NOTE: Throughout this Super Bowl betting guide, we refer to betting odds at various online sportsbooks. In all cases, these lines are subject to change at any time. For the most up-to-date odds, please follow the links we provide to the websites of reputable bookmakers where you can observe the betting lines in real time.
Yes, it's that time of year again. As Americans prepare to celebrate the accomplishments of dead presidents and sweethearts make their Valentine's plans, sports bettors are readying their bankrolls for the largest wagering event of the year: The Super Bowl. This year's contest sees last year's champs, the Kansas City Chiefs, meet the San Francisco 49ers at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada, which is also the home of the Las Vegas Strip and Harry Reid International Airport.
Official kickoff time is 3:30 p.m. PST (6:30 p.m. EST) on Sunday, Feb. 11. This means that there's plenty of time to learn how to bet on the Super Bowl before the game begins. We here at Professional Rakeback typically confine our real money wagering to online poker sites, but even we were tempted by the massive action surrounding the Big Game to compose this Super Bowl betting guide.
Whether you're a poker player who's just dabbling in sports betting or a complete novice to online gaming, don't worry. In this thorough Super Bowl LVIII betting guide, we'll show you how to read the odds and how to place a bet on the Super Bowl at a highly trusted online sportsbook. We'll explain the moneyline, spread betting, props, and the many other kinds of bets that are available for you to put your money on.
If you already know more or less what you want to bet on, then allow us to cut right to the chase and present you with a list of reputable online sportsbooks. When you bet with these firms, you can be assured of fast payouts, fair wager grading, and mostly competitive lines.
These are our best sportsbook picks for U.S. Super Bowl bettors. We've identified the strongest point of each bookmaker. Click on the links to visit the sites:
If you'd like more information on these operators, then we have prepared a thorough guide to the best online sportsbooks for USA bettors. Otherwise, keep reading to find out how to bet on Super Bowl 2024.
Before you can bet on the outcomes you wish to see, you have to understand how the betting odds work. Fortunately, this is pretty straightforward.
When you open the betting menu at the sportsbook of your choice and browse through the markets on offer, you'll see a bunch of possible wagers displayed something like the following:
Who will win the contest?
Team 1: +120
Team 2: -110
The option(s) with the plus sign “+” next to the betting odds indicate that you stand to win the amount shown for every $100 you bet. On the other hand, if you select a side of the wager with a minus sign “-”, you will have to bet the amount displayed in order to win $100.
In the given example, everyone who wagers on Team 1 will obtain profits of $120 for every $100 they've bet if Team 1 actually wins. Conversely, punters who select Team 2 will win $100 for every $110 they've bet in the event that Team 2 prevails.
Of course, you're not required to bet exactly $100. The same odds apply whatever the amount you choose to wager; you just have to multiply or divide them accordingly. If you elect to bet just $50 on Team 1 using the above odds, then you'll stand to win $60. If you bet $200, then you could win $240.
Minimum bets are usually just $1 and sometimes lower. Maximums vary a lot from book to book but tend run into the thousands of dollars for an important event like the Super Bowl.
This system holds true whether we're talking about teams, individuals, yes/no outcomes, or some other element or event occurring. Sometimes, you'll see more than two possible selections for a betting market listed, but they will still follow the general format outlined above.
There are several different styles of displaying betting odds, including Decimal, Fractional, and American. Because the American odds format is the most common one employed in both North and South America, this is the one we have chosen to use. If your sportsbook is set up to display betting lines in another format, then they will look different from how they are presented on this page.
However, it's possible, at almost every bookmaking site, to adjust the odds to American format. You can do so within the settings menu. This will allow you to follow along with what we're saying in this article.
Though there are hundreds of possible bets you can make on the Big Game, there are a few that are pretty much standardized and present at virtually every bookmaking site. Let's take a look at the basic Super Bowl odds at our #1 recommended online sportsbook, Sportsbetting.ag:
Here you can see the two teams listed each on separate rows. The types of bets are shown at the top of each column, e.g., “Spread” and “Money Line.” The odds corresponding to each team and type of wager are shown in the appropriate cell of the table.
The simplest type of bet to understand, the Money Line allows you to predict which team will be the victor. The odds displayed for Kansas City are +110, which means that they're the underdog, and for each $100 you wager on the Chiefs, you'll stand to win $110. Should you prefer San Francisco at -130, then you would have to bet $130 in order to win $100.
San Francisco is the favorite, which is why you need to bet more to win less. Kansas City, by contrast, is the underdog, and most industry pundits put their chances of winning at less than 50%. This is why you stand to win more than $1 for each $1 bet on K.C.
The bookmakers are in the game for profit, not for charitable reasons. Therefore, there's a small percentage or “vigorish” (also called “vig”) baked into the lines that goes to the house. Thus, even if the action on both sides perfectly balances out, the bookie will still make a profit.
Another type of bet you can make involves the spread. This is a device that attempts to equalize the chances of the underdog and the favorite for a more balanced betting experience. It's kind of similar to the handicap in golf.
The spread is an amount by which the favorite has to win in order for bets on that team to pay off. Conversely, bets on the underdog pay off if the team either wins or lose by less than the spread.
The spread from SB.ag is shown as “+2” on the Chiefs and “-2” on the 49ers who hail from California. Therefore, the San Francisco 49ers must win by more than 2 points for spread bets on them to pay. The Kansas City Chiefs, who call Missouri home, can either win outright or lose by less than 2 points for their bettors to win. Should San Francisco prevail over Kansas City by exactly 2, then these bets will all be graded pushes and the stakes returned to the bettors.
The odds on both sides of this spread are -110, meaning you must bet $110 to have a chance at winning $100. This is not unusual because the entire purpose of the spread in the first place is to make a more equalized set of odds for the two teams.
Here, we can exactly calculate the vigorish, or house edge, easily because the odds are the same on both sides. Two wagers on opposite sides of this line for $110 apiece would bring in $220 to the house of which $210 would be paid out to the winner ($110 stake back plus $100 in winnings). Therefore, the bookmaker would retain $10 in revenue ($220 - $210). The vig on either side of this spread is ($10/$210) = 4.76%.
If you don't particularly favor either team, then you can still put your action down on the final total score of the game. In the odds quoted above, we see that you can bet on “O 47.5,” or over 47.5 points, or “U 47.5,” under 47.5 points. The final scores of both teams are added together to determine the total points in the Super Bowl.
The odds for both the over and the under are -110. Therefore, you have to bet $110 in order to collect $100 in winnings should your prediction be correct.
The three types of wagers we have discussed above are by no means an exhaustive list. By clicking on the “+” at the bottom of these betting lines, you can open up a menu with additional wagering possibilities. For most games, there may be a dozen or so additional bets you can make, but for an event of the magnitude of the Super Bowl, you will find hundreds of markets to bet on!
Some of these extra betting options are related to or somehow reminiscent of the wagers we have already covered. For instance, you can bet on the total points for each quarter or at half time. Other bets involve guessing which team will be ahead at certain points in the game.
Still other bets deal with more specific actions on the field. For example, you can bet on how many touchdowns will be scored, the number of passing yards completed by a quarterback, and which team will score the longest field goal.
After you've finished placing your wagers before the Super Bowl begins, you may be looking forward to relaxing and watching the game. However, there's another course of action available to you.
Each of the online sportsbooks we bet at allows you to also make wagers after the game has already started. Such “live” or “in-play” betting features quick-moving lines and wagers that are only available for a short period of time. Examples of these bets include the team to score next, whether the next play will make a first down, who will score the next touchdown, et cetera. Making in-play wagers can really enhance your excitement as you watch the action unfold.
Props, short for “proposition bets,” are very narrowly defined or unusual bets often pertaining to the performance of a specific athlete or circumstances surrounding the game rather than any of the actual on-field action.
At most internet sportsbooks, you can wager on the result of the pre-game coin toss, the quarter during which the first field goal will be scored, the number of turnovers in the game, and many other eventualities.
For your entertainment, we have perused the offerings at our trusted sportsbook partners to find the most interesting, fun, and bizarre props available for Super Bowl LVIII.
Iconic singer-songwriter Taylor Swift has been romantically linked to Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. It's understandable that the public is interested in this celebrity match, but Sportsbetting.ag may perhaps be taking things overboard with a whopping 87 betting markets related to Swift.
Among the events you can wager on are the possibility of a kiss broadcast between Swift and Kelce, the songstress's lipstick color (red is the overwhelming favorite), and Taylor wearing a foam finger during the game.
BetOnline is the sister site of Sportsbetting, and it has all the same Taylor Swift props and other bets too.
The linesmakers at Bovada are known for their very creative and amusing props, and this year, they appear to be fixated on Post Malone. More specifically, there are several props relating to the musician's rendition of “America The Beautiful,” which he is scheduled to perform following Reba McEntire's delivery of the National Anthem.
First, you can take a guess as to how long the song will take to perform. The over/under is set at 110 seconds, and you'll be betting $120 to win $100.
Next are a series of wagers on who will be shown first during the CBS broadcast of the occasion. Interestingly, Bovada believes it more likely that someone associated with the Kansas City Chiefs will be shown first, and you'll have to put down $145 for every $100 you hope to win. Bets on San Francisco 49ers players or staff meanwhile pay slightly better than even money.
Among the extensive menu of Super Bowl props at Everygame are a few that are listed in their own category of “Fifty-Eights!” This market is focused on this being the 58th Super Bowl contest, and all of the selections revolve around the number 58 in some way:
The possibilities start out relatively realistic, like the longest touchdown to be 58 yards or more and any punt or kick off return to be returned for 58 yards or more. Vote yes for either of these two and you'll win $250 or $500 for every $100 bet if you guess right.
Fans of more oddball occurrences can bet on either team's quarterback to make a pass completion of exactly 58 yards (+2,500) or exactly 58 points to be scored during the Super Bowl (+3,300).
It's an annual Super Bowl tradition: Overcome by a celebratory spirit, the winning team's players seek out their head coach and upend a cooler of Gatorade over his head. Bettors at MyBookie can this year make several wagers related to the “Gatorade Shower”:
MyBookie seems to think offensive players are more likely to douse their winning head coach in colored drink. If you agree, then you'll only get $100 for every $110 bet. If it's a defensive or special teams player who does it, your odds improve to $150 in winnings for a $100 wager. Should these two categories of player both combine efforts to give their leader a splashy dunk, the winning bettors will collect $450 on a $100 wager.
You can also take a guess as to the color of the Gatorade used. While no color is an odds-on favorite, Blue and Purple have the shortest odds at +250 and +275 respectively. Yellow/Green/Lime, Orange, and Red/Pink are in the middle. Should the coach be drenched in clear Gatorade or water, then winning wagers will be paid out at $600 for every $100 risked.
There's no mention of White Gatorade. Perhaps it's included in the “Clear/Water” option. If not, this seems to be a glaring omission.
We've gone over some of the basic and more obscure bets that are possible on Super Bowl LVIII as well as briefly touching upon the best sportsbooks for Americans. If you would like to know more about sports betting before signing up, then you can check out this page that's devoted to all things related to online sports betting in the USA.
If you still have any questions about how to bet on Super Bowl LVIII, then look below. We have compiled a FAQ on this topic to give you a better understanding of it.
The list of contests you can bet on at any good online sportsbook is extensive. Besides the Super Bowl, Stanley Cup, World Series, and other post-season championships, you can also wager on regular season matches in the NFL, NHL, NBA, NCAA, MLB, EPL, and other professional leagues around the world. Even smaller sports, like Aussie Rules football, tennis, and cycling tend to be well-represented at the largest online bookmakers.
You will additionally find lines on such matters as the person to be selected as the next pope, the winners of the Academy Awards and other entertainment outcomes, and the victors in political elections. One of the largest segments of growth for sportsbooks has been in eSports – that is, major video game competitions involving pro and semi-pro teams and individuals. You can bet on them just as you would more traditional athletic contests.
Yes, it's completely legal to bet on the Super Bowl or any other event. The federal laws, like the Wire Act, that prohibit such activity focus their penalty provisions exclusively on those running and offering the sports betting sites, not individual bettors. Therefore, you're totally in the clear, from a legal standpoint, if you wish to log on to the sportsbook of your choice and make a few bets.
No, there are no big differences between the states when it comes to how Super Bowl betting works. Once you know how to bet on the Super Bowl in New York, for example, then you also know how to bet on the Super Bowl in Ohio, Florida, or any other state.
The only change from state to state might be the sportsbooks that you have available to choose from. Some operators are dissuaded from operating in certain states due to the laws in those jurisdictions. New Jersey and Nevada in particular are known as states from which some sportsbooks refuse to accept customers. Nevertheless, residents of every state in the Union have at least one offshore sportsbook available to them.
You can bet on sports, play casino games, and take a seat at the virtual poker tables with Sportsbetting, BetOnline, Bovada, or Everygame. They all support multiple gaming channels, so you can get all the real money action you want using a single set of account credentials and the same balance of cash.
In addition, there are some trustworthy online casinos and poker rooms that don't offer sports betting at all. If you would like to explore the best of these options, then you can read these guides to U.S.A.-friendly online casinos and the best online poker sites for Americans.
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