Jackson Free Press

One of the biggest gambling days in the country is Super Bowl Sunday. Fans will bet plenty of money on either the New England Patriots or Atlanta Falcons to win the game.

They will place bets based on the combined score that both teams put up. Who will score the first touchdown? Who will throw the most touchdown passes? Most yards? Most rushing yards?, and more.

If something could happen during the game, you can probably bet on it. But the game isn’t where the betting stops.

There are plenty of other non-football related things to bet.

Before the game, you can bet on whether or not a player for either team will get arrested during Super Bowl week. Players have run into trouble with the law before the big game in the past, but it would be shocking if that happens to either of these teams.

Thinking about betting on the national anthem? You have plenty to bet on here, starting with how long Luke Bryan sings, which is set at one minute and 58 seconds, the color of Bryan’s shirt, whether or not he wears cowboys boots and blue jeans, and whether or not he puts his hand over his heart during his rendition.

Even before the kickoff, you can bet the outcome of the coin toss. You can also bet what the team winning the coin toss does and the first commercial after the coin toss.

One of the biggest non-football things to bet will be the halftime show featuring Lady Gaga. You can make some crazy bets on either the show or Lady Gaga.

Lady Gaga bets include if her outfit will break Twitter, what song will she sing to open and close the halftime performance? Does Fox have to blur her outfit? Or will she wear nothing at all?

More Gaga bets are, Will she have a snake on stage with her? What color will her hair be? Will she get booed? There are even odds that Lady Gaga will mention the current president during her halftime performance.

But Lady Gaga isn’t the only thing to bet on at the break. There is plenty to bet on just halftime alone.

Fans can bet on the show having a sound malfunction, the odds that someone catches on fire during the show, the halftime guest performers, the number of songs and if someone falls off stage.

One of the more interesting halftime best is whether or not there will be a wardrobe malfunction. The last time the Super Bowl was in Houston, Janet Jackson had her famous—or infamous, depending on how you look at—wardrobe malfunction.

Fans can place plenty of bets on the current president and the game. How many times President Trump will tweet during the game is a bet you can take and the over/under is five.

Other Trump bets include who he picks to win the game …

The Mississippi Attorney General's Office released the following statement, reproduced here verbatim:

"ATTORNEY GENERAL JIM HOOD ANNOUNCES SETTLEMENT WITH WESTERN UNION Western Union Admits Anti-Money Laundering and Consumer Fraud Violations

JACKSON— Attorney General Jim Hood announced today that popular money-transfer service Western Union will implement a comprehensive anti-fraud program in response to widespread claims of consumer fraud by third parties who use the service in their criminal schemes.

As part of a settlement with Mississippi and other states, Western Union has agreed to develop and put into action a plan intended to detect and prevent incidents where consumers become victims of fraud when they use Western Union to wire money to scammers.

In addition, Mississippi will receive $53,180 in the settlement.

“Criminals continue to craft all kinds of schemes to try to convince consumers to wire them money,” Attorney General Hood said. “Among these common scams are those where consumers have told they’ve won money or prizes, but first must wire money to pay required taxes or fees before they receive their winnings. These criminals try to exploit our instinct to protect our family members through scams saying a loved one is in immediate danger and needs money right away. Most importantly, consumers who receive solicitations from someone they’ve never met in person should be cautious about wiring money.”

The components of the anti-fraud program to be implemented by Western Union include: · Anti-fraud warnings on send forms that consumers use to wire money; · Mandatory and appropriate training and education for Western Union’s agents about fraud-induced wire transfers; · Heightened anti-fraud procedures when warranted by circumstances such as increased fraud complaints; · Due diligence checks on Western Union agents who process money transfers; · Monitoring of Western Union agent activity related to prevention of fraud-induced money transfers; · Prompt and appropriate disciplinary action against Western Union agents who fail to follow required protocols concerning anti-fraud measures;

In addition to this settlement with the states, Western Union also settled claims related to fraud-induced transfers with the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Justice. As part of that settlement, announced earlier this month, Western Union has agreed to pay $586 million to a fund that the U.S. Department of Justice will administer to provide refunds to victims of fraud induced wire transfers nationwide, including Mississippi victims. For more information about this settlement, visit https://www.justice.gov/criminal-mlars/remission.

Mississippi, 48 other states and the District of Columbia participated in the state settlement.

For more information about how to avoid wire-transfer scams and fraud, visit www.AGJimHood.com or call the Attorney General’s Consumer Hotline, (800) 281-4418."

There is an old saying in sports: “Offense wins games, but defense wins championships.” If that is the case, which defense will lead its team to a victory in Super Bowl LI?

Both offenses in this year’s Super Bowl, which airs Sunday, Feb. 5, at 5:30 p.m. on FOX, are two of the best in the NFL. The Atlanta Falcons have the top-scoring offense, averaging 34 points per game, and the New England Patriots are third, averaging 28 points per game.

The team that plays the best defense should come out on top in this game. There are several ways to rank defenses—most rank defenses by the yards they allowed per game, but some defenses give up yards but not points.

Winning a football game is about who scores the most points, and sometimes, that means forcing a field goal instead of giving up a touchdown.

New England is the top defense by that measurement, allowing just 16 points per game on average. Atlanta is 25th in the league in points allowed, as the Falcons’ defense gave up 25 points per game.

Another great test of a defense is its ability to get off the field on third down. That means forcing punts and field goals instead of giving up long drives for touchdowns.

The Patriots’ defense allowed teams to convert on third down 37 percent of the time for seventh in the league. Atlanta ended up allowing teams to convert 42 percent of the time on third down for 26th in the NFL.

New England allowed teams to convert just 39 percent on fourth down, and the Falcons allowed a whopping 72 percent of fourth-down conversions. This is important if one team is behind late in the game and must gamble for a first down.

The numbers bare out that the Patriots get off the field better on third down so they give up fewer points, and Atlanta struggles at times to get stops, which means its defense gives up more points.

Another factor in this Super Bowl may be how each team responds in the red zone, the area from the opposing team’s 20-yard line to that end zone. This represents a good scoring chance for a field goal or touchdown.

New England allowed its opponents to make touchdowns in the red zone 50 percent of the time, and Atlanta allowed red-zone touchdowns 72 percent of the time. On offense, the Patriots scored touchdowns on 64 percent of their red-zone trips, and the Falcons scored touchdowns on 63 percent of their visits to the red zone.

Good defenses force turnovers, and both teams are great at that. The Patriots forced 23 turnovers, and the Falcons forced 22 turnovers. Both teams only gave the ball away 11 times this season on offense.

But the opponents that a team plays against can skew statistics somewhat. …