The Wall Street Journal-20080205-Las Vegas Sports Books Sacked by Giants

Return to: The_Wall_Street_Journal-20080205

Las Vegas Sports Books Sacked by Giants

Full Text (514  words)

In New York, fans will remember Eli Manning's fourth-quarter scramble. In New England, they will remember Asante Samuel letting a potential interception slip through his hands. But in Las Vegas, Super Bowl Sunday 2008 will be remembered as the day the house lost big to the little guy.

Indeed, the New York Giants' 17-14 upset win was Las Vegas's loss. In advance of Sunday's game, money poured into Vegas sports books backing the Giants -- defying many so-called experts who had predicted a huge win by the then 18-0 New England Patriots. The fans who supported the Giants, and their 12-point underdog status, came out winners.

In addition, casinos were hurt by gamblers bypassing the point spread, and making a straight bet the Giants would win, against odds of more than 3 to 1. That type of bet, called a "money line," allowed a bettor who placed $100 on the Giants to win about $400 if New York won, while a bettor risking $475 on the favored Patriots stood to win $100 if New England won.

As much as 90% of the money-line action was on the Giants, said R.J. Bell, president of the sports-gambling information site Pregame.com. Bettors put down as little as $5 on the Giants money line, hoping for large payouts. Because the money-line bets were at high odds, the sports books lost significantly on those wagers.

Another blow came in "over-under" bets -- a wager in which total points scored by both teams will be higher or lower than a set number. Most casinos set that bet at 55 points. But the score, 17-14, totaled 31 points.

"It was a worst-case scenario for most of the books," said Jay Kornegay, executive director of the Race and Sports SuperBook at the Las Vegas Hilton. "There was just such an accumulation of small wagers. But it's not a disaster. We're not going to close the place down."

Mr. Kornegay wouldn't give financial figures, but he said it was probably the sports book's worst result ever for a Super Bowl.

State officials still are tallying the action, which was expected to hit a record $100 million in wagering.

A mitigating circumstance for some casinos was that many professional gamblers got it wrong by wagering large amounts on the Patriots. That offset to some degree the money from amateurs and fans who flooded Nevada sports books with smaller wagers, from about $5 to $500, and walked away winners.

MGM Mirage, which owns 12 sports books in Nevada, characterized the day as "a slight loss," and said side bets and wagers made far in advance of the Super Bowl helped to keep the day from becoming a major loss.

While money poured in on the Giants, "the Patriot money really just never materialized," said MGM Mirage sports book director Robert Walker. "Even an hour before kickoff, I thought the Patriots money would come in." Instead, he said, gamblers bet the Giants would win outright. The over-under tally also hurt, Mr. Walker said: "I'm still shocked today. I'm shocked that the Patriots only scored 14 points."