Super Bowl XLVI - Viva Las Vegas - Ingles
It was a Super Bowl Sunday with a familiar feel to it, and not only because quarterback Eli Manning led the underdog New York Giants to a dramatic victory that came down to the game's final play.
The scene inside Las Vegas sports books was predictable, as long lines of football fans snaked to betting windows and cocktail waitresses weaved through traffic to hand out drinks and collect tips.
From the South Point to The Mirage to Red Rock Resort and every other stop on and off the Strip, it was standing-room only by kickoff in the afternoon. Those lucky enough to get a seat in the morning were on the edge of it by the evening.
"The crowds were tremendous," LVH sports book director Jay Kornegay said.
And everyone left entertained, thanks to a fourth quarter that was déjà vu from four years ago.
The Giants, 2½- to 3-point underdogs, upended the New England Patriots 21-17 to win Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis. Manning directed an 88-yard drive that was capped by Ahmad Bradshaw's 6-yard touchdown run with 57 seconds remaining.
A last-gasp heave from Patriots quarterback Tom Brady fell incomplete in the end zone as time expired, and with that, the year's biggest sports betting event concluded.
The Super Bowl unfolded with a similar theme in 2008, when Manning and the Giants rallied late to upset the Patriots, 17-14. The state's sports books suffered a rare loss on that game.
This time, Kornegay said, his book emerged as a "very small winner" after Giants tickets were paid and the hundreds of proposition bets were posted.
"People were either grumpy or silly happy," Kornegay said.
Jimmy Vaccaro, director of operations for Lucky's sports books, summed up the wagering results the same way, but with a unique analogy.
"We won a ham sandwich after all was said and done," Vaccaro said. "We wrote a lot of tickets and won a few dollars. You just kept writing tickets with the Giants on the money line."
Two hours before the 3:30 p.m. kickoff, a woman was working her way through the South Point sports book, and said, "This is a zoo."
But zoos are generally quiet compared with the controlled riots in the casinos on Sunday, when fans reacted with excitement and disgust on almost every play of a roller-coaster game.
There was a bizarre beginning, with the Giants scoring first on a safety and eventually taking a 9-0 lead, before Brady and the Patriots roared back to go ahead 17-9.
"It was an odd game. There was no flow to it," South Point sports book director Bert Osborne said. "The fourth quarter turned everything around, and it got down to the last play.
"It was kind of hectic. It came out OK, and I think a lot of people were happy."
(source Las Vegas Review Journal)
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