At the end of football season sportsbooks around the world try to maximize their profits on a just the few games that get played. Instead of 16 or 17 games per week there are just 11 games left once the regular season commences. To get extra action sportsbooks traditionally have put up a TON of proposition bets on the Super Bowl. Now, to maximize volume many books are putting up these same types of ‘prop’ wagers as early as this week’s games.

For the Super Bowl, sportsbooks in the Caribbean and Central America put up hundreds of proposition bets. They range from before the game on the coins toss (BetRevolution already has this up) to how many yards almost any offensive player gets to who scores when and what the final outcome for the each quarter and the game will be, to the exact score! This year we have seen very reputable books put out prop bets galore already . . . on this weekend’s games.

We went through our sportsbook list and found that almost every book is putting out some prop bets already, but the leaders of the early prop bets seem to be Bodog, 5Dimes and TheGreek.

The traditional bets regarding who sill score first and whether there will be a score in the last 2 minutes of the half are available at many sportsbooks for this weekend’s games. Other sprotsbooks increase their offerings with more traditional props such as how many yards Joe Flacco will throw for and how many catches Hines Ward will get. But Bodog has also put up a couple that encompass the entire football weekend – all four games. They are calling them Weekend Special Bets and they are the first of their kind that we have ever seen in Super Bowl prop betting.

WEEKEND PLAYOFF SPECIALS – Who will record the Most Passing YardsAaron Rodgers (GB) QB 7/4
Ben Roethlisberger (PIT) QB 7/2
Tom Brady (NE) QB 7/2
Matt Ryan (ATL) QB 7/1
Joe Flacco (BAL) QB 15/2
Matt Hasselbeck (SEA) QB 15/2
Jay Cutler (CHI) QB 10/1
Mark Sanchez (NYJ) QB 10/1

WEEKEND PLAYOFF SPECIALS – Who will record the Most Rushing Yards
Michael Turner (ATL) RB 5/2
BenJarvus Green-Ellis (NE) RB 4/1
Rashard Mendenhall (PIT) RB 5/1
Matt Forte (CHI) RB 5/1
Ray Rice (BAL) RB 15/2
Marshawn Lynch (SEA) RB 9/1
James Starks (GB) RB 10/1
Shonn Greene (NYJ) RB 10/1
LaDainian Tomlinson (NYJ) RB 12/1
Danny Woodhead (NE) RB 18/1

WEEKEND PLAYOFF SPECIALS – Who will record the Most Receiving Yards
Roddy White (ATL) WR 9/2
Greg Jennings (GB) WR 9/2
Mike Wallace (PIT) WR 5/1
Santonio Holmes (NYJ) WR 15/2
Anquan Boldin (BAL) WR 8/1
Wes Welker (NE) WR 9/1
Johnny Knox (CHI) WR 12/1
Braylon Edwards (NYJ) WR 12/1
Mike Williams (SEA) WR 14/1
Hines Ward (PIT) WR 15/1
Deion Branch (NE) WR 16/1
Derrick Mason (BAL) WR 18/1
Michael Jenkins (ATL) WR 18/1
Donald Driver (GB) WR 18/1
Ben Obomanu (SEA) WR 20/1
Devin Hester (CHI) WR 20/1

5Dimes may be the book that has the MOST NFL props posted for the 2nd round of the playoffs. They have over 100 props for each one of the games on the board. They also have gotten creative with offerings like “Will there be more than 6 punts by any one team?” and several where the winner of the first half is tied in with a wager in the second half . . . for each game! And The Greek has offerings for cross-sport matchups between the NFL and NBA games of the day. There are props for players where Baltimore’s Joe Flacco (NFL) pass completions compete against Miami’s LeBron James (NBA) points scored. Craziness, right?

But the wagering doesn;t end there. There are several places that will allow Live Wagering on these games (as well as many of the bigger games each week). 5Dimes has slowly become the king of this, eclipsing the downtrodden initiators of live betting, WSEX. They will have wagering during every commercial break of all four games. Other books that feature wagering during the game are
Bookmaker, Diamond, Hollywood, BetED, YouWager and BetPhoenix.  Bodog has a great piece of software with a variety of In-Game selections and a full tutorial on live betting.

Though most of these types of wagers should only be played for fun or as a diversion, because the odds are not ‘true-odds’ and are generally man-made, there are plenty of options offshore for the NFL playoffs. Frankly, I like over 6 punts in the Baltimore/Pittsburgh matchup . . . pick either team.