The Bills’ Loss Becomes Massive Gain for Owners of Las Vegas Sports Books

A bad day for the Buffalo Bills translated into a good day for Nevada sports books, who won millions of dollars on the Super Bowl blowout by the Dallas Cowboys.

Heavy betting on the Buffalo Bills apparently produced not only a record for amount bet, but also a record take for the state’s 94 sports books. Several say this year’s handle will far exceed last year’s Super Bowl record of $50.3 million.

“It was just incredible,” Jimmy Vaccaro, manager of the sports book for the Mirage Hotel, said Monday.

The amount of money bet at the Mirage and the Golden Nugget exceeded $10 million, Vaccaro said.

“Our handle was 20% higher than last year,” Vaccaro said. He declined to say how much the two resorts won on the betting, but said it was substantial.

Vaccaro said books began receiving large Dallas bets in the final hours before the game.

“We took some monster bets on Dallas, a lot of 50s (thousands) and 100s, and one $300,000 an hour before the game,” Vaccaro said. “But it was not enough to overtake the previous money on Buffalo.”