Reno Journal
Hundreds of bettors were at a fever pitch Sunday during Super Bowl XXXIX at the Reno Hilton sports book.
Steve
Kinley, 25, had a bet on the underdog Philadelphia Eagles and enjoyed
the game much more than those who had taken the favored New England
Patriots.
“I wagered 100 bucks for my friends, for the Eagles to win, straight up, no points,” he said. “If the Eagles win, I get $240.”
“Right now it’s looking good,” he said at halftime. “But we’re still not at the end of the game.”
The
Patriots won, 24-21, but a touchdown pass with less than two minutes to
play enabled the Eagles to beat the seven-point spread.
Mike Corcoran, 55, from Folsom, Calif., bet $1,000 on the Patriots.
“I
got one that’s a parlay, which I took the Patriots and the under,” he
said, in the first quarter. “The under is looking real good, but the
Patriots aren’t looking real good. But I’ve got plenty of time left. If
I won everything, I’d have $2,500.”
The over-under on the game was 48 points.
Keigh Dhabolt, 53, from Clearlake, Calif., also bet on the Patriots.
“We’re
here just for the fun of it,” he said from a table with a group of
friends. “I possibly could get around $900 back. But they need to
score.”
Officials said betting had been steady the two weeks since the conference championship games.
“This
year’s betting pattern was fairly typical for a two-week period,” said
Donald A. Bourcier, assistant manager at the Hilton Race and Sports
Book. “The big money started coming in on the Patriots, and continued
and continued, up until today. And today we started getting some big
bets on the Eagles. Typically the underdog money comes in late. It sort
of balances the books a lot more.
“You think that just because
we don’t have a West Coast team in the Super Bowl, the action wouldn’t
be very active, but it has been very active. They were out in droves
today, and they are having a great time out here. You can see that.”
Jose
Espinova, 34, of Watsonville, Calif., said he usually goes to Las Vegas
for the Super Bowl but was pleased with his Reno experience.
“It’s
great. It was better when they showed it on big screen (in an
auditorium),” he said. “But it’s still great. You’re still watching a
game.”
More than $80 million is bet in Nevada annually on the Super Bowl.
“This
year’s (betting) business has been at least as big as last year’s, if
not bigger,” Bourcier said, though the counting had not been done. “The
people love football, they love the Super Bowl, regardless of who is
playing. It’s tradition.”
