Las Vegas sportsbooks are bracing for another nerve-wracking Super Bowl as long-shot prop bets with odds as high as 10,000-1 lure bettors chasing life-changing payouts. The Westgate SuperBook lists either team to score exactly four points at those astronomical odds, while Circa Sports has a $1 million liability if the Seattle Seahawks finish with four points.
“We do have a liability of over $1 million if the Seahawks score exactly four points, so we’ll be sweating that one,” said Circa sportsbook risk manager Jamey Pileggi. “But as long as there’s not two safeties in the game, and that’s it for one side, I think we’ll be fine.”
The memory of Super Bowl 53 still haunts bookmakers. In that game, the New England Patriots defeated the Los Angeles Rams 13-3, the lowest-scoring Super Bowl ever. A South Point bettor turned $250 into $100,000 by wagering on the Rams to score exactly three points at 400-1 odds. John Murray, now SuperBook director, recalled a tense fourth quarter when the game was tied 3-3 and the book faced a massive loss on a 500-1 prop that no touchdown would be scored.
“I had to go to their VIP booth and explain to them that we need somebody to score a touchdown. It was really uncomfortable,” Murray said. “We did lose on the Rams scoring exactly three points and on the Rams not scoring a touchdown, but the big odds and big payout was no touchdown scored.”
This year’s Super Bowl 60 between the Patriots and Seahawks has a total of 45½ points. The no-touchdown-scored prop pays 210-1 at Circa, down from 225-1 earlier Friday. Other long shots include either team to score two points at 1,000-1 and Super Bowl squares with 1,000-1 payouts, such as Seahawks 4 and Patriots 8 in the first quarter.
“It’s like a lottery ticket that obviously probably won’t happen,” Pileggi said. “But if you hit it one of those years, it can really pay out.”
STN Sports offers 50 touchdown exactas, where bettors predict the exact order of the first two touchdown scorers. Kenneth Walker III to score the first two touchdowns is the 14-1 favorite. Red Rock Resort sportsbook director Chuck Esposito noted the fun of these bets: “There are some juicy prices on these. Stefon Diggs to score the first touchdown of the game and Cooper Kupp to score the second is 75-1.”
STN also offers 7-1 odds on the Seahawks to attempt a pass from the Patriots’ 1-yard line, evoking memories of the 2015 Super Bowl when Seattle threw instead of handing to Marshawn Lynch, leading to a Patriots 28-24 victory. The Seahawks to win 28-24 this time pays 250-1 at the Westgate.
Safety props are also popular. No team has ever finished with two, four, or five points in a Super Bowl, but the Denver Broncos scored eight in their 43-8 loss to Seattle in 2014. Both teams to have a safety pays 250-1 at the Westgate.
“People will take their chances at those really long shots,” Murray said. “People always love to risk a small amount of money to win a huge amount of money. If you can hit one of these lottery tickets, and you’re doing so at very little risk to yourself, there’s always going to be an appetite for that.”
