LAS VEGAS >> There was a time when the only Super Bowl bets you could make were the basic point spread and the total points scored. And we liked it.

Proposition bets on the biggest game in American sports were introduced to select Las Vegas casinos in the late 1980s — you might have the opportunity to wager on 10 to 20 proposition bets that were as basic as vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream. And even then, the old-timers would shake their heads and say to us youngsters putting good money on something as simple as the coin flip, “Those are sucker bets.” But a true 50-50 wager on heads or tails was about as good as you could get in the eyes of many and was the birth of an either-or sports betting nation.

For those of us who lived in Las Vegas during those heady times, we used to say, “They don’t pay at halftime.” Well, now they do, and then some.

This week, sitting in the Westgate sports book in Las Vegas was a true bettor’s paradise as the big computer board displayed more than 400 proposition bets ranging from something as simple to how many touchdown passes Tom Brady will throw when New England takes on Atlanta on Sunday night in Houston to who will be the MVP of Super Bowl LI.

There are various odds things like total number of receptions for the Falcons’ Julio Jones and whether Brady’s first pass will be complete or incomplete. Want a bet on whether there is a field goal in the first quarter? You can. How about the odds on whether either team scores four straight times? Yep, there’s a wager for that as well.

Maybe you’d prefer whether the first kickoff by Atlanta’s Matt Bryant is a touchback or whether the largest lead of the game by either team is more than 161⁄2 points. Will there be a safety? Or do you think the total yardage of all touchdowns in the game will be more than 1001⁄2 yards? What about overtime or total pass attempts by Brady more or less than 39? Will the game be decided by exactly seven points or will there be a 2-point conversion attempt?

You get the idea.

But as you thumb through the 29 pages of SBLI bets it gets weirder and weirder the deeper you go into the proposition playbook. There are several pages dedicated to “who will have more” bets. OK, here is one example. You can wager that Golden State guard Stephen Curry’s combined first-half points and assists in the Warriors-Kings game played tonight are 2.5 more than the combined first-half points in the Super Bowl. True wager.

Or, how about this one? You can bet that Washington Wizards guard John Wall’s total points in tonight’s game with New Orleans are more than Matt Ryan’s total distance on his first touchdown pass. And yeah, you have to lay 91⁄2 with Wall or get 91⁄2 with Ryan.

There were several that involved Tiger Woods. Here’s one that survived since he pulled out of the tournament in Dubai on Friday because of a bad back: Woods’ first-round score in Dubai vs. Atlanta punter Matt Bosher’s first gross kick? By the way, Woods is minus-241⁄2 on that one. He opened with a 77 on Thursday, so Bosher’s first punt has to go 53 total yards if you like the kicker or less if you took Woods.

We’ve just scratched the surface, but you realize whoever thought these things up must have had a drink or two as the night wore on. What you won’t see is how long the national anthem lasts or what’s the over/under on how many times Lady Gaga will mention President Donald Trump.

But just because those two didn’t make the cut doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of other prop bets just waiting for someone’s hard-earned money to be plopped down in hopes of making a big score. Hours were spent by thousands of gamblers trying to pin down that perfect bet they know will win.

If you’re a believer that one team will blow out the other, why not lay 211⁄2 points on the Patriots and win $65 for every $10 bet? If you think there will be a touchdown on nearly every possession, then you might be tempted to bet over 751⁄2 total points scored and pocket $450 on a $100 bet.

One prop that proved popular in the early going was betting the Falcons would win the game straight up at plus-140. For those new to these numbers, that means for every $10 wagered you’d get back $14. That seems tame by other proposition bets, but somewhere in the back of your mind is the two-word phrase: sucker bet.

Perhaps. But if the game itself gets out of hand, you still have all these other wagers to keep you going until the very end. Our personal favorite is who will have more: Manchester City goals in soccer or touchdown passes by Brady. That’s an easy one and just about as basic as heads or tails.