Super Bowl Gives Vegas Sportsbook Another Profit

For the 15th time in the last 16 years, the Vegas sports books posted a profit on the Super Bowl. Compared to last year's modest $724,000 profit, this year's profit was $5,064,470 - very nice.

Here is an article from the The Vancouver Sun, via Reuters:
The value of bets placed in Nevada’s 184 sports books was $93.9 million US, up 7.3 per cent from the $87.5 million wagered on last year’s Super Bowl between Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers, according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

Sports books in Nevada kept a combined $5 million from Super Bowl bets, or 5.4 per cent of the total wagers placed, unaudited figures showed. That was up significantly from the $724,176 they pocketed last year when the Packers beat the Steelers.

Casinos in Las Vegas were initially hoping for a Patriots win in Sunday’s championship game but a slew of late bets for New England over the weekend altered their allegiances.
I got the actual number from this web site which lists the actual profits and percentages for the Super Bowl going back to 1991.

Apparently, it wasn't so much the outcome of the games, but the outcome of many prop bets that really helped. Here is an excerpt from The Las Vegas Sun web site:
The under, however, wasn’t a poor result for everyone. Mike Colbert, sports book director at Cantor Gaming, said his shop would have lost money with the over.

Cantor made a minor profit overall.

“The real reason, to be honest, was the props,” Colbert said. “The props really helped us. Under was good for us, but we’re a small winner for the day because of props.”

The low-scoring nature of the game translated into many of the props on individual players going under. That was exactly what the sports books wanted.

For instance, the LVH (formerly the Las Vegas Hilton) Superbook listed New York quarterback Eli Manning’s over/under passing yards at 308 and New England quarterback Tom Brady’s at 319. Neither threw for more than 300, as Manning finished with 296 yards and Brady had 276.

“Both quarterbacks staying under was very big for us,” Colbert said. “(New York receiver) Victor Cruz only having for catches was very big for us. Those were three of the best.”

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