The Biggest Bet in Sports

More money—legal and illegal—is bet on the Super Bowl than any other sporting event, and we have tips to help you profit on this year’s big game.

Danny Sheridan
Published in: February 1, 2012

Placing a big bet on America’s biggest game is on the rise. Super Bowl wagering in Nevada has been on a steady uptick for the past two years. After a drop during the 2007 to 2009 recession, it climbed to $82.7 million in 2010, and rose to almost $87.5 in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2011. But that’s only part of the story.

Offshore Super Bowl wagering has been climbing uninterrupted by the economy. An anonymous Costa Rican sports book owner told me that while the 2007 recession had a small impact on bets placed during the regular season, his Super Bowl business has risen annually for decades.

Since it was first played in 1967, the Super Bowl has evolved into the single biggest sports betting event of the year. There is no close second or third (at least until someone puts up a line on whether Kim Kardashian’s next marriage will last longer than 72 days), which is the main reason it’s the highest-rated television show every year.

Super Bowl XLVI between the New York Giants and New England Patriots will happen February 5, and we can give you some tips on how to bet the game. I have correctly picked the last 10 Super Bowl pointspread winners, nine of the last 10 totals, and nine straight halftime lines (I did not pick last year’s halftime line). Follow the four rules listed here and they will help you wager correctly and win money on the Super Bowl.

What's the secret to wagering your money correctly on the Super Bowl? Find out by reading the full version of this article in the February issue of Cigar Aficionado magazine, on newsstands now.

Biggest Super Bowl Bets and Payouts

$2.4 million
In Super Bowl XXIX, someone bet $2.4 million on the San Francisco 49ers to beat the San Diego Chargers (laying 8 to 1 odds to win $300,000) at the Mirage Hotel Sports Book in Las Vegas. Six Steve Young TD passes later, he won the bet.

$3.24 million
In 2002 a well-known Hollywood agent to the stars bet $1 million offshore that the underdog New England Patriots would cover the 14-point spread against the St. Louis Rams, and bet another $400,000 on the Patriots to win outright at 6 to 1 odds. Final Score: New England 20-17.

$1 million
In Super Bowl XXXI, a client of TheGreek.com took the Green Bay Packers for $500,000 to beat New England by more than 13½ points and the Patriots for another $500,000 to lose by fewer than 14½ points. The only way he could win both bets and avoid losing the $50,000 vigorish is if the Packers won by 14 points. Final score: Green Bay 35-21.

$1.65 million
The late legendary oddsmaker Bob Martin took a $1.65 million wager to win $1.5 million on the Los Angeles Rams, 11-point underdogs against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XIV. The Rams missed an extra point and lost by 12. Ouch.