Our #SuperBowl Bets for 2010

It's SUPER BOWL SUNDAY, as documented by moi for AOLNews.Com with a behind-the-scenes look at the oddsmakers! And if you don't care about that, listen the incredibly fun chat with Animal Planet's Puppy Bowl VI referee Andrew Schechter in a special edition of The Petcast by clicking here or right-click here to save it for later.

So, as usual, I ran out to Boulder Station after recording The Petcast and The Strip last night to lay down a total of $100 on the games. I did win about $80 at the blackjack table while I debated my bets, so I'm pretty much covered. My main bet was $60 on Indianapolis to cover a 5-point spread AND for the total number of points in the game to exceed 57:

In other words, I'm expecting a Colts blowout.

Also, I partook in some stupid prop bets that are pretty much shoo-ins and, thus, are almost not worth the paper they're printed on:

That is, I bet there would be no overtime for which I can win a whopping 1.1 percent premium and that there'll be no 2-point conversions, for which I will get a 20 percent premium. I didn't realize the lousy payouts when I bet them; I just thought it would be fun to bet one or two of these and these seemed like ridiculously safe choices. Hence, the lousy payout, alas.

And, yes, contrary to my answer to Miles on the show on Saturday, I did end up laying some money for a pal in New York. When we recorded the show, I didn't know he'd want to, but I probably should have.

My friend and I actually picked somewhat opposite bets. He agrees with the over -- he put $50 on that -- and he put $50 on New Orleans to cover the 5-point spread. Here are his tickets, for those of you who think I would just take his money and not actually lay the bet. Horrors!


Not sure why the first ticket, betting on the "over," seems to say "SAINTS OVER 57.5" because it's not a parlay bet, it's just a bet on the overall game. And I checked; I bet it right. Must be something with how these things are written.

Saddest thing: I want the Saints to win. Or I did before I made my bets. Now I need to decide where to watch the game. Likely: My house with my dogs. Loser.

This year's Super Bowl bet

Alrighty. I've plunked down $70 on Pittsburgh to win by at least 7 and for the combined point total to be under 46.5 for the Super Bowl or, as the Vegas-hating NFL has forced the casino folks call it, the Big Game. $25 of that is allegedly my nephew's, should he actually send along the money after we lose. Right, Zach?

Anyhow, both have to occur for us to win. If they do, we get $182. Or 2.6x our bet. Woo hoo. If I hadn't bet, I absolutely, positively wouldn't have cared what happens.

Four Fun Images For Ya

1. Oops. Spotted this on the way home from my eye exam yesterday. (Results, btw: Left eye 20/70, right eye 20/20, no pressing need for glasses though some looked stylish and does not explain (a) my headaches or (b) the fact that I'm a terrible driver. Oh well.)


2. Eye Candy. The clever kids at the Cordon Bleu Culinary Arts School in Vegas created this below out of sugar for a display at the Global Gaming Expo, which is on this week at the LVCC. I've been hunting around for stories, haven't seen anything that really gets me going yet. Everyone's just so depressed. (To find out how to have a relatively inexpensive, delicious gourmet meal at Cordon Bleu, check out the Oct. 26, 2006 Top Secret Tourist Tip of the Week from The Strip podcast.)


3. Who Knew... that Obama's daughter Malia was, uh, white? Sasha looks slightly closer to accurate, but add freckles and bad teeth to the child to the right and it could be a young Chelsea Clinton. Odd, no?


4. I Don't Get It. Maybe it's that I got up too early, but I love the Argyle Sweater comic strip so much and I need someone to explain to me why this is funny. Please?

BREAKING: Station Casinos Lays Off 70

(UPDATE: This replaces the earlier post with a fix on the numbers.)

Station Casinos is laying off about 70 employees at the corporate level including some managers and support staff. It's not as eye-popping as the 400 that sources had cited earlier, and there's no way to officially say whether projects are delayed because other than Aliante Station, "we haven't announced any timetables for any other projects," said Lori Nelson, the corporate spokeswoman.

Aliante Station, at the extreme north end of the Las Vegas Valley, is due to debut later this year.

It's not terribly surprising that Station would be tightening its belt. Although they're not a public company anymore and don't have to report earnings in the manner they used to, the LVCVA's reporting for January and February 2008 show a gaming-revenue decline of 3.8 percent for the non-Strip Clark County and -- and this is shocking -- a 15.3 percent drop for the Boulder Strip. That's probably a good reflection on how Station's doing because the only two casinos of any significance over there are Boulder Station (owned by Station) and Sam's Town (owned by Boyd.) And the demographics for Boulder Station are an awful lot like that for the Palace, Texas and Santa Fe Stations.

Still, 70 people a company the size of Station is kind of the equivalent of the 440 middle managers fired by the mammoth MGM Mirage.

Off to the dentist now.