportsbooks. Honestly you can, they're called props for short & the state of Nevada will book about $25 million worth before Sunday's Super Bowl kickoff.
In my 20 years working in Las Vegas casinos, I saw the prop bet grow in popularity year after year. Way back in the early 1980's, the Castaways' Sportsbook was managed by a Las Vegas legend Sonny Reisner. He popularized the prop bet. Everyday Sonny hung a number in the sportsbook called S.S.S.(Sonny's Super Special). It was always something weird, like total base on balls, errors & hit batsmen in the A's-Tigers game. He'd hang up a number, like 8 1/2 & the bettors would take under or over the 8 1/2. Sonny was one of the first to post the prop bets for the Super Bowl as well.
Not long after owner Ralph Engelstad put a 2nd story sportsbook in the Imperial Palace, it became prop bet central for the Super Bowl. The IP, as it was known by locals, began cranking out multi-page prop sheets. After the Mirage opened in 1989, on the ground once occupied by the Castaways, things changed quickly. Caesars Palace, the Barbary Coast & the Stardust had been the only sportsbooks on the famed Las Vegas Strip. Most of the sports betting action was downtown, now it was big time out on the strip. The mega-resort marketing of the Super Bowl began in earnest around 1990.
As the old joints were imploded in spectacular fashion & the sparkling new destination resorts sprung up in their place, the sportsbooks & the marketing of the Super Bowl, March Madness, the Triple Crown, the Breeder's Cup, major prize fights & the NFL regular season brought new players thru the doors. The so-called 'wise guy' professional sports gamblers as well as the little old lady from Milwaukee who wanted to bet a $10 future bet on the Packers to win the Super Bowl.
In the mid-80's, I used to go to Caesars & stand near the $5K minimum betting window. I watched as wise guys & yuppie professionals walked up & made some sizable laydowns. I saw a lady in her 60's pull an over stuffed manila envelope out of her bag & bet the entire content, $55,000, on the Chicago Bears to win Super Bowl XX by 10 points. Winner, winner, chicken dinner!
The competition got so heated in the early 90's, every sportsbook would have a giveaway for anyone making as little as a $10 bet. I'd go all over town making the same bet at 10-12 joints, collecting a car seat full of crap, right Cameron? Right Tony? Right Joe? There were many conferences at casino bars after our swing shift concluded to discuss the line, total, props & the freebies. I participated in those sessions with co-workers for most of my 20 years in Vegas. Angry Frank, Branco, Jovial Joe, Kevin & Bernie were at those meetings for many of those years too. That's the only part of the casino business I miss, the people I worked with from the El Cortez to Treasure Island to Bellagio.
I didn't get hooked betting prop bets until 1990. The Niners were playing the Broncos on Super Bowl XXIV. Sam's Town put up separate totals for each team, 31 1/2 for Frisco & 20 1/2 for Denver. I took Frisco over & I was off into the bizarre world of the prop bet. For about 15 years I would bet one player to be the first to score in the game, I never cashed one of those tickets. I never took the obvious choice, the odds were too low, like Emmitt Smith at 2 to 1. I remember a guy who made one Super Bowl bet, a prop on Emmitt scoring the 1st touchdown of Super Bowl XXVII. He made a $500 laydown on Emmitt & he did score, unfortunately it was in the 4th quarter when the score was already 38-17. I don't recall who scored first, I just know it wasn't Emmitt. I always bet guys who were 5-1 or 7-1, looking to actually win something.
I normally did well on the side or the total but I couldn't stay away from the props or the squares pots at our local bar or at whatever Super Bowl party we attended. I didn't win a squares pot until I hit one at an arena football game in 2004, we're talking 25-30 years of never winning a single quarter.
Then I went on a tear, winning the side, total or both in 7 out of 8 years, the exception being the Ravens in 2001. Plus I swept all but my "first to score" prop" in Super Bowl XXXIII, Denver vs. Atlanta. I won the side, I had a big bet on the over 52 1/2, the longest punt, a special teams touchdown, that Bubby Brister would get a carry, over 3 1/2 field goals & the Falcons would score last. Won 'em all, but I was really lucky. With about 10 minutes left in the game Denver had just scored & I was 17 points shy of winning the over. I said out loud to everyone at this party, I need Tim Dwight to run this kickoff back for a score & I'd have a shot at the total plus I'd have a special teams' touchdown prop winner. Well 'ole Tim Dwight ran that kickoff back for a TD & before the gun sounded Atlanta scored last in a 34-19 Denver win John Elway was replaced by Bubby Brister at QB for the last 30 seconds of the game & Brister knelt down to end the game, which counted as a carry. That's the great thing about prop betting, if you pick the right ones, you can get an entire game out of them. If you bet the length of the National Anthem or the coin toss, you can have two losers in your hand before the kickoff.
The real story on prop bets is if you have a realistic scenario of how you think the game will go, find a few prop bets that support that theory & if the numbers on those bets have some value to them, bet 'em. Prop bets are also very popular with novice sports bettors, anyone can take a stab at how many times reality TV star Kim Kardashian(Reggie Bush's girlfriend)is shown on the telecast. The over/under is 2 1/2. How sick is that? Personally I agree with Joe Z., the prop of Indy scoring in every quarter is +135, that's a good prop.
I like the Colts -5, not 5 1/2 or 6. I don't like the total, it's been bet up too much, from 54 to 57.
Just for you real sicko's, I'm going to give you the stat on Super Bowl coin tosses; heads has won 22 times & tails 21 times in 43 Super Bowls. Sounds right doesn't it? Here's the twist, the NFC has won 13 coin tosses in a row & is 29-14 overall. Even with the 13 consecutive correct coin toss calls, the AFC has won 10 of those 13 games. Maybe they just shoot all their luck calling the toss. As to how long Carrie Underwood takes to sing the National Anthem, you're on your own.
In my 20 years working in Las Vegas casinos, I saw the prop bet grow in popularity year after year. Way back in the early 1980's, the Castaways' Sportsbook was managed by a Las Vegas legend Sonny Reisner. He popularized the prop bet. Everyday Sonny hung a number in the sportsbook called S.S.S.(Sonny's Super Special). It was always something weird, like total base on balls, errors & hit batsmen in the A's-Tigers game. He'd hang up a number, like 8 1/2 & the bettors would take under or over the 8 1/2. Sonny was one of the first to post the prop bets for the Super Bowl as well.
Not long after owner Ralph Engelstad put a 2nd story sportsbook in the Imperial Palace, it became prop bet central for the Super Bowl. The IP, as it was known by locals, began cranking out multi-page prop sheets. After the Mirage opened in 1989, on the ground once occupied by the Castaways, things changed quickly. Caesars Palace, the Barbary Coast & the Stardust had been the only sportsbooks on the famed Las Vegas Strip. Most of the sports betting action was downtown, now it was big time out on the strip. The mega-resort marketing of the Super Bowl began in earnest around 1990.
As the old joints were imploded in spectacular fashion & the sparkling new destination resorts sprung up in their place, the sportsbooks & the marketing of the Super Bowl, March Madness, the Triple Crown, the Breeder's Cup, major prize fights & the NFL regular season brought new players thru the doors. The so-called 'wise guy' professional sports gamblers as well as the little old lady from Milwaukee who wanted to bet a $10 future bet on the Packers to win the Super Bowl.
In the mid-80's, I used to go to Caesars & stand near the $5K minimum betting window. I watched as wise guys & yuppie professionals walked up & made some sizable laydowns. I saw a lady in her 60's pull an over stuffed manila envelope out of her bag & bet the entire content, $55,000, on the Chicago Bears to win Super Bowl XX by 10 points. Winner, winner, chicken dinner!
The competition got so heated in the early 90's, every sportsbook would have a giveaway for anyone making as little as a $10 bet. I'd go all over town making the same bet at 10-12 joints, collecting a car seat full of crap, right Cameron? Right Tony? Right Joe? There were many conferences at casino bars after our swing shift concluded to discuss the line, total, props & the freebies. I participated in those sessions with co-workers for most of my 20 years in Vegas. Angry Frank, Branco, Jovial Joe, Kevin & Bernie were at those meetings for many of those years too. That's the only part of the casino business I miss, the people I worked with from the El Cortez to Treasure Island to Bellagio.
I didn't get hooked betting prop bets until 1990. The Niners were playing the Broncos on Super Bowl XXIV. Sam's Town put up separate totals for each team, 31 1/2 for Frisco & 20 1/2 for Denver. I took Frisco over & I was off into the bizarre world of the prop bet. For about 15 years I would bet one player to be the first to score in the game, I never cashed one of those tickets. I never took the obvious choice, the odds were too low, like Emmitt Smith at 2 to 1. I remember a guy who made one Super Bowl bet, a prop on Emmitt scoring the 1st touchdown of Super Bowl XXVII. He made a $500 laydown on Emmitt & he did score, unfortunately it was in the 4th quarter when the score was already 38-17. I don't recall who scored first, I just know it wasn't Emmitt. I always bet guys who were 5-1 or 7-1, looking to actually win something.
I normally did well on the side or the total but I couldn't stay away from the props or the squares pots at our local bar or at whatever Super Bowl party we attended. I didn't win a squares pot until I hit one at an arena football game in 2004, we're talking 25-30 years of never winning a single quarter.
Then I went on a tear, winning the side, total or both in 7 out of 8 years, the exception being the Ravens in 2001. Plus I swept all but my "first to score" prop" in Super Bowl XXXIII, Denver vs. Atlanta. I won the side, I had a big bet on the over 52 1/2, the longest punt, a special teams touchdown, that Bubby Brister would get a carry, over 3 1/2 field goals & the Falcons would score last. Won 'em all, but I was really lucky. With about 10 minutes left in the game Denver had just scored & I was 17 points shy of winning the over. I said out loud to everyone at this party, I need Tim Dwight to run this kickoff back for a score & I'd have a shot at the total plus I'd have a special teams' touchdown prop winner. Well 'ole Tim Dwight ran that kickoff back for a TD & before the gun sounded Atlanta scored last in a 34-19 Denver win John Elway was replaced by Bubby Brister at QB for the last 30 seconds of the game & Brister knelt down to end the game, which counted as a carry. That's the great thing about prop betting, if you pick the right ones, you can get an entire game out of them. If you bet the length of the National Anthem or the coin toss, you can have two losers in your hand before the kickoff.
The real story on prop bets is if you have a realistic scenario of how you think the game will go, find a few prop bets that support that theory & if the numbers on those bets have some value to them, bet 'em. Prop bets are also very popular with novice sports bettors, anyone can take a stab at how many times reality TV star Kim Kardashian(Reggie Bush's girlfriend)is shown on the telecast. The over/under is 2 1/2. How sick is that? Personally I agree with Joe Z., the prop of Indy scoring in every quarter is +135, that's a good prop.
I like the Colts -5, not 5 1/2 or 6. I don't like the total, it's been bet up too much, from 54 to 57.
Just for you real sicko's, I'm going to give you the stat on Super Bowl coin tosses; heads has won 22 times & tails 21 times in 43 Super Bowls. Sounds right doesn't it? Here's the twist, the NFC has won 13 coin tosses in a row & is 29-14 overall. Even with the 13 consecutive correct coin toss calls, the AFC has won 10 of those 13 games. Maybe they just shoot all their luck calling the toss. As to how long Carrie Underwood takes to sing the National Anthem, you're on your own.
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