What Is The Best Super Bowl Bet?

If you’re new to sports betting, the most straightforward bet is the moneyline.

This is simply a wager on which team will win, so a bettor doesn’t need to know much about betting or do too much math or additional research to understand it. You don’t need to worry about the margin of victory; only which side will come out on top.

If you think you know who will win the game, you can make a moneyline wager. It’s as easy as that, making it a perfect starting point for beginners.

In Super Bowl LVIII, the San Francisco 49ers are slightly favored over the Kansas City Chiefs. The 49ers enter as -130 favorites on the moneyline, whereas the Chiefs are +110.

If you believe the 49ers will win the game, you should bet on San Francisco. If you’re confident in the Chiefs winning their third Super Bowl title in five years, you should back Kansas City.

While moneyline wagers don’t require as much research as other bets, there are still some trends you should look at before placing your wager.

When making a moneyline bet, a good place to start is each team’s overall record. It’s also helpful to see how teams fared when they were listed as moneyline favorites or underdogs. Did they win the games they were expected to win?

It’s worth looking at which team has played better recently. While both teams will enter the Big Game on a winning streak (since you have to win at least two playoff games to get to the Super Bowl), it can be useful to look at their record during the second half of the season to get a better sense of how they’ve been playing lately.

You should also look at the records of both teams against opponents that either had a winning record or made the playoffs. That will give you an idea of how they’ve fared against quality opponents.

Lastly, check to see if the two teams have played each other recently. That could give you a clue about how the matchup will play out, especially if they have a lot of the same players and coaches.

If you’re looking for a bet that’s a little more complicated and potentially has better odds than a moneyline, you should consider a spread bet.

Unlike the moneyline, a spread is a wager on the margin of victory. That makes a spread bet trickier than a moneyline bet, as you’ll need to factor in the final score.

Spread bets require more nuance and skill than simply picking which team will win the game. There’s an added element of predicting the number of points a team will win or lose by, making a spread bet a natural step up from a moneyline.

That said, spread bets are still relatively simple and easy to understand, making them a good option for intermediate bettors who are fairly comfortable with betting.

Let’s look at a recent Super Bowl spread example.

In Super Bowl LVI, the Los Angeles Rams entered the game as 4.5-point favorites (-4.5) over the Cincinnati Bengals. The Rams won the game 23-20, so bettors who took them on the moneyline won their bets.

Los Angeles failed to cover the spread, however, winning by only three points. Bettors who took the underdog Bengals at +4.5 won their spread bets.

If you want to back an underdog but don’t feel strongly enough to take them on the moneyline, the spread can be a good alternative. Even if the underdog loses, you can still make money if they cover.

When making spread bets, you should look at each team’s record against the spread. These can vary considerably from a team’s actual record and say something about a team’s ability to match up with its opponent.

For example, two Super Bowl teams might have identical 12-5 records during the regular season but if one team won a lot of blowouts, they’ll likely have a better spread record than a team that won a lot of close games and benefitted from good luck.

Once you know the spread, you can see how many times both teams covered that particular line. If a team has only won a handful of games by a touchdown, you probably shouldn’t wager on them to do so against a conference champion in the Super Bowl.

You can also look at a team’s average point differential. Teams with high point differentials (who usually have a good offense and a good defense) are more likely to cover a spread than a team with a mediocre offense or defense.

Unlike a moneyline, you also have the ability to adjust the spread. So if a team is favored by 3.5 points but you think they’ll win by a touchdown, you can take them at -6.5 instead at better odds.

Bettors don’t have this type of flexibility with the moneyline, which is a simple win/lose outcome. With spreads, however, more experienced bettors have the ability to play around with lines and pick the ones they prefer.

If you’re looking to spice up your sports betting beyond the standard markets, you can get really creative with player prop bets.

Player prop bets are wagers on certain statistical outcomes for individual players in a game. These are more advanced than standard bets because they’re highly specific bets that require a good amount of research. You need to look closely at a player’s statistical production and make an educated guess on whether he’ll go over or under a benchmark in a certain statistical category.

For example, Jalen Hurts’ passing yards prop was set at 245.5 for Super Bowl LVII with -115 odds for both the Over and Under. That line was almost identical to Hurts’ season average of 246.7 yards, but he finished the game with 304 passing yards and hit the Over.

Lines will often be set close to a player’s season average, so you’ll need to do additional research beyond that. You’ll want to see how he’s been performing recently, what his usage is like, how he’s performed against this team in the past, etc.

For player props, you’ll want to look closely at the matchup. If a quarterback is facing an opponent with a bad pass defense, it’s fair to assume he’ll have more success throwing the ball. If a running back is going up against a tough run defense, you should expect him to have fewer rushing yards.

You’ll also need to take weather into account for an outdoor game, as it can have a significant impact. Inclement weather like rain, snow, cold and wind make passing the ball more difficult but tends to benefit the running game.

Player props can be affected by a lot of different factors, which makes them harder to pinpoint. They’re also largely outside of a player’s control, as a skill player doesn’t determine how many targets or carries he gets in a game. He also can’t control whether he gets injured and has to leave the game.

That’s why player performance tends to be more volatile than team performance, and thus harder to bet on. That makes player props better suited for advanced bettors who know what they’re doing and can take advantage of all the alternate lines posted with props.

Advanced bettors can also combine multiple props into a same-game parlay. This is one wager composed of multiple bets (called legs). Its complexity makes it challenging for novices, but advanced bettors who understand props and how they’re correlated can use them to build SGPs with high payouts.