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Las Vegas oddsmakers believe that this year's Colts Saints Super Bowl betting should break last year's mark of $81.5 million wagered.
Super Bowl XL, which paired the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Seattle Seahawks, generated a record $94.5 million worth of sports wagers for Las Vegas but subsequent years have settled in just shy of that mark.
Last year's Super Bowl betting in Las Vegas was hit especially hard by the recession despite record traffic at the Gambling911.com website.
Wynn Las Vegas race and sports book director, John Avello, made the bold prediction that Colts Saints Super Bowl betting will surpass that of Super Bowl XL.
"I believe that the total handle for the state will be a nice number. It could be the biggest number of all time."
Jay Kornegay, executive director of the Las Vegas Hilton sports book, told the Las Vegas Sun he did not believe the matchup between the Saints and Colts could generate the amount of money Avello suggests based on the idea that neither the Saints or Colts have the same type of fan base as say the Steelers.
"I don't think we're coming close to setting any record. Absolutely not," Kornegay said. "We are taking baby steps to get back to where we were. If the Chargers were facing the Vikings or even the Cowboys, maybe we could talk a little bit about setting records, but not with these two teams."
Kornegay said a five percent from last year is possible.
Super Bowl Betting Totals
2009-$81.5 million
2008-$92 million
2007-$93 million
2006-$94.5 million
2005-$90.7 million
2004-$81.2 million
2003-$71.6 million
2002-$71.5 million
2001-$67.6 million
2000-$71 million
