By Mary Cunningham
The Patriots are listed by most oddsmakers as 3-point favorites. That means if you bet on the Patriots, they must beat the Falcons by more than three points for you to collect.
If you bet on the Falcons, they could lose by up to two points and you still would collect on your bet.
(If the Patriots win by three points, the bet is considered “a push’’ and no one collects. Except in Las Vegas, where the sports book keeps what’s known as the “vig,’’ 10 percent of the wager.)
The other straightforward way to bet the Super Bowl is to wager on the over/under, the total points scored. The over/under set by most oddsmakers for Super Bowl LI is 59, meaning you can either bet the two teams will score more than 59 points (the over) or bet the two teams will score less than 59 points (the under).
You probably can’t bet on whether you’ll end up singing with Lady Gaga during the halftime show or accepting the Lombardi Trophy from Roger Goodell, but Vegas will gladly give you 10-to-1 odds on either possibility — and fill you in on another wagering option: prop bets.
