New prop betting markets have appeared almost daily, especially in popular sports like football. Besides wagering on traditional markets like match or tournament winners in significant football events like the Super Bowl, bettors now have nearly endless betting opportunities in props, from betting on the color of the Gatorade shower to how long the National Anthem will take.
This article will cover everything you need to know about it, including:
Octopus bet is one of the newest novelty prop football bets garnering massive attention from NFL fans and bettors. Even some die-hard experienced bettors are unfamiliar with this bet, so there’s no need to beat yourself up if you haven’t heard about it. To fully understand how this bet works, it is essential to understand the concept of itself in the sport.
Recently, this novelty prop is becoming popular in sportsbooks. For instance, popular bookmakers like Fanduel, DraftKings, and BetRivers released odds for the “Will there be an octopus” prop for the Super Bowl 57 in February 2023. Also, it is noteworthy that this prop is unique to football; hence you can’t find octopus basketball bets or any other sport on bookmakers.
While the concept of an octopus is easy to understand, the phenomenon is rare. It had only happened 175 times in the NFL since 1994, when the 2-point conversion was introduced to the league. Also, it has only happened once in the Super Bowl. It means only a tiny percentage of players have been able to record one in their career. In this section of our article, we’ll examine popular players who have registered the octopus in football.
Todd Gurley is a former professional American football player who played as a running back primarily for the Los Angeles Rams in the NFL. He is first on our list as he has the most octopi in the NFL, having recorded the stat 4 times in his career. Even more remarkable is that he recorded the feat thrice in one season and twice in the same game.
Gurley recorded his first 2 octopi in 2018 in Ram’s Week 2 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals, scoring 2 consecutive 2-point conversions after 2 touchdowns. He made it 3 in Week 8 of the same season against the Packers. Gurley recorded his last octopus in the 2019/20 season against the Cowboys for the record-setting 4th time in his career. With him retiring in 2022, we’ll see if this record will be broken soon.
Randy Moss is another former American football wide receiver who played in the NFL for 14 seasons. He is the second player with the most octopi in the NFL behind Gurley, recording the feat 3 times in his career. Moss recorded his first 2 octopi in 1998 and 2000 while playing with the Vikings and added the third one with the Patriots in 2009.
Jalen Hurts is an NFL QB who plays for the Philadelphia Eagles. While the above players in our list won their octopi before the stat started gaining traction in the betting community, Hurts won his first recently in December 2022 in a matchup against the Bears to put his team in a 25-13 win.
However, Hurt’s most notable octopus in football was during the February 2023 Super Bowl 57 when the Eagles faced off against the Chicago Bears. After scoring 2 touchdowns, he ran a third one-yard TD in the 4th quarter of the game and scored the 2 ensuing 2-point conversions, becoming the first-ever player to achieve this rare feat in the Super Bowl.
The Green Bay Packers have recorded 11 octopi, the highest by any NFL team except the Rams. Two of the Packer’s players, DaVante Adams and Randall Cobb, have recorded 2 octopi each for the club, with Adams scoring the most recently against the 49ers in the Week 49 of 2022/23 NFL. The other 7 Packer’s octopi were scored by Aaron Rodgers, Ruvell Martin, James Jones, Richard Rodgers, Corey Bradford, Greg Jennings, and Mark Chmura.
The Los Angeles Rams tie Packers as the highest number of octopi in the NFL, scoring the feat 11 times. Names like Todd Gurley, the king player of octopi with 4 recorded feats, are notable in this achievement. Cam Akers scored another notable Rams octopus in the 2020/21 season against the Green Bay Packers. Akers later won the award for the best octopus of the season.
Other teams that follow closely behind the ones listed above with the most octopi are the Eagles, Steelers, and 49ers.
Today, several sportsbooks offer odds for octopus NFL bets. As mentioned above, scoring the octopus is rare, having happened 175 times since 1994. Since each NFL season has 272 games, simple math will give you 2% as the probability for one happening in any match you wager on.
So, you’ll find that the odds of an octopus in betting are always high, while the odds of there being none in a match are ridiculously low. Therefore, the real opportunity in this bet is to predict a “Yes” for the “Will there be an octopus” market, as this promises remarkable payouts.
Like other prop bets, sportsbooks consider several factors before offering their odds for the octopi occurring, including past performances of players and teams, historical stats, and weather. However, the odds for an octopus may vary significantly depending on the match. For instance, if a team’s player has a record of scoring TDs and 2-point conversions, the odds for octopus may be lower than regular for the game. Sportsbooks will also adjust their odds based on the amount wagered on each of the “Yes” and “No” possibilities for the novelty prop bet.
The Super Bowl is among the most-wagered sports events worldwide. Therefore, it is not surprising that it is filled with a wide variety of betting options and markets, from regular ones to specialized prop wagers like the first player to score a TD, the color of Gatorade, and the coin toss. The NFL octopus bet is not a traditional football betting market, but it is one of the novelty prop bets available in the Super Bowl.
The Super Bowl 57 held in February 2023, between Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles, is one of the best examples of Super Bowl prop bet octopus odds. Before the match, top sportsbooks like DraftKings, Fanduel, and BetRivers had offered odds for the “Will there be an octopus” market. DraftKings set the odds for “Yes” at +1400, which implied a 6.67% probability of happening. Conversely, the odds for “No” is a massive -10000. Therefore, a bettor will win $1500 if their “Yes” wager is a substantial payout.
As mentioned above, bookmakers set odds for octopus bet Super Bowl based on every factor pointing to the possibility of the rare event, including team and player performances, past statistics, external factors, etc.
Interestingly, Eagle’s QB, Jalen Hurts, cashed this bet for the first time in the history of the Super Bowl, running a one-yard TD and scoring the following two-point conversion. It resulted in wild excitement in the betting community as around 98% of bets were on “Yes.”
As mentioned above, octopus is a recent term in football coined by Mitch Goldich, a sports writer from Sports Illustrated, in 2019. He says, “An octopus is when the same player who scores a touchdown also scores the ensuing 2-point conversion.” No, being a quarterback and throwing the ball for a TD does not count. You must be the one who secures the ball in the end zone on both plays.”
While the term “octopus” is new, the phenomenon’s reality has been possible since 1994, when the NFL implemented the two-point conversion. It means different players have achieved the feat in their careers since 1994.
However, octopus in football is relatively rare. For instance, from 1994 to the 2022/23 NFL season, only 175 octopi occurrences were recorded. Additionally, only one octopus has been recorded in the Super Bowls since that year till the present. Presently, Todd Gurley remains the king player of octopus, having recorded the feat four times in his career. He is closely followed by Hall-of-Fame Randy Moss, who has three octopi to his name. Also, two teams are currently tied with the most octopi in the NFL; the Green Bay Packers and Los Angeles Rams, with 11 octopi each.
DraftKings is one of the sportsbooks that allows bettors to wager on an octopus possibility. With one of the biggest user bases, it also covers a wide range of other prop wagers with fair odds, a sleek mobile application, and an excellent user experience. It makes the bookmaker one of the best places to wager on the octopus market.
DraftKings offered one of the best odds for the “will there be an octopus” market in the Super Bowl LVII with the yes and no options at +1400 and -10000, respectively.
The octopus football bet can be worth it. While the probability of one happening is relatively rare, the payout is usually handsome if your wager comes through. For instance, if you wagered $100 on “yes” for an octopus prop bet in the last Super Bowl, you would have received $1500 as the payout, even though there has never been an octopus in the event before.
However, some octopus betting tips include conducting helpful research on the players and teams involved to make informed decisions in your selections. You can also take advantage of the bonuses at your preferred sportsbook to maximize your bankroll and increase your chances of winning.
