MKRob Sports

Nevada casinos won almost $6.9 million on this year’s Super Bowl as bettors wagered $82.7 million on the NFL title game, gambling regulators said Tuesday.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board said the win was $179,000 more than sports books won last year, on $1.21 million more in bets.

The underdog New Orleans Saints beat the favored Indianapolis Colts 31-17 in the Sunday game.

Indianapolis started as a four-point favorite when the matchup was set, according to Las Vegas Sports Consultants, a firm that provides betting lines to about 90 percent of the state’s 182 sports books. The Colts were a 4 1/2-point favorite in the Glantz-Culver line, with the over-under at 55 1/2 points.

Jay Kornegay, executive director of the race and sports book at the Las Vegas Hilton, said results were hurt by bad weather in the northeastern United States, which prevented some gamblers from making planned trips to bet on the game in Sin City. But he said the bets taken on the game were indicative of today’s struggles for casinos in Las Vegas.

“We thought the Super Bowl was a great measuring stick of the economy and we think the economy is just a little better than what it was last year,” Kornegay said.

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