One of my favorite things about the Super Bowl is that there are so many options to bet on that don't include only the game spread or total. There are literally hundreds of prop bets from the coin toss, to the length of the national anthem, to who will score the first TD, to which color gatorade will be dumped on the winning coach. Of course like all bets only a few of these offer some real value and I'm going to talk about some of the ones I've played and hit on the in the past and why I like them to hit better than the typical given odds. Some of these are pretty big long shots and should only be bet with small amounts unless you're just feeling lucky and looking for a big pay day.

First Score FG or Safety: odds +140

This is pretty self explanatory, if either team kicks a field goal as the first score of the game or in the unlikely event that it's a safety this cashes your ticket. In all the Super Bowls that have featured the Patriots with Brady-Belichick at the helm they have never scored a first quarter TD. Of course that could all change this year but taking the first score as a FG seems pretty likely to hit given their history.

Two Point Conversion Successful: odds +190

Given that this is the Super Bowl and teams will do everything they can win or put the game away this one seems to have a pretty high likelihood of happening as well. If a team scores a TD they will for sure consider the time left in the game and whether it is worth it to try and get the 2 point conversion to make the other team need another score to catch up, or to pull within a certain amount in their attempt to catch up. At some books you can get this prop on it just being attempted and not even needing to be successful.

Defense Special Teams TD: odds +200

This one requires the defense or special teams to score a TD sometime during the game. This can happen as a kickoff return, a punt return, a pick 6, or a fumble recovery TD. This is a good prop to bet on when the teams have pretty good defenses and usually teams that make the Super Bowl have some of the best defenses in the league. The Rams have the potential to make this bet a winner as they are one of the better scoring defenses in the league. They can generate turnovers and convert them into TDs and have multiple times this season. Also don't count out a possible errant throw by Rams QB Jared Goff that might get picked and returned. This is one of the longer long shots but it's worth a few bucks at the rate it seems to hit in the big game.

Will There Be A Safety Yes: odds +800

This is the longest of the long shots I like to bet on. A safety happening in the game seems like a total long shot but it happens more often than you think. Over the last 10 years there have been 4 super bowls that have had a safety, or 40% of the time. The last time there was a safety in the Super Bowl was the game between the Seahawks and Broncos where Peyton Manning had the ball snapped over his head and he knocked out of the back of end zone to prevent a defensive TD. Other ways this can happen is if there is an intentional grounding penalty while the QB is standing in the end zone. This happened to Tom Brady the last time he faced the Giants in the Super Bowl. Also any time the offense gets tackled in their own end zone it will result in a safety. This one is definitely worth a flyer because it can happen and 8 to 1 on your money is a pretty good return.

So those are some of my favorite prop bets. Do you have any that you like to bet on? If so, what are they? The odds listed above are current from the bookmaker.eu website. I have seen different odds quoted at different books so if you shop around you might be able to find even better odds than the ones I listed for these specific props. Sometimes way better odds. A few days ago it was quoted that the def/special teams TD was up at +350 somewhere in Vegas or on Bovada. Good luck with all your bets!