LANE: Big football games mean bigger bets

They will both do anything possible to make a dollar.

Where Manning appears on every third commercial on television these days, Vegas sports book operators increase their Super Bowl proposition bets on a yearly basis. Such bets allow one to wager on anything from what team will win the coin toss to who will take home the MVP trophy.

Such bets first surfaced a few decades ago and, what with gamblers being addicted to gambling and all, if you build it they will come. Super Bowl betting in Vegas sports books grew from $50 million in 1992 to $93.1 million last year, with several people in the business expecting this year’s New England Patriots vs. New York Giants matchup to break the $100 million barrier, Bloomberg reported (that does not include Internet wagering).

Worldwide, the Super Bowl is expected to attract more than $10 billion in bets from more than 200 million people, according to R.J. Bell of pregame.com. That makes the Super Bowl the biggest one-day event in terms of wagering of the year (the NCAA men’s basketball tournament brings in more bets as a whole).

“Any time there is an event that has a winner and a loser, human nature is to want to bet on it,” he said. “One-half of all adult Americans will make a bet on the game (including office squares and other nontraditional methods).”

While traditional bets make up the bulk of the wagering, following are some prop bets (taken from bodog.com) that will draw nontraditional bettors.

n Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is the favorite to win MVP at 1-to-2 odds, meaning you bet $2 to win $1. New York quarterback Eli Manning is the Giant with the best odds at 7-to-2.

• The Patriots are 2-to-1 favorites to score first.

• The first missed field goal of the game is more likely to be wide right (-105, meaning a $105 bet wins $100) than wide left (-125).

• An interception (-165) is expected to be the first turnover of the game. A fumble offers +125 odds, meaning a $100 bet wins $125, while no turnovers in the whole game offers +700 odds.

• The Patriots are given - 450 odds to be winning at halftime and the end of the game. Successfully picking a tie at the end of halftime and regulation would win a bettor $6,500 for every $100 bet.

These wagers offer some fun but should not be considered by serious bettors looking to win money, Bell said. That’s because sports books rig the lines so that they’re guaranteed to profit.

“Even if there is something that is a fairly good bet, it’s going to be hard to overcome that premium level of juice,” he said, referring to adjustments sports books make to give themselves favorable odds.

Those taking the traditional route in betting seem to favor the Giants. What opened as a -13 1/2 line for the Patriots (meaning they’re picked to win by 13 1/2 points) dwindled to -12 within days of the line being established, meaning bettors are putting their money on the Giants.

This is likely because of the Giants’ effort in a 38-35 loss to New England the last week of the regular season. In addition, the Patriots have not covered the spread in their last five games, while the Giants have covered every game over the same stretch.