Getting instant gratification out of a bet has become more and more popular among bettors.
Bettors are becoming increasingly invested in offerings such as the RFI (Runs First Inning – Yes or No) in baseball, or the First Basket props in basketball.
The amount of ways NFL bettors can get instant gratification are myriad, including first plays, first touchdowns, etc. But the Super Bowl provides an even earlier way to cash a winning ticket. A bet that will have you celebrating or chasing before the ball is even kicked off.
That's right, let's bet on the Super Bowl coin toss — find the latest coin toss odds, heads vs. tails history and our best bet below.
Super Bowl Coin Toss Odds
The most important thing you can do when betting the coin toss is find the best odds available. Here's what price both sides of the coin are being offered at various sportsbooks:
| Sportsbook | Odds |
|---|---|
| DraftKings | -103 |
| theScore Bet | +100 |
| BetMGM | -102 |
| BetRivers | -103 |
| FanDuel | -104 |
| Caesars | -103 |
| bet365 | +100 |
| Fanatics | -105 |
theScore Bet (formerly ESPN BET) and bet365 are both offering heads and tails at even money. While there's obviously no guarantee you will win a bet if you place one on either side of the coin at those sportsbooks, the fact that you can get your money down without a vig on this 50/50 bet makes it more worth it should you feel inclined to bet this prop.
If you only have your money in one of the other sportsbooks, don't fret. There’s no shame in a little -EV gambling. Betting at any of the other listed sportsbooks is actually a better bet mathematically than going to a casino and placing your money on red or black at the roulette table.
In fact, a normal roulette table takes a larger vig than even the -110 markets. So when your friend asks why you’re betting on the coin toss, now you can turn the tables on them and explain the bet you made is actually more reasonable than their last trip to the roulette tables.
Super Bowl Coin Toss History
| Year | Result |
|---|---|
| 2014 | Tails |
| 2015 | Tails |
| 2016 | Tails |
| 2017 | Tails |
| 2018 | Heads |
| 2019 | Tails |
| 2020 | Tails |
| 2021 | Heads |
| 2022 | Heads |
| 2023 | Tails |
| 2024 | Heads |
| 2025 | Tails |
Betting on the coin toss in the Super Bowl has been around since at least the 1980s but reportedly became popularized in 1994 by Imperial Palace in Las Vegas. At first, it was offered as "Which team will win the coin toss?" and eventually transitioned into heads or tails.
It's now among the most popular prop bets offered during the Super Bowl.
That may seem ridiculous to some, but to many bettors, there's a perfectly good reason to bet the coin toss: it's one of the lowest vig bets on the board.
A large majority of the bets recreational bettors place on the Super Bowl will be -EV (expected value). The coin toss being a true 50/50 event, and being offered at even money — as it is at theScore and bet365 — then makes it among the more logical bets you can place.
For what it's worth, in the 59 Super Bowls that preceded this one, the coin has landed on tails 31 times and heads 28 times.
Other Ways to Bet the Coin Toss
Last season, the Chiefs were the designated road team in Super Bowl 59 against the Eagles and called tails. It landed on tails, so the Chiefs won the toss and deferred to the second half.
As we know, the Eagles won the game, snapping a two-year streak of the team winning the coin toss also winning the game. The Chiefs' two Super Bowl victories prior to last year's loss to the Eagles both were won by the Chiefs, and prior to that, we had a streak of nine straight years where the team that won the coin toss lost the game.
Put more simply, the team that has won the coin toss has lost the Super Bowl in 10 of the last 12 years.
Some sportsbooks even offer pre-built parlays for the coin toss winner and the game winner. At Caesars, you can bet the Seahawks to win the coin toss and the game at +165, so if you are confident in Seattle and also want to bet the coin toss, that's an option.
And to take it a step further, you can bet on simply which side of the coin the flip lands on and the game winner. For example, also at Caesars, you can bet on the coin to land on heads or tails and the Seahawks to win the game at +175.
Of those options as of this writing, the longest odds are for the Seahawks to win the coin toss and the Patriots to win the game, which you can get at +460 odds.
Keep in mind that parlaying the coin toss in this way is introducing more juice and house edge than just traditionally betting the coin flip.
If betting the actual coin toss outcome isn’t your thing, you can also choose to bet which team will win the toss. It’s the exact same bet from a numbers perspective, but maybe rabid Seahawks and Patriots fans want to set the tone with a win over the other team before the ball is even kicked off.
How Are People Betting the Coin Toss?
As of Monday afternoon, FanDuel is reporting that heads (-102) is taking the most action in the coin toss market, according to Vegas Insider's Patrick Everson.
At theScore Bet, 53.7% of coin toss bettors are taking tails, while 50.4% of the money is on heads, as of Friday morning.
Additionally, Caesars reported one bettor who wagered $100,000 on tails to be the coin toss outcome. A win would net the bettor $97,087.38.
Super Bowl Coin Toss Best Bet
Seattle has the choice on the coin toss as the designated away team for the Super Bowl.
One of the Seahawks' captains will make the call for heads or tails and then all eyes will be on head referee Shawn Smith for the most exciting three seconds in sports betting.
It is with a significant amount of jest that I call this a "best bet," but in the most vig-less bet of the Super Bowl, the old adage is going to ring true.
Tails never fails.
