A tempting proposition

Erin Neff

Thursday, Jan. 27, 2000 | 11:13 a.m.

Mitch Leitz tipped back a bottle of Coors Light before noon on Wednesday as he proudly showed off a small piece of paper that was once a small fortune in blackjack winnings.

The $471 in chips went right from the table to the sports book where it now rests squarely on Titan shoulders.

The Super Bowl has that kind of effect on people.

"I'm probably not done betting it yet," said Leitz, who owns a floral shop in casino-rich Atlantic City but makes an annual trek to Las Vegas with friends where sports betting is legal. "As we play blackjack or craps, we'll take our winnings right back to the book."

Leitz may be the only person in town with a $471 bet on Tennessee to win $428.15.

"How many people put $205 to win $186.35?" his friend Dave Ferrante asked, knowing the answer already as the two looked over hundreds of proposition bets at the Imperial Palace sports book.

Super Bowl Sunday is the one day when professional sports gamblers, zealous tourists and virgin bettors unite to provide casinos with their single largest betting event of the year.

Margie Joseph strode through the Mirage sports book wearing her St. Louis pride in the form of a Mark McGwire jersey and a telling Midwestern accent declaring, "This baby's gonna put a new ruff over my head" as she walked away with her first sports bet in hand.

"We're just here in town for the game cause we couldn't get tickets to see our Rams," Joseph said. "This is the next best thing."

Super Bowl betting topped $75 million last year statewide as people like Joseph looked for ways to feel like a part of their teams.

Jay Kornegay, the Imperial Palace's director of race and sports, said he expects equal interest between people betting one team or the other and the people betting some of the strangest propositions you can imagine.

For example, which will be more -- Latrell Sprewell's points for the Knicks against the Kings or the Tennessee Titans' total points.

Pete Chiaradia, who sets computerized sports lines for a living at Don Best Sports, went with Sprewell ("it's a lock," he said) and a host of similar propositions.

"People who have never made a bet in their lives can find something up there," said Kelly Airgood, a supervisor at the Sunset Station sports book as he pointed to the propositions on the board. "That's the one thing about the Super Bowl. They don't have to understand the game."

Andrew Goffe, 34, jumped on the Rams bandwagon after the third week in the season when his fantasy football team stats began showing him St. Louis' potential.

On Wednesday morning he took his 40-1 Rams future ticket with him to try to make even more money by betting Tennessee. He first put $200 on the Tennessee to win outright, but changed his mind when he thought the bet over a bit more.

"My motto is 'don't be greedy,' " Goffe said, as the ticket writer obliged his request to change his bet and take the Titans with seven points.

Now even if the Rams win, he could win both bets, as long as the Rams don't win by more than seven points.

"I don't have to worry any more about the game," said Goffe, who plans to baby-sit his 2-year-old during the game Sunday. "I can't really handle the stress, so this is good."

Even if Goffe can't lose, sports betting isn't that easy for everyone.

A well-dressed woman sipping a gin and tonic at the Resort at Summerlin sports book Wednesday afternoon with a co-worker was eyeing the ponies, not the pigskin.

"I already bet the Super Bowl, and lost," she said.

The woman, who asked not to be identified because her financial company's clients might not appreciate her spending more time watching Santa Anita Race Track than their money, lost her future bet on the Super Bowl.

"I had 50 bucks on Tampa Bay at 16-1 over at Caesars Palace, and the Bucs blew it last weekend," she said.

She could find similar odds on a number of propositions the Resort at Summerlin is offering -- such as 18-1 odds that the Rams will score exactly 20 points.

At the Resort at Summerlin you also can choose which will be higher -- Isaac Bruce's receiving yards for the Rams or Sergio Garcia's fourth-round score at the Phoenix Open.

Barry Shmerelson, vacationing this week from Louisville, Ky., walked away from the IP sports book counter with a stack of proposition bets and wrote them all down on one piece of paper.

Shmerelson won't be done wagering on the game even after the opening kickoff.

"Then it becomes, 'Who will curse first?' and 'Who will rip up the first ticket?' " Shmerelson said, joking with Leitz, Ferrante and Chiaradia.

By Monday Shmerelson hopes to continue a tradition of renting a limousine to drive the group from sports book to sports book as they cash their tickets.

"That's the best part," Shmerleson said. "That's why I come here every year."