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All Bets Are On

Sports books like this one in Carson City, Nev., are doing big business for the Super Bowl, considered the most bet-upon sporting event.
Sports books like this one in Carson City, Nev., are doing big business for the Super Bowl, considered the most bet-upon sporting event. (By Brad Horn -- The Nevada Appeal Via Associated Press)
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Konik: "I get the sense that most men would rather admit they are lousy in bed than they don't know that much about sports and betting."

RJ Bell, president of Pregame.com, a sports betting tip site: "There's a real male ego issue with picks."

So in the interest of good Super Bowl parties and better barroom smack talk everywhere, we hereby offer to destroy some key myths about guydom and the Super Bowl wager. Also, we offer a cheat sheet of sorts if you just want to fake it.

Myth 1: It matters who wins the game.

Fact: HAHAHAHAHAHA!! What a notion!

What matters is who "covers the spread." Or who takes the "over/under."

The point spread is a handicap for the better team, expressed in a number of points. In the Super Bowl, most handicappers have the Colts at "minus 7" (written as -7), which means they must win the game by more than seven points for you to win. If Indy wins by six, you lose! If Indy loses, you lose! On the other hand, if you take Chicago (it's "plus 7"), you start the game seven points ahead! If Chicago is getting thumped 20-0, and scores two late, meaningless touchdowns, the final is 20-14 -- and you win. Yay! (If the final margin is seven points, it's a "push bet" and nobody wins. Adding a half-point to the spread dodges that sort of kiss-your-sister outcome.)

Also, the "over/under" bet, a standard wager, doesn't give a pip about the winner. It's just about the total number of points scored. At the moment, most handicappers have it at 48 for this game -- meaning you just bet, thumbs up or down, whether the two teams score more or less than that.

Who wins? Who cares?

Myth 2: You have to bet on the game.

Fact: Game? What game?

You can bet on whether Billy Joel will sing the national anthem in more or less than 1 minute 44 seconds. You can bet on whether the coin toss will be heads or tails. You can bet on whether LeBron James scores more in his basketball game that day than the Colts score on the field. You can bet on Prince having a wardrobe malfunction during the halftime show.


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