WORCESTER, Mass. - This year marks the first time Massachusetts bettors can place legal wagers on the Super Bowl online.

Massachusetts legalized sports betting on Jan. 31, 2023 just in time for the Super Bowl, but online sportsbooks didn’t launch until March 10.

Victor Matheson, a professor of economics at Holy Cross, said the accessibility of online betting is expected to make a huge difference in revenue this year.

“Last year, in total, Massachusetts took in about $5 million in legal Super Bowl bets,” Matheson said. “That's when you could only bet in-person at the casino. This year, we're going to have over $100 million in legal sports bets, almost all of which will occur in terms of mobile betting.”

For those who may be betting on the Super Bowl for the first time, Joe Murray of 98.5 The Sports Hub gave some advice about how to decipher what can be confusing betting odds.

“Right now, the 49ers are a favorite, which means that they basically need to win by two points or more, and it depends on where you get the line,” Murray said. “If it's -2, it means they need to win by three or more. If it's -1.5, they need to win by two or more. You will have to pay a 'vig' or a 'juice,' as some call it, which is a fee of -110 for 100. So, you'll place $110 to win $100. Sometimes that can be confusing.

"If you see a plus in front of it, for example, one of my bets is Christian McCaffrey to have two touchdowns or more; that's at +240. So, if I put $100 on that, I win $240."

Matheson said gambling is considered highly addictive for a percentage of the population - people placing bets of tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars a year who can't afford to do so.

“We're talking about maybe 1 to 5% of the betting population is a person that would be considered a problem gamer,” Matheson said. “Some money in the bill that legalized sports betting in Massachusetts is specifically set aside for gambling treatment. But again, significant issues with that again, affect work performance, affect marriages, affect bankruptcies. So, there is definitely a dark underside, even to legalized betting.”

Murray said his biggest piece of advice for first time online gamblers is to be cognizant about how much of your money you’re willing to lose.

“Whatever money you put into that account first, whether it's $100, $200, don't expect it back,” Murray said. “You're going to put it in there. Some people, that's all they ever put in and they continue to let it grow. They do it as an activity. But that would be my number one thing. Whatever you deposit into that account first, don't expect that money back.”

“If you walk into a sports betting app thinking that you're going to beat multibillion dollar companies like DraftKings or FanDuel, you're not likely to have a happy ending,” Matheson said.

A popular thing surrounding the big game are prop bets for things like betting on the color of the Gatorade or the length of the national anthem. However, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission is limiting some of those types of bets this year.