LAS VEGAS – When Patrick Mahomes led the Kansas City Chiefs to Super Bowl victory on Sunday night, he also led the bookies’ comeback.

Kansas City 38-35 win over Philadelphia This meant the books were winners on a betting line that usually gave the Eagles a 1 1/2 point lead and attracted a lot of betting on the NFC champions. This win for the bookmakers made up for the loss in totals, which were 51 1/2 points in many places and suffered heavily from over betting.

“It was Chiefs and Under at best,” wrote Chuck Esposito, director of the Red Rock Resort bookmaker in Las Vegas.

Jason Scott, BetMGM’s vice president of trading, expects the national Super Bowl team to set a record simply because sports betting is legal in many other states. Jay Kornegay, vice president of racing and sports operations at Westgate Las Vegas, expects the price to be the highest but likely to be lower than expected.

When it comes to the Super Bowl, expectations are relative because the bookmakers know that huge bets will be made either way.

This is reported by Caesars Sportsbook. that in New York it took the Eagles $2.2 million to cover a 1 1/2 pip spread. The player probably had a good feeling when Philadelphia took a 24-14 lead at halftime.

The feeling wasn’t as good in the books, which suggested the double whammy of an Eagles win and an all-out loss. Mahomes limps in a break on an injured ankle did not quite alleviate these concerns.

“We weren’t thrilled about the break,” Kornegay said.

At the time, he added, the favorite in the bet, Travis Kelsey, was making money by taking bets. The Chiefs tight end had three catches for 60 yards at halftime and his touchdown paid off at a plus 230 bet, meaning a $100 bet would be worth $230.

“It looks like he was going to catch 15 balls in the game,” Kornegay said. “I have to give credit to coach (Andy) Reed and Mahomes for making such a comeback and scoring so many points in the second half without Kelsey involved. Kelce really disappeared in the second half. I mean, most people in this room couldn’t name two Kansas City receivers.

Kelche caught three passes in the second half for 21 yards.

The public benefited from props in various books that paid off with the successful implementation of the 2 Eagles points and the Chiefs defensive score. Esposito said, however, that Red Rock has made enough bets to make his casino a “small winner” in this area.

Kornegay and Scott said their lines stayed at 1 1/2 because there was no surge in the Chiefs’ bets to move the line. According to Circa sports marketing manager Aaron Auster, Circa Sports in Las Vegas closed minus-1 in Philadelphia after drawing attention from Kansas City.

The bookmakers, however, failed to make the total high enough, and it was clear from the start that this game had the makings of an attacking slugfest.

“The total market will actually be the largest amount we have ever lost in a single market,” Scott said.

If not for the Mahomes and The Chiefs rally, BetMGM and many other books would have had a much harder day. Mahomes was named the MVP of the regular season and the Super Bowl, and he was especially valuable to the books.

“It was a very good day,” Scott said. “Patrick Mahomes saved us.”

This year, the Super Bowl was the first match at the stadium to have a bookmaker installed.

The big game next year will be in Las Vegas.

“Next year we will become the football capital of the world,” said Kornegay. “There are so many places outside of Allegiant (Stadium) that fans can enjoy. I don’t know any other city that has so many hotel rooms and all kinds of places where they can enjoy the game.

“So I suspect next February we will see record numbers across the board.”

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