Vegas sports book offers over 350 different Super Bowl bets
Jan 29, 2014, 10:55 AM | Updated: 12:01 pm
Fans are expected to wager nearly $100 million on Sunday's Super Bowl at Las Vegas sports books. (AP file)
(AP file)
How many Seahawks will score a touchdown in the Super Bowl? Will the Seahawks convert a fourth down attempt in the game? How many tackles will Bobby Wagner make? Those are just some of the hundreds of obscure proposition bets available to gamblers in Las Vegas this weekend.
It’s a big business. Jay Kornegay, Las Vegas Hotel Sports Book director, tells KIRO Radio’s Morning News they used to be considered “sucker bets,” but are now a big part of the Super Bowl.
“What you’ll find is the average person will come up and make one bet on the game and they’ll make four or five proposition bets and because of that, about 55 percent to 60 percent of the total handle on the Super Bowl is now on the propositions,” he says.
Kornegay says Nevada law limits the bets to what happens on the field and can be quantified in the box score. Only offshore gambling operations can take more exotic bets such as the length of the national anthem, the color of the announcers’ ties and other obscurities.
“I wish we could do how many times Manning’s going to say Omaha or how many times they’re going to show John Elway,” he laughs.
So how do they come up with all the bets?
“We just got about four of us together, locked ourselves in a house off the strip for about three days and pounded down some pizza and beer and we came up with just over 350 propositions,” he laughs.
Last year, gamblers wagered over $99 million on Super Bowl bets. Kornegay says there’s optimism the take could match or even top the record take.
“These two fan bases are very loyal and they will be showing up in groups. Some already have,” he says. “We expect it to be very close to the record again.”
So far, the early money is favoring the Broncos with bets running about five-to-one for Denver. But Kornegay, a Denver native who favors his home town team, says that’s often a good sign for the opposing team since the casinos make their money on gamblers getting it wrong.
“Usually, when the public’s on one side, the other side’s looking good,” he says.
