Sports Betting
David Purdum, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Safeties, OT among popular prop bets

NFL, Seattle Seahawks, New England Patriots

A bettor at the Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas is staring at a $50,000 payday. All they need is the Seattle Seahawks to score exactly four points Sunday in Super Bowl XLIX against the New England Patriots.

"This is a sign that people will bet anything," Jay Kornegay, vice president of race and sports operations at the SuperBook, said with a laugh. "We've got one ticket on Seattle scoring exactly four points at 9,999-to-1."

A 4-2 win by the Seahawks would be especially painful for the SuperBook, not to mention offensive-minded fans. As of Wednesday, the SuperBook had taken five bets on the Patriots scoring exactly two points, the biggest being a $10 wager at 5,000-1.

Kornegay and the SuperBook can likely rest easy. No team in the modern era has scored exactly four points in a game. Eight teams, since 1970, have finished a game with only two points, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Most recently, the Jacksonville Jaguars accomplished the feat in a 28-2 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2013 season.

Picking the exact score is just one of hundreds of prop bets available at the SuperBook and other sportsbooks across Vegas and online.

The most popular prop bet at William Hill's Nevada sportsbook is on something that's occurred in the last three Super Bowls -- a safety. The Denver Broncos started last year's game with an errant snap over Peyton Manning's head that resulted in a safety for the Seahawks. Two years ago, the Baltimore Ravens took an intentional safety while protecting a late lead in their victory over the San Francisco 49ers. And, in 2012, the Patriots were called for an intentional grounding penalty in their own end zone, resulting in a safety for the New York Giants.

Bettors are loading up that it happens again. A safety is paying around 5-1. At the MGM Sports Book, 70 of the first 71 bets on "Will there be a safety?" were on "Yes." As of Wednesday, 94 percent of the safety tickets at the SuperBook were on "Yes."

"We've got six bets on 'No,'" Kornegay said.

Twenty-three safeties have been recorded this season.

At the Stratosphere, bettors believe there's a good chance that the Super Bowl will go into overtime for the first time. Like the safety, overtime is paying around 5-1.

"We've had a lot of action on the 'Yes,' if it will go into overtime or not," Stratosphere sportsbook director Ed Malinowski said. "Not a surprise, since it's almost a Pick 'em game."

Malinowski said he was facing "10 dimes [$10,000]" in liability on the overtime wager, as of Wednesday.

Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski is attracting the most attention for the first player to score a touchdown. More bets have been placed on Gronkowski to score the first touchdown than any other player at the SuperBook, Kornegay said. Gronkowski is 7-1. Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson (7-1) is the next most popular pick, followed, somewhat oddly, by Patriots tight end Tim Wright (30-1).

Wilson's passing yards have been another popular bet at the SuperBook. The over/under was set at 216.5 yards but had grown to 225.5 as of Wednesday.

Nevada sportsbooks are limited by gaming regulations as to what props they can offer. More bizarre options are available offshore at online books, like Bovada, where gray is favored to be the color of Patriots coach Bill Belichick's trademark hoodie.

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