Super Bowl Props

Five Steelers/Cardinals Super Props

Half the fun of the betting the Super Bowl is betting the props. It’s the one time a year that Vegas/Offshore lets its hair down and uses a little imagination on that side of the window. These days, everything is fair game including cross sport wagering. It’s great.   Back in the day, props for the most part were easy pickins but tolerated because of the generally low limits. Today, the books have caught up and a great deal of work, research and thought are now put into the props and the line. It’s also real business with a very real intended profit motive rather than a way to bring in action.   Here is a small sampler of some of the props I’ve played, props and lines courtesy of the Las Vegas Hilton.   3rd Quarter Wagering   Steelers -1/2   -135 Cards            +115   Take the Cardinals: I put this one in the memory bank watching the NFC Championship Game while the color guys were sizin g the Eagles chances for a comeback. One mentioned that Kurt Warner was the best 3Q quarterback in the league this year with a 112 QBR and a 14-2 TD/Int ratio. I don’t imagine that those numbers changed much in the three plays the Cardinal offense was on the field two weeks ago. This is the side to be on if the Cardinals are down at half.   Total QB Sacks By Both Teams (5 and a half sacks)   Over -120 Under -140   Take the Over: Warner and Roethlisberger are as elusive as Frank enstein jogging thru quicksand. Roethlisberger has been down 192 times in his career in just his fifth year and you can imagine how many it would be if you count the near misses he shrugged off with his strength. If Warner is forced to throw 40 times, use your imagination.   Who Will have More ???   Jeff Reed (Pittsburg) Field Goals Made   +115 Lebron James missed Free Throws   -135   Take Lebron missed Free Throws: Lebron is shooting about 77% this year from the charity stripe after shooting below 70% the last two years. The King was 3-6 Thursday vs. Orlando and has been pretty up tight with officials of late. Cavs play the Pistons so I put Lebron on at least 10 trips to the line. Three misses and probably two does the trick here.   How Many Players on Both Teams will Attempt a Pass ??? (2.5)   Over  +190 Under   -165   Take the Over: Look like stealing right ??? Not so fast. One of the others in our Prop “Think Tank” who also has no life informed me that the Over occurs in approximately a tick  below 14% of all NFL games. That said, I’ll bite here. An injury to either QB makes us winners as will any gadget play that involves a pass. We know it’s in the Steeler play book by Randle El to Heinz Ward. Surely the Cards have a wrinkle and we all know Boldin was one time QB.   Total Receptions by Anquan Boldin (5.5)   Over -125 Under +105   Take the Over: Boldin’s sideline “chat” with OC was as much a story as the Cardinal win over the Eagles. That said, Boldin’s had an extra week to get treatment on the sore left hammy and should be good to go here. The general consensus seems to be that to throw on the Steelers that you must do so over the middle. Who’s better than Boldin over the middle and if Pitt doubles Larry Fitzgerald as probable, 8-10 yard slants could become the de facto Arizona running game.