Safety First

The big winner in Sunday’s Super Bowl was not Eli Manning.

Ok, it was Eli Manning.

But it was also some guy whose name shall remain nameless.

That’s because we don’t know what it is.

In fact, we don’t even know if it’s a guy.

But I’m betting on it.

What we do know is someone stepped to the counter at the MGM Sports Book in Las Vegas before Sunday’s game.

And made a $1,000 bet.

Ok, a lot of people stepped to the counter at the MGM Sports Book before Sunday’s game and made a $1,000 bet.

But this was not just any bet.

This was a stupid bet.

Insanely stupid bet.

Only problem is... it hit.

BIG.

One of the many beautiful things about the Super Bowl is the gambling.

You can bet on anything.

Literally anything.

You could bet on whether Madonna would wear an NFL Jersey during her halftime performance.

She did not.

You could also bet on whether the coin flip would land on heads or tails.

Remember, tails never fails.

Except Sunday.

You could even bet on how long Kelly Clarkson’s version of the National Anthem would go.

Now I love gambling as much as Kenny Rogers.

But some things just aren’t worth your time.

Or your money.

As Kenny said, you gotta know when to walk away.

Fortunately for our aforementioned nameless gambler, he didn’t know when to walk away.

In fact, thanks to his addiction he is $50,000 richer tonight.

Assuming he didn’t lose it all at the Video Poker machines.

You see our little gambler went all Phil Collins on us.

Betting against all odds.

The MGM Sports Book offered 50-to-1 odds that the first score of the game Sunday would be a safety.

By the Giants.

Not just a safety.

A play that rarely-to-never happens.

But a safety by a specific team.

As the first score of the game.

Now these “prop” bets as they are called are a lot of fun.

And there are a million of them.

Which team will call the first timeout.

Will there be an onside kick in the game.

Will Eli Manning make one of those goofy faces after his receiver runs the wrong route.

When it comes to the Super Bowl, you can bet on anything.

Now I must admit, I do love sitting in the sports book and throwing some cash down on those crazy bets.

$5 here.

$5 there.

20 prop bets later you’re down $100.

But you had a bunch of “free” drinks.

Inhaled a lot of second hand smoke.

And had a great time.

But to bet $1,000 on something that never happens.

Houston, we have a serious gambling problem.

Only this year.

It happened.

On the Giants first defensive play of the game.

They got a safety.

In a matter of seconds, New York’s first two points turned this man’s 1k into 50k.

Just.

Like.

That.

Now how unlikely was this occurrence?

Well, let's do the math.

This was Super Bowl XLVI.

And in the previous XLV games.

A safety happened just VI times.

That’s six times for those of you who don’t speak capital letter numbers.

Six times.

In 46 games.

And of those six times.

The safety was the first score of the game.

Just once.

XXXVII years ago.

Now just because I can’t afford to spend $1,000 on a prop bet doesn’t mean our little gambler can’t afford it.

In fact, the $50,000 he won might just be pocket money.

But I’m going to go out on a limb and say that his bet on the Safety wasn’t his only bet of the game.

For all I know -- he might’ve thrown 10 geez down that red would be the gatorade bath color for the winning coach.

Those odds were 13-2.

Or he might’ve bet 25k that Eli would have more completions on Sunday than LeBron would have points.

Which he did not.

Now I’m certainly not here to say that gambling is bad.

At our Super Bowl party on Sunday we sold Super Bowl squares to each of the guests.

And my 14-year-old daughter was the big winner.

She turned a 50-cent square into $20.

If only we would've raised those stakes.