# Casino's win 15% of Super Bowl bets. Is this good or bad? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 4, 2004, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casinos-win-15-of-super-bowl-bets-is-this-good-or-bad/227544 "2004-02-04T21:33:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casinos-win-15-of-super-bowl-bets-is-this-good-or-bad/227544/1 "2004-02-04T21:33:48Z")
I heard a mention on the radio that there was an estimated $81 billion wagered on the Super Bowl in casinos, and that the casinos won only slightly over 15% of the bets. I’m not a big gambler, but this seems like a huge loss. Is it as bad as it sounds? ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casinos-win-15-of-super-bowl-bets-is-this-good-or-bad/227544/2 "2004-02-04T21:36:43Z")
I would wager that you heard wrong, and that casinos won 15% of the actual bets, in other words, they netted(?) 15% of $81 billion. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casinos-win-15-of-super-bowl-bets-is-this-good-or-bad/227544/3 "2004-02-04T21:44:41Z")
[AP story](http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040204/ap_on_sp_fo_ne/fbn_super_bowl_betting_2). Casinos won $12.4 million, which is 15.3%. So Munch got it. ---
**Author:** ![Titan2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Titan2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Titan2)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casinos-win-15-of-super-bowl-bets-is-this-good-or-bad/227544/4 "2004-02-04T23:07:33Z")
15% is a \*\* big \*\* win in sports where hold (win) generally averages on months from a low of maybe 3 1/2 to as high as 6 thru football season. Figures.Superbowl is the one event where public play outshines the pro play handle wise.Everybody bets this thing,like the KY.derby. Rule of thumb for Monday night football (the only comparison in terms of 1 event games) The public buys the fav,fav and over,dog,dog and under. Dog and over should have been 6th on that list. Money line plays should have been fairly balanced,since a 7 point spread results in only about a 2/1 straight bet on the dog.Most bettors like bigger odds than that. Figure in all the props and that win is generally increased as long as those 100/1s aren’t hit. ---
**Author:** ![JXJohns](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jxjohns/32/469_2.png) [@JXJohns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JXJohns)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casinos-win-15-of-super-bowl-bets-is-this-good-or-bad/227544/5 "2004-02-05T07:04:43Z")
> [@Titan2](#): > > Figure in all the props and that win is generally increased as long as those 100/1s aren’t hit. Kind of like the successful 2 point conversion in the Super bowl. 1800:1 odds paid me pretty good that day. ---
**Author:** ![Titan2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Titan2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Titan2)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casinos-win-15-of-super-bowl-bets-is-this-good-or-bad/227544/6 "2004-02-05T07:18:53Z")
> [@JXJohns](#): > > Kind of like the successful 2 point conversion in the Super bowl. 1800:1 odds paid me pretty good that day. Where did you find that price?Nothing close to it in Vegas that I could see.