The Super Bowl is the biggest sports betting event of the year.
Seeing as we anticipate many people are betting for the first time for the big game — and some people are testing out different bets — it's important to remind the public to shop for the best lines.
Player props will be one of the more popular bets on Super Bowl Sunday. You can place player prop bets at just about any of the major American sportsbooks, FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, Caesars and ESPN BET being the most popular. But sportsbooks will offer different lines throughout the marketplace.
Understanding the Vig
The vig at the most basic level is the cut the sportsbook is getting (in theory). If it is a 50-50 bet, the odds of that bet should be +100. If you were to bet on the flip of a coin knowing the coin has a 50% chance of landing on heads and a 50% chance of landing on tails, you would expect a $10 bet to earn $10 more dollars over the long run — over a very lengthy sample size.
Sports betting doesn't quite work that way. To place a 50-50 bet, you still have to give up something to the book. Typically those odds are -110 which means a $110 bet would get $100 back.
That means, in order to be a profitable bettor, you need to win 52.4% of the time on 50-50 bets in order to overcome sportsbook vigs.
Betting on Player Props
Even though most sportsbooks will offer player props, the lines won't always be the same. Let's take Patrick Mahomes for example. Mahomes' total passing yards is 258.5 at DraftKings and ESPN Bet while it's 262.5 at FanDuel. A four-yard swing is significant so the vig won't have much of an impact.
But some players will have equal numbers on various sportsbooks which means the vig will be a factor. Take Travis Kelce, who will be a popular bet on Sunday. His receiving yards total is at 70.5 at most sportsbooks. But FanDuel has 20-cent lines (-110 on both sides) while the other major books are pricing it higher (in some cases, as far as -120). This means betting at FanDuel will save you roughly $7 per $100 wagered. That's just simply by shopping the best line.
Who is Offering the Lowest Vig?
FanDuel and Bet365 are the two major sportsbooks that are offering 20-cent lines on most of their player props. Most of the other sportsbooks are offering 30-cent lines (-115 on both sides) while Caesars is at 34-cents currently and BetRivers is priced at 28-cent lines.
If you are looking for the best lines for player props, the Action Network makes it easy. We have all of the player props listed and the lines at each of the major sportsbooks. It is the one-stop shop for the best player prop odds.
