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Mere seconds into Super Bowl XLVIII, you could have cued up the one-hit wonder Men Without Hats – because many bettors were already doing the "Safety Dance".
On the first play from scrimmage, the center snap went sailing past Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning and was recovered by Denver’s Knowshon Moreno in the end zone, immediately giving the Seattle Seahawks a 2-0 lead and fortunate bettors a fat windfall.
The Seahawks, 2.5-point underdogs, went on to a shocking 43-8 blowout victory at MetLife Stadium on a day when weather really had no effect on the outcome.
Mike Perry of Sportsbook.ag said he had three bettors put $500 on the prop of a safety being the first score of the game.
“That was an awful result for our shop,” said Perry, who had it at 50-1, meaning each of those three pocketed $25,000, while Vegas bettors who took it cashed at around 40-1. Add onto that all the bettors who took the prop bet that there would be a safety at any point in the game, which was between +500 and +600 at most spots, and the books took a hefty hit right out of the gate.
“It’s definitely not suitable for a family publication,” Golden Nugget oddsmaker Aaron Kessler said of his thoughts after the speedy safety. “But here’s the best part: We won on our props for the day. It was a slog all the way, though.”
Said Sunset Station sports book director Chuck Esposito: “I’m guessing industry-wide, the guests did well on both the safety and the 2-point conversion. They were definitely hooting and hollering here.”
The 2-point conversion came from the Broncos in the second half. Esposito compared the safety with the Bears-Colts Super Bowl in 2007, in which Devin Hester returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown.
“It’s strange, but there have been a couple games where something like that has happened,” he said. “None of it really surprises me anymore. The game overall was a little surprising – I was a little surprised at the domination by Seattle.”
Midway through the second quarter, another popular prop came through – a defensive or special teams score. Denver didn’t get a first down until four and a half minutes into the quarter, but later on that drive, Manning threw an interception that Malcolm Smith returned 69 yards for a touchdown and a 22-0 Seattle lead.
As for the final score, things went much better for the books.
“Seattle winning is a huge win for our shop,” Perry said. “We won big both on the spread and the moneyline – 73 percent of the money on the spread was on Denver, and 69 percent of the moneyline cash was on Denver.”
Esposito echoed that sentiment.
“I would say the Seahawks and the over was good for us,” he said. “The over was mixed a bit, because in a game of this magnitude, especially with Peyton Manning, guests like the over. In this case, they got the underdog and the over.”
South Point oddsmaker Jimmy Vaccaro, who has been in the business for nearly four decades, said the safety did leave a little dent – “It wasn’t a major amount of money. The bettors got there fair and square.” – but it worked out for his book in the end, between the Seahawks’ runaway and many popular Manning props falling completely by the boards.
“Everything else went well. Seattle and the over was the optimum winner,” he said. “I would suggest that most places in Nevada had a very good day.”
Said Kessler: “We were very pleased. I was definitely very happy with the game result.”
The better news, Vaccaro said, may have come before kickoff.
“The pedestrian traffic, I’ve never seen it busier,” he said. “We had 4,000 people at parties upstairs. So we had 12 windows open downstairs (at the book) and eight more upstairs, and we were writing tickets from 8 a.m. all the way up to kickoff. We had better handle than last year, and at least 40 percent of it was on props.
“It was 25 people deep at our windows. Personally, I have never seen that many people trying to make bets at one time, and I’ve been doing this a long time.”
Many Nevada books projected the state’s total Super Bowl handle to eclipse last year’s record draw of $98.9 million. Bettors will have to wait at least a couple days for those final figures to tally up.
On the first play from scrimmage, the center snap went sailing past Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning and was recovered by Denver’s Knowshon Moreno in the end zone, immediately giving the Seattle Seahawks a 2-0 lead and fortunate bettors a fat windfall.
The Seahawks, 2.5-point underdogs, went on to a shocking 43-8 blowout victory at MetLife Stadium on a day when weather really had no effect on the outcome.
Mike Perry of Sportsbook.ag said he had three bettors put $500 on the prop of a safety being the first score of the game.
“That was an awful result for our shop,” said Perry, who had it at 50-1, meaning each of those three pocketed $25,000, while Vegas bettors who took it cashed at around 40-1. Add onto that all the bettors who took the prop bet that there would be a safety at any point in the game, which was between +500 and +600 at most spots, and the books took a hefty hit right out of the gate.
“It’s definitely not suitable for a family publication,” Golden Nugget oddsmaker Aaron Kessler said of his thoughts after the speedy safety. “But here’s the best part: We won on our props for the day. It was a slog all the way, though.”
Said Sunset Station sports book director Chuck Esposito: “I’m guessing industry-wide, the guests did well on both the safety and the 2-point conversion. They were definitely hooting and hollering here.”
The 2-point conversion came from the Broncos in the second half. Esposito compared the safety with the Bears-Colts Super Bowl in 2007, in which Devin Hester returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown.
“It’s strange, but there have been a couple games where something like that has happened,” he said. “None of it really surprises me anymore. The game overall was a little surprising – I was a little surprised at the domination by Seattle.”
Midway through the second quarter, another popular prop came through – a defensive or special teams score. Denver didn’t get a first down until four and a half minutes into the quarter, but later on that drive, Manning threw an interception that Malcolm Smith returned 69 yards for a touchdown and a 22-0 Seattle lead.
As for the final score, things went much better for the books.
“Seattle winning is a huge win for our shop,” Perry said. “We won big both on the spread and the moneyline – 73 percent of the money on the spread was on Denver, and 69 percent of the moneyline cash was on Denver.”
Esposito echoed that sentiment.
“I would say the Seahawks and the over was good for us,” he said. “The over was mixed a bit, because in a game of this magnitude, especially with Peyton Manning, guests like the over. In this case, they got the underdog and the over.”
South Point oddsmaker Jimmy Vaccaro, who has been in the business for nearly four decades, said the safety did leave a little dent – “It wasn’t a major amount of money. The bettors got there fair and square.” – but it worked out for his book in the end, between the Seahawks’ runaway and many popular Manning props falling completely by the boards.
“Everything else went well. Seattle and the over was the optimum winner,” he said. “I would suggest that most places in Nevada had a very good day.”
Said Kessler: “We were very pleased. I was definitely very happy with the game result.”
The better news, Vaccaro said, may have come before kickoff.
“The pedestrian traffic, I’ve never seen it busier,” he said. “We had 4,000 people at parties upstairs. So we had 12 windows open downstairs (at the book) and eight more upstairs, and we were writing tickets from 8 a.m. all the way up to kickoff. We had better handle than last year, and at least 40 percent of it was on props.
“It was 25 people deep at our windows. Personally, I have never seen that many people trying to make bets at one time, and I’ve been doing this a long time.”
Many Nevada books projected the state’s total Super Bowl handle to eclipse last year’s record draw of $98.9 million. Bettors will have to wait at least a couple days for those final figures to tally up.
.," meaning that his preceding tweet was false (skeptics quickly pointed out that the actual prop bet in Las Vegas for such a play was closer to 40-1). But that tweet has since been deleted, perhaps indicating that Cuban wants to see how long the rumor of his supposed jackpot will linger.
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