By Steve Kelly
The high-rolling, anonymous “Bettor X” placed a total of $3.8 million on the Los Angeles Rams at three different Las Vegas casinos: MGM Grand ($2 million), William Hill ($1.5 million) and South Point ($300,000).
Those bets came up empty with the New England Patriots’ 13-3 victory over the Rams.
It is estimated that the same bettor won more than $10 million betting on the Eagles at Super Bowl 52. Bettor X would have earned more than $4.5 million with a Rams victory.
Typically, lower-scoring games benefit the sportsbooks. The over/under (total number of points scored) drifted downward in recent days, but was at 56 points at many major sportsbook. That meant 59 percent of those who placed — and lost — that bet at William Hill.
The majority of bettors, however, bet on New England, which easily covered the spread that was between 2.5 and 3 points in recent days.
“Overall a solid day,” according to Jay Kornegay, the Las Vegas casino’s VP of race and sports operations. “We lost on the game but did very well on the futures book.”
Prop bets are typically major money makers and Super Bowl LIII was no different.
Those included no touchdown in the first half (100-1), no touchdown by a Rams player (50-.1).
“Edelman winning MVP wasn’t a good result,” Kornegay added.
William Hill — which operates more than 100 sportsbooks in Nevada, along with others in states that took action on the Super Bowl for the first time in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in May — took in a pair of six-figure bets on Sunday ($580,000 on the New England Patriots at minus-2.5) and ($300,000 on the Rams at plus-2.5).
