Super Bowl in Vegas: These guys know what they're doing

Published Monday, Feb 3, 2014 at 1:21 am EST
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LAS VEGAS — They opened the doors at 10:30 in the morning local time, five hours before an event that, like it or not, has grown from who wins or loses to a de-facto national holiday.

No place is that more apparent, more in your face, than Vegas.

Five hours before the Seattle Seahawks began their emasculation of the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII, there were lines — lines, everyone — waiting to get into private VIP parties at the South Point Casino and Resort. They weren't talking so much about Peyton Manning or Richard Sherman or breaking down the Seahawks' man-under principles on defense while fidgeting with their phones and planning the next 10 or so hours of their lives.

They were there to party. To drink and eat and gamble, to see and be seen, to do everything you've heard, witnessed or have been fortunate enough to experience in Vegas on this magical day, from the moment those doors open.

By the time Malcolm Smith returned an interception for a touchdown and gave the Seahawks a 22-to-the-inevitable lead in the second quarter, only one questioned remained: Would there be enough booze in the upstairs ballroom to satiate the Broncos-heavy crowd of more than 2,000?

Well, that and prop bets.

"I've still got the over," said Kurt Spellman of Aurora, Colo., and as he turned to watch the halftime show — what else was left? — his two double tall Jack and Cokes spilled onto another Broncos fan who was passing, naturally, with his head down.

The Big Game might have been in New York/New Jersey, but the real action was in Vegas. (Photo by Jon Leiweke)

But there's always hope; that's the way it works here. And wouldn't you know it, late in the third quarter, the Seahawks even took care of the over. Russell Wilson's touchdown pass to Doug Baldwin put Seattle up 43-8, surpassing the over of 48. I mean, if that makes Spellman and every other miserable Broncos fan feel any better.

Then again, why wouldn't it? They come to Vegas for the same reason everyone else shows up here: to escape and be entertained. And maybe make a few bucks.

If that means you're throwing down a few 20s on a bet here or there, or hoping like all get out to avoid boxcars at the craps table, or getting shafted on the river in Hold 'Em, then so be it. It's a vacation — only on this day, it's so much more.

By the time the night ended, Vegas did what Vegas does: It wins. Smart money was on the Broncos all week long, so much so, that South Point bookmaker Jimmy Vacarro decided early Sunday to move the line from Broncos minus 2.5 to minus 3 to gauge the action. And the Wise Guys — the professional gamblers — hit it hard.

Roughly three minutes later, the line moved back to 2.5.

"We had probably $100,000 on Seattle in those two and a half minutes alone," Vacarro said. "But it was a good day for us. Seattle winning outright was good; Seattle winning with the over made it even better."

This fantastic free-for-all began early Sunday, hours before the Seahawks put together the most impressive Super Bowl win in years. That was 70-year-old Michael Gaughan writing tickets at one of 21 windows open for the game.

Every year the man who made sports books what they are in Vegas spends a couple of hours in the pit. It's not that it keeps him young; it keeps him connected with his customers.

Betting window (Jon Leiweke)

It's why he'll tell you the future in gambling will focus on two things: mobile gambling, and women. Yes, everyone, women.

"They make up probably 30 percent of our customers, and they know football," Gaughan said. "They're not betting the color of the uniforms. One lady says to me, 'Hey can't you go any faster?' I told her I'm doing the best I can, ma'am."

There's an old adage in bookmaking called betting the faces. Many who set the lines in this town believe knowing who is betting is more important than knowing the money being bet.

It's different here south of the Strip, with an energy and buzz unlike what you get from the glitz and glam of the MGM or Caesar's Palace or either Steve Wynn's two monsters that stand tall along the Vegas skyline. The further you drive south on Las Vegas Boulevard, through the strip malls and subdivisions, the more it feels like you've left Vegas.

Then South Point comes into focus, and through the doors of the massive building is the city's only 24/7 sports book. They're taking bets all the way until game time, and would have taken more through the start had the game not changed on Play 1.

That one play — a safety when the Broncos snapped the ball into their own end zone — cost South Point $62,000 on the prop bet of "will there be a safety in the game?" It could have been worse; they could have had what many in this town and many offshore books had: odds on the first play of the game as a safety.

Those were going as high as plus-4,000-6,000, which means you're winning anywhere from $4,000 to $6,000 on a $100 bet. Some offshore books also had up to 100-1 odds ($10,000 for a $100 bet).

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban tweeted that he won $20 million on the safety prop, and then quickly followed with another tweet that said he was joking. Considering the NBA's public stance on gambling, Cuban's tweets were both odd and revealing.

If the owner of a franchise in a professional league that publicly distances itself from gambling is even talking about gambling, just how many people had action on this game?

The Vegas casinos know fans will always come back for more. (Photo by Jon Leiweke)

"I've never seen it this packed," Vacarro said.

That's why it didn't matter that South Point lost $62,000 on the safety prop. Or that it lost $30,000 on the defense scores a touchdown prop, or $18K on the two-point conversion. Know this: before the day began, Vegas was 21-2 in the past 23 Super Bowl games.

What's $100,000 in three prop bets when you're now 22-2 and you cleaned up on both the winner (Seattle) and the over?

These guys know what they're doing. It's why they're always here and always taking bets. It's why they're opening up ballrooms and filling them full of drinks and food and flat screen televisions and everything you could possibly want to make that planned escape from reality feel as comfortable as possible.

They're going to lose; it happens all the time. Hell, the payout line that snaked around the casino, through the slots and card tables, shows that. But they'll win more than they lose.

And more than anything, they'll get you back in town.

That's the way it works.