Super Bowl betting expected to hit record high

By Larry Fine

PHOENIX (Reuters) - Las Vegas gambling experts expect to see Super Bowl betting hit an all-time high with an estimated $100 million wagered on the New England Patriots clash with the New York Giants on Sunday.

That projects to a worldwide figure of about $10 billion, according to Sean Van Patten of Las Vegas Sports Consultants, who said a general rule of thumb was that the Las Vegas total represented about one percent of all wagers.

"You have a very popular team for bettors all year long in New England," Van Patten told Reuters in a telephone interview on Friday. "They've really attracted the casual recreational bettor throughout the year."

New England is trying to become the first team to go 19-0 in an NFL season.

"Then you have the New York market with the Giants coming in who are very popular and we're attributing a little of it to the game being in Arizona, which is so close to Nevada some people might stop here, make a bet and go to the Super Bowl."

This Super Bowl's betting total is expected to top the previous best of two years ago by about $6 million, said Van Patten, whose firm supplies about 90 percent of the Las Vegas sports books with opening betting lines for events.

The Patriots were favoured by up to 14 points at first before the line settled in at 12.

"The Super Bowl is always the one game out of the year that is dominated by the public money and the general public so the number is always inflated toward the favourite," Van Patten said.