When it comes to the biggest sporting event of the calendar year, people love to gamble. Sports fans and schmoes from all over the globe empty their pockets in an attempt to make money on the Super Bowl and make it more exciting to watch. Gambling websites and sports books come up with plenty of ridiculous prop bets and a lot of others that we thought were worth a look. On Sunday, the house took home a lot less than they are accustomed to.
LBS contributor Sam called our attention the Las Vegas casinos’ profit margin from Sunday’s game between the Packers and Steelers, and it looks like the bettors took them to the cleaners. Granted, I’d love for $724,176 to be an off year for me, but that’s exactly what the Vegas sports books made on Super Bowl 45 out of over $87 million in wagers.
The winnings were the lowest since 1998, with “winnings” being the key term since the casinos actually lost over $2.5 million when the Giants ruined the Patriots perfect season in 2008. The low profit margin proves that there are times when the general public’s feelings about a line and game total can be correct. Most people took Green Bay at around -2.5 and the over total of 45, which turned out to be good decisions.
Personally, I thought about placing some money on the game to make things interesting. Like most others, I liked the Packers a lot giving up less than a field goal. Like the illogical gambler that I tend to be, I used disgustingly flawed reasoning to talk myself out of placing money on Green Bay. When I realized so many of my friends had taken the Packers, I thought to myself, “we can’t all possibly win this much money on the game, right?” Well, we did. Correction: they did.
