Super Bowl bettors eager to be propositioned

Maybe the Super Bowl would be better if Drew Brees or Aaron Rodgers were in it. Instead, they were playing in a meaningless flag football game in Hawaii, seven days before the Sunday that matters most.

But the quarterback matchup we get, with the New England Patriots and New York Giants, still is a good one. I'll take a Tom Brady-Eli Manning showdown, and so will the guys who book the proposition bets.

Brady and Manning did this four years ago, and it's worth doing again.

Paul Newman and Robert Redford were great in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," and four years later, they came back to combine for another classic, "The Sting." We all like movies, but we can't wager on them, and certainly not in hundreds of ways.

When it comes to sports betting, nothing is bigger than the NFL, and in terms of entertainment value, nothing beats the prop betting frenzy of the Super Bowl. For cynics, it's possibly becoming a tired and overhyped gimmick. But to Jay Kornegay, it never gets old.

"We've been in this business a long time, and I don't want to get to the point where we take for granted the attention, the action and the entertainment that surrounds these props," said Kornegay, sports book director at the LVH, until recently known as the Hilton.

In Las Vegas, most of us know everything there is to know about props and their history. Others are just catching up to the craze, and Kornegay answers calls from all corners of the country from media members who are amazed by the complexity, creativity, variety and sheer number of Super Bowl props on the board.

"Most of the national interviews I do are very similar," he said. "There is always the question, 'What's the craziest one you have up there?' "

One that caught my eye was on Twitter: If a pizza is sitting in front of him, how many pieces will Newt Gingrich eat during the game? The total was set at 5½, and it looked a little low. That prop is not posted at the LVH.

There is one on Jozy Altidore and his goal scoring in a Dutch Eredivisie soccer match. Altidore is pitted against Patriots receiver Deion Branch. I don't know what team Altidore plays for, and I'm not betting on any soccer player to score a goal. Neither do I want to lay 2-1 on Branch to score a touchdown. But word of the prop spread fast.

"Altidore tweeted about it and thought it was awesome he made the betting board," Kornegay said. "It gets tougher every year to come up with something new."

There are props involving golfers and basketball players. LeBron James' total for points, rebounds and assists is minus-3½ -- in the Miami Heat's game against Toronto on Sunday -- against Manning's pass attempts.

Kornegay and his staff (Ed Salmons, Jeff Sherman and Chris Bennett) spent two weeks and some late nights crunching numbers and thinking outside the box. There are no limits to the imagination, but some of the most popular props are routine.

Will either team score in the first 5½ minutes of the game? Will Brady throw an interception? Will either team make a field goal in the first quarter? Will there be a special teams or defensive touchdown? The list goes on and on. There even are four props on Patriots punter Zoltan Mesko.

"A lot of the props we've been dealing over the years have just become standard props, and those props get a lot more action," Kornegay said. "When you're watching the game, what might just seem like a normal play can decide a couple of props. You can hear a lot of cheers or groans for ordinary plays, and we get a laugh out of that."

Every aspect of the game is covered by props, so every play means something. The LVH posted around 350, yet the actual number is open to interpretation. A prop on Brady's number of completions counts as one but includes 42 different wagers. If you have a dream Brady will complete exactly 17 passes, you can get 40-1 odds.

Brian Blessing, a local radio host and DonBest.com handicapper, said he bet the first rushing attempt by the Patriots' Danny Woodhead to go over 3½ yards at plus-140.

"They usually give that guy the ball when it's third-and-17 or in surprise situations," said Blessing, who also wagered on Woodhead (30-1) and Brady (18-1) to score the first touchdown.

Victor Cruz has become the Giants' big-play receiver, but Blessing is betting on Hakeem Nicks to go over 83½ receiving yards and for his longest reception to go over 25½ yards.

"I figure the Patriots will probably try to take Cruz away, and Nicks will be the guy to get single coverage," Blessing said.

A proposition wager can be defined as forecasting a player or team's performance within a specific aspect of the game. Kornegay did not invent props, but he has helped boost their popularity. After the LVH posted theirs at 5 p.m. Thursday, the prop copying and plagiarism followed, with Las Vegas and offshore books putting up similar ones with some slightly adjusted numbers.

The props are for serious statistical analysts and casual players. The betting limit is $2,000, but $10 tickets are more common.

"A lot of money is bet on these props," Kornegay said. "A lot of people get excited about it."

As a footnote, the Patriots are favored by 2½ to 3 points, and the total is around 55. There is some interest in those numbers, too.

Contact sports betting columnist Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907. He co-hosts the "Las Vegas Sportsline" weeknights at midnight on KDWN-AM (720) and thelasvegassportsline.com.