Super Bowl Vegas Odds Cardinals vs. Steelers

For those of you monitoring the Super Bowl Vegas odds for the Cardinals vs. Steelers,  Gambling911.com reported the line had dropped a half point at Planet Hollywood on Saturday to Steelers -6 ½ and remained there into Sunday morning.  The Hilton has held steadfast with the -6 ½ point line.  The Mirage and Hard Rock both had Arizona as a +7 underdog. 

The trend for online sportsbooks - including most recently SBG Global - is to move the line down to -6 ½.  betED.com was one of the few online sportsbooks to keep the line at Cardinals +7.

Both Las Vegas and the online gambling sector was expecting significant betting volume throughout the weekend - in particular Super Bowl Sunday itself - though the numbers were not likely to match last year's $93.1 million wagered, which itself was down a million from the year before.

"The reason for that is last year's game featured two very high profile teams, the New York Giants and New England Patriots," points out Don Shapiro of Gambling911.com.  "This year you have a nomadic team in the Cardinals playing the Pittsburgh Steelers.  It's not the most romantic of matchups."

Then you have the economic downturn.

"Right now it appears as if the Vegas Strip hotels are pretty well booked," Shapiro points out.  "But between the higher priced rooms and air fare, gamblers are likely to plunk down less on this game."

According to a local Fox News report, this coming Super Bowl Sunday there will be more than 30,000 square feet of sports books at the Hilton will be dedicated to the big game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals. Hotel officials said that, if the regular season was any indication, the money will continue to flow at the betting windows.

"It's the single biggest betting event of the year," said Hilton sports book executive director Jay Kornegay in an interview with that news station. "Obviously things have slowed down here, but sports betting has remained strong throughout the entire football season and throughout the playoffs. I think the Super Bowl event basically sells itself, so it's going to be a true heavyweight battle, you know -- the single biggest betting event versus today's economic crisis."

Over the past four years, gamblers in Nevada have placed an average of more than 90 million on the big game. But with money tight and no end to the economic slump in sight, do casinos think people will lay out the cash?

"We're not sure," Kornegay said. "We're hoping for the best."

He and all of Vegas needs to. 

New numbers from November show sales in Las Vegas dropped nearly 11 percent compared to November of 2007 with nearly $3.4 billion in goods sold.

And while rooms are mostly sold out this weekend, rates have been reduced by as much as $40 over last year.

The hotels are jam packed - not just because of the Super Bowl - but also because the UFC is in town and that two will help boost betting revenues.