I’m betting on one sure thing related to the Seahawks-Patriots Super Bowl

Twenty years ago if I asked if you were going to bet on the Super Bowl, you’d maybe say yes.

There would be a friendly bet or two and maybe a card at a Super Bowl party where you bought “squares,” hoping your numbers would come up at the end of each quarter.

Back then sports wagering was only legal in Nevada and New Jersey. In 2006 if you were actively betting on games like I was, you had a bookie.

I would call him with my bets and use the fake name “Victor” because I was concerned if he ever got busted, I might lose my job at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer if the authorities ever looked at my bookie’s list of clients.

Several years later, I started gambling with illegal overseas sports betting sites and always looked over both shoulders when I went to a MoneyGram location to send cash to Juan Leo Gonzalez in Costa Rica or some other person in a Caribbean location.

“How do you know Mr. Gonzalez?” the MoneyGram lady would ask me.

“Oh, we’re good friends, met him years ago on a golf trip,” I’d say.

I knew I was lying, she knew I was lying, but she would still accept the transaction, and I would leave that WalMart hoping the Bellevue police weren’t waiting outside with handcuffs.

It all seemed so dumb to me since sports gambling is a victimless crime - I mean, I pretty much figured I was the one and only victim of my bad bets.

Later, when I worked at 710 ESPN Seattle, I had a segment called “The Smokin’ Lock of the Week,” in which I picked my favorite team against the point spread.

That ended after a few years when the Mormon church, which owned the radio station, wanted all of the hosts to stop talking about sports gambling.

But look at where we are now. Sports betting became legal in Washington in 2020. Sports books can be found at every major casino in the state and in 38 other states.

The American Gaming Association estimates that $1.76 billion will be wagered across the country on this year’s Super Bowl.

You’ve got your standard bets of the Seahawks -4 1/2 points against the Patriots and an over-under on total points in the game at 45 1/2.

And you have so-called novelty bets - a popular one is the coin toss, wagering whether it will come up heads or tails. Believe it or not, it’s the most bet “proposition” at BetMGM.

You’d think it would be a 50-50 bet, right? But in the previous 59 Super Bowls, tails leads heads 31-28. Yet 63 percent of the wagers at BetMGM are on heads this year.

You can also bet on the length of Charlie Puth’s rendition of the national anthem. The over-under is 120 1/2 seconds, and there’s actually a guy at CBS Sports who analyzes this stuff and is 5-0 on his national anthem projections the last five years. He advises gamblers to bet on under 120 1/2 seconds this year.

The color of the Gatorade bath for the winning coach is another heavily bet prop with blue and orange being the co-favorites at 2 1/2-1 odds.

As for the game itself, you name it, you’ve got it with passing, rushing, receiving and scoring props galore for individual players.

It includes a snarky one from Draft Kings - will the Seahawks attempt a pass from the Patriots’ 1-yard line again? I say “again” because everyone remembers what happened the last time it happened against the Patriots in the Super Bowl - it cost them the game.

Prop bets have become wildly appealing to the younger crowd, becoming the fastest growing segment of the sports betting industry.

What else? Let’s say your pre-game bet on the Seahawks -4 1/2 doesn’t look so hot after New England takes a 17-6 lead at halftime. They have this terrific or terrible thing called “live betting,” updating odds and changing the point spread as the game goes along, encouraging you to make additional wagers.

You might be able to make up for your bad bet on the game with a better one or you could just as easily lose twice as much.

Call me sick if you want. Maybe even a degenerate. Tell me I need help. Send me the 1-900 number for problem gamblers.

In the meantime, I’ll give you my “Smokin’ Lock of the Week.”

You’re betting on the Super Bowl too.

Jim Moore has covered Washington’s sports scene from every angle for multiple news outlets. He appears Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 10 a.m. on Jason Puckett’s podcast at PuckSports.com. He writes a Substack blog at jimmoorethego2guy.substack.com. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) @cougsgo.

This story was originally published February 6, 2026 at 10:15 AM with the headline "I’m betting on one sure thing related to the Seahawks-Patriots Super Bowl."