Heads Or Tails: Betting Super Bowl Coin Toss Sets Tone For Gamblers

The Super Bowl coin toss is one of the wildest parts of the Las Vegas viewing experience.

There’s no rhyme or reason to the handicap — it’s literally a 50-50 shot — but that doesn’t stop some American sports bettors from betting $20, $100 or even $500 on heads or tails every year.

Tails is 29-26 all-time in the Big Game and the betting handle continues to increase annually.

I observed the first half of Super Bowl LV in the Westgate SuperBook risk room last year and you could literally hear the whooping and hollering from behind the counter when the coin landed heads.

“We just lost five figures,” SuperBook vice president of risk management Ed Salmons told me.

“It’s good luck to lose the opening decision,” SuperBook executive director John Murray added.

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Super Bowl coin toss results:
LV: Heads
LIV: Tails
LIII: Heads
LII: Heads
LI: Tails
50: Tails
XLIX: Tails
XLVIII: Tails
XLVII: Heads
XLVI: Heads
XLV: Heads
XLIV: Heads
XLIII: Heads
XLII: Tails

Heads bettors have cashed in three of the last four Super Bowls, although the patterns have been rather wild going back the last 15 years. Tails hit four straight times from Super Bowl XLVIII to LI while heads was on a scorching five-game hot streak from Super Bowl XLIII to XLVII.

If you’re looking to bet the toss, my advice is simple: get the best price.

A few sportsbooks offer +100 on heads and tails, so there’s no vigorish. Lots of American shops deal it -102 or -105 each way, while others leave it at -110 and keep the 10% juice on the losses.

Why risk $110 to win $100 when you could lay $100 to win $100?

“The first roar of the crowd is always the coin toss,” Murray told NESN late last week. “I actually bet on the coin toss many, many years ago. There was a book that had +105 on tails. It’s a literal coin toss and I got plus-money. I bet $20 to win $21 and lost. I haven’t bet the coin toss since.

“I think we’ll be rooting for tails this year,” Murray forecasted. “The public seems to like to bet heads. Only in the Super Bowl do we have a significant decision before the game even starts.”

NESN’s big game coverage is presented by Berkshire Bank