With Super Bowl 55 less than a week away – and the big game carrying one of the most compelling storylines ever – you can probably expect the betting action to be brisk.
In fact, you can probably expect it to be record-breaking.
Now, while you probably aren’t laying down seven figures on Father Time to cover the spread or Troy Polamalu’s hair apparent to hit the over all by himself, you’re likely thinking about putting at least a few bucks on the line.
Indeed, even if you’ve never bet on sports before, you may be interested in wagering on Super Bowl LV.
And that’s a fact: More first-time bettors wager on the NFL’s title game than any other single sporting event!
Of course, before they can do that, they’ve got to find a reputable betting site, sign up, and make a deposit.
The first two parts are easy.
Any legal Super Bowl betting site listed here, for example, is a top-tier option that’s time-tested and offers guaranteed payouts. Joining takes about two minutes.
The more difficult part – especially since there’s so little time between now and Super Bowl Sunday – is getting your account funded so you can actually place your wagers.
And remember, you’ll definitely want a day or two to browse the odds boards to find those wagers, since there are hundreds – or even thousands – of Super Bowl prop bets to choose from at every major online sportsbook.
In other words, you need a quick way to make a reliable deposit that leaves you enough time to not only bet on the Super Bowl, but also to enjoy the process itself. After all, Super Bowl prop sheets only hit the wire once a year, and they’re not to be missed!
So, to that end, you have several banking options at all the best sites, and each of these comes with pros and cons.
For our purposes (or, rather, your purposes), speed is the main thing. You want to be able – first and foremost – to deposit quickly.
For that, there may be no better option than credit or debit cards. These process instantly in most cases.
But there’s also a snag, and it’s that last part: “in most cases.”
Due to the federal UIGEA banking regulation, credit/debit deposits to legal overseas sportsbooks are blocked upwards of 5-10% of the time.
While this doesn’t suspend your card or mean you’re in any kind of trouble (it doesn’t and you aren’t), it does mean that there’s a pretty good chance you won’t get your account topped off in time to bet on the Super Bowl.
Also, card transactions usually come with fees of 3-9% of your total transaction, which is less than ideal for less than high rollers.
Another option – and perhaps a better option – is to use a sports betting voucher (aka player transfer) at participating sites such as Bovada. These have no added fees and let site members purchase account balances from other site members instantly.
Perhaps the best thing about using vouchers, though, is that you can effectively fund your account with PayPal or other instant-pay services (Venmo, Cash App, etc.) that aren’t directly supported by your online Super Bowl betting site.
Of course, all the above notwithstanding, the most popular bet funding option is to use a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin (BTC).
Unfortunately, if you don’t already hold any Bitcoin, it is likely too late to acquire the crypto at the regular online exchanges, at least for Super Bowl betting purposes.
Usually, for new users, it takes about 10 days for BTC purchases to clear. This is also true for other cryptos like Ethereum, Litecoin, Stellar, Ripple, etc.
That said, there is a way to get Bitcoin quickly, easily, and safely so you can bet on the Super Bowl with plenty of time to spare: the Zelle-to-Bitcoin process.
This is explained in more detail at the above link, but essentially, US bettors with access to Zelle Pay through their bank accounts (i.e. pretty much everyone) can use Zelle to buy BTC privately via the LocalBitcoins.com exchange.
The whole transaction takes about half an hour, and then you’ll have your BTC in-hand to deposit instantly into your Super Bowl betting account. There are no added fees for Bitcoin deposits, and you can usually get enhanced bonuses, too.
Finally, for members of BetOnline, MyBookie, and Xbet, there is a service called QuickBit (aka QB Direct) that allows you to use your Visa or Mastercard to instantly buy and transfer Litecoin to your betting account.
When funding your account with QuickBit via your credit/debit card, the purchase isn’t going directly to the gambling site itself, which means the UIGEA cannot interrupt these transactions.
Thus, this is the fastest way to load up your bankroll with crypto while taking advantage of all the Super Bowl bonus bets you get for doing so.
And as with BTC, there are no fees when depositing with Litecoin via the QuickBit/QB Direct method.
In general, there are a number of ways to get your account loaded up with plenty of time to spare before kickoff of Super Bowl 55 on February 7.
And the sooner you do it, the better off you’ll be.
So, who ya got?