Super Bowl 2024: What does an Octopus mean in football? We explain the bet

All bets are off for the 2024 Super Bowl. With the NFL’s largest event being held in Las Vegas, you can BET (Sorry. Dad joke.) that there will be lots of wagers made, including some types you’ve likely never heard might not have heard of.  If you’re like me, you’re probably wondering: what in the world is an Octopus Bet?

I’ll be the first to admit that my betting knowledge was not that great for a long time, but because I like to be knowledgeable, I absorb a lot. (I WAS NOT PUT ON THIS EARTH TO BE EMBARRASSED.) As each Super Bowl draws closer, my mind returns to Super Bowls past. I recently thought of something from the 2023 matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles.

During the fourth quarter, Jalen Hurts scored a rushing touchdown and immediately ran in a two-point conversion on the next play. (See the 4:33 and 4:46 marks of the video below.)

That wild sequence is called an octopus. The six points from the touchdown and the two-point conversion make an eight-point play, and since octopuses have six arms and two legs, betting on something like that happening is called an octopus bet.

Don’t say I didn’t ever teach you anything.

Jalen Hurts runs for a TD and then scores the 2 point conversion for an Octopus

Odds on an Octopus at @dksportsbook were 14/1.

This is the first Octopus in the 29 Super Bowls since the 2-point conversion was implemented.

— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) February 13, 2023

Jalen Hurts cashes the Octopus bet (same player scores TD + ensuing 2-pt conversion) at 14-1 at @DKSportsbook

98% of bets AND 98% of wagers were on the YES

— Ben Fawkes (@BFawkes22) February 13, 2023