Coin toss offers thrill of victory before Super Bowl even begins

The Super Bowl offers something for every kind of bettor: sharps, wannabe sharps, novices and even casino patrons who would usually just be playing roulette.

Red or black? Odd or even? For the Super Bowl, how about heads or tails?

The coin toss is one of the staples of the Super Bowl prop menu, making bettors winners or losers before the game even kicks off. Instead of puzzling over thousands of props trying to find an edge, bettors can choose the one option in which it’s impossible to be at a disadvantage — other than the juice the house charges, of course.

Westgate SuperBook vice president Jay Kornegay recalled one bettor who struggled to pick a side for the February 2004 Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and Carolina Panthers.

“He bet $30,000 on the coin toss because he couldn’t make up his mind on the game,” Kornegay said. “He said he couldn’t figure out who he wanted to bet on. He was hemming and hawing all weekend and finally said, ‘All right. I’ll just bet on the coin toss.’ He won and enjoyed the game.”

Las Vegas sportsbooks do give bettors a break on the coin toss, offering reduced juice ranging from -101 at Caesars Sportsbook to -105 at some other shops. (The normal juice is -110, meaning bettors have to wager $110 to win $100.)

Circa Sports has its own bit of fun with the coin toss odds, making tails the “favorite” at -105. Heads is -104.

Red Rock Resort sportsbook director Chuck Esposito said most of the bets are for $10 or $20, with bettors just looking for some extra action.

Bettors like the coin toss “because it’s just a random event and because it’s the first thing that happens in the Super Bowl,” Esposito said. “People say, ‘I can actually win money on the coin toss.’”

Sportsbooks have even found ways to expand the coin toss prop betting menu. Several sportsbooks have three options on the coin toss:

— Will the coin toss land heads or tails?

— Which team will win the coin toss?

— Will the player that calls the coin toss call it correctly?

The Golden Nugget offers an option for “will the team that wins the coin toss win the game?” at -110 on both sides. BetMGM offers a prop on whether the winner of the coin toss will choose to receive the ball or defer to the second half. Defer is a -675 favorite, and receive pays +475.

Kornegay said he enjoys listening to the coin toss in the sportsbook.

“The room is usually buzzing, and everybody is settling down in their seats, but it quiets down when the coin toss takes place,” he said. “Everybody’s listening for the call. It’s funny, you hear about half the room erupt once they announce the result.”

Contact Jim Barnes at jbarnes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0277. Follow @JimBarnesLV on Twitter. Review-Journal reporter Todd Dewey contributed to this story.