CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) – It’s Super Bowl Sunday, and for the first time, Bay Staters are locking in their legal big game bets.

It’ll be a big day at MGM Springfield, as they’re expecting a huge crowd with their sportsbook up and running at full speed. So what’s allowed, you have the basics, betting on the point spread, and the over-under total.

So what if you’re new to the gambling game? Let’s cover the basics.

First and foremost; determine your budget. You should never wager any more money than you are comfortable with losing. Remember. the house always wins… even in sports. Second, it’s in-person only right now so no online or mobile betting.

“We have 18 kiosks scattered across the casino but we also have those five in-person windows. People are learning about it, it’s been a lot of fun,” said Beth Ward, Community Affairs Manager at MGM Springfield.

There are two basic kinds that you will find at the top of any bet sheet, for the Super Bowl or any of the major sports. Those are point spread and total points. For each, odds makers pick what’s called a “line” for people to wager against and that’s selected to try and entice an equal number of bets on either side. For point-spread bets, the line is essentially a margin of victory.

The favorite, listed as “minus points,” and has to win by more than that margin to cash the bet. The underdog, listed with plus points; if adding that number to their final score would make them the winners, then they have covered the spread.

The second basic bet type is the over-under total points or the combined score of both teams where you can just pick over or under that number.

The point spread is essentially a prediction of the outcome of the game from the sportsbook, and you can wager on either side. Right now, sportsbooks across the country are predicting the Eagles will win by a point and a half, if you agree, you can take the Eagle’s point spread.

Sportsbooks setting the line at 50 and a half points. You can take the over, and just root for touchdowns. Odds makers try to set those lines to get an even number of bets on either side, so they can make the most money.

22News spoke to Chris Kelley, President of MGM Springfield, about what the casino is expecting for their first big day of bets.

“As a team we are very excited about how far we have come,” said Kelley. “We still have mobile yet to be introduced and we still have March Madness, the biggest event on the sports calendar across the year, so more to come but very thankful and grateful for what we’ve accomplished.”