Sports books enjoy super profit margin from game

Thursday, Feb. 3, 2000 | 11:08 a.m.

SUN CAPITAL BUREAU

CARSON CITY -- The amount of money bet on the St. Louis-Tennessee Super Bowl was down this year, but Nevada casinos realized a better profit margin than in the last three years.

The state Gaming Control Board reported Wednesday preliminary figures show $71 million was wagered in the 147 sports books with a win of $4.2 million. The board said the "hold" was 6 percent. That is the amount the casino ended up with before taxes and business expenses

The $4.2 million is the biggest win for the casinos since the 1996 Super Bowl in which Dallas played Pittsburgh. That year the books won $7.1 million for a 10.1 percent "hold."

Betting was down this year compared to the $75.9 million wagered in 1999 on the Denver-Atlanta game, on which the books won $2.9 million; and the record $77.2 million bet in 1998 when Denver defeated Green Bay.

The books posted their biggest win percentage of 13.7 percent and $7.4 million in 1994 when Dallas beat Buffalo.

While casinos had to refund many bets this year because St. Louis matched the 7-point spread with its win, the books profited from side bets on propositions other than the victory margin.

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