An octopus in sports betting is a football prop bet on one player scoring a touchdown and the two-point conversion on the same drive. A touchdown is 6 points and the conversion adds 2, so that one player accounts for all 8 points, one for each arm. Sportsbooks usually list it as a simple Yes / No market, mostly around the Super Bowl.
What counts as an octopus
The rule that trips people up is same player, both plays. The usual reading looks like this:
- Counts: a running back rushes for a touchdown, then rushes or catches the two-point conversion. A quarterback who runs in the touchdown and then runs in the conversion counts too.
- Does not count: a touchdown pass followed by a two-point pass to a different receiver, or a quarterback who throws the touchdown and then runs the conversion himself.
- Needs a two-point try: a touchdown followed by an extra-point kick is not an octopus. The team has to go for two.
Sportsbooks write their own house rules, so read the wording on the bet slip before you place one. How they treat unusual plays (a conversion nullified by a penalty, for example) is a house-rules question, not something this page can answer for every book.
Where the name comes from
The nickname was popularized by Sports Illustrated writer Mitch Goldich after Carolina receiver Torrey Smith caught a touchdown and then the two-point conversion from the same quarterback in 2018, and he asked what such a feat should be called. Outlets date the coinage to either late 2018 or early 2019, and the name stuck because of the eight points. The octopus in your betting app and the octopus in our logo are unrelated; the match is a coincidence.
How the bet is priced
It is a two-sided market: Yes (an octopus happens in the game) and No (it doesn’t). Because it is rare, Yes is a long shot with a big price and No is a heavy favorite with a tiny payout. Here is a real snapshot reported for Super Bowl LX in February 2026, with the chance each price implies (see how American odds work):
| Sportsbook | Yes | Yes implies | No | No implies | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FanDuel | +900 | 10.0% | −2500 | 96.2% | 106.2% |
| DraftKings | +1500 | 6.3% | −5000 | 98.0% | 104.3% |
| Caesars | +1500 | 6.3% | −6000 | 98.4% | 104.6% |
Prices as reported by CasinoBeats before Super Bowl LX. They are a past snapshot, not current prices. “Implies” = the breakeven chance in the price before any adjustment. “Total” is Yes + No, and everything above 100% is the book’s margin (the vig).
Notice the two sides add up to more than 100% at every book. That extra is the cost of betting the market, and on a long shot like this it is paid on top of an already low chance of winning.
How often does an octopus happen
- Since 1994: two-point conversions were introduced to the NFL in 1994. Two outlets that counted put the total at about 188 octopuses since then.
- Per game: one count found 93 octopuses in 2,724 games since 2014, about 3.4% of games.
- In the Super Bowl: one so far, by Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts in Super Bowl LVII (February 2023). He ran for a 2-yard touchdown and then ran in the conversion to tie the game at 35.
Those counts come from the outlets linked below, and OctopusOdds has not recounted them. They describe the past, and they move with how often teams go for two.
What the price is really asking
On the No side the numbers flip. At −5000 you risk $50 to win $1, so one octopus erases the profit from about 50 winning No bets.
Compare the same bet at different books
In the table above, Yes is +900 at one book and +1500 at two others. On a $10 bet that is a $90 profit versus $150 if it hits. No is the opposite: −2500 pays more per dollar than −6000. The best price depends on which side you take, which is why comparing both sides across several books is worth the minute it takes.
Sources: Legal Sports Report, CasinoBeats, The Lines, Fantasy Life. Counts and prices are as those outlets reported them; check your sportsbook for current rules and prices. Past results don’t predict any game.
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