Super Bowl, football top sports betting in Nevada

Football is the undisputed king of sportsbook handle, said Bob Smith, director of operations at Leroy's Race & Sports Books. In the fiscal year that ended June 30, football accounted for 40.8 percent of sports book handle state-wide. Of that, 65 percent came from betting on pro games, and 35 percent on college games.

The biggest betting event is the Super Bowl, which attracted a record $77.2 million in wagers last year.

Basketball accounted for 25.5 percent of the handle last year. Of that, 55 percent came from betting on NBA games, 45 percent on college.

Vic Salerno, chairman, president and chief executive of American Wagering, said the now-settled NBA lockout affected handle this year, but not as much as might be expected. The absence of pro games has led to an increase in wagering on college basketball and pro hockey games, he said.

"It's not a big loss," said Salerno. "It won't kill anybody."

Rounding out the sports book handle was baseball, which accounted for 25.7 percent, parlay cards, which accounted for 2.8 percent, pari-mutuel sports betting, which accounted for .14 percent, and other, a category that included hockey, boxing, golf and any other sports, which accounted for 5.2 percent.

The Las Vegas Strip has emerged in recent years as the center of Nevada sports book activity, Smith said. While Clark County handle represented 88.4 percent of state-wide handle in the fiscal year that ended June 30, the Las Vegas Strip alone took 59.5 percent of the sports handle in the state.

"The Strip has replaced Reno," as the place to bet on sports, said Smith.

However, hold percentage on the Strip -- 2.99 percent -- was worsted only by downtown Las Vegas' 1.31 percent hold. As Smith explained, hold percentage rises the farther away from the Strip a resort is located. Laughlin holds 7.81 percent of its handle, while Reno holds 8.96 percent.

The reason for this is simple, Smith said. Las Vegas draws the best legal sports betters there are. Gamblers of that caliber are bound to beat the books more often, he said.

"We've got the best of the best trying to beat us," said Smith.

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