$81.5m on Super Bowl Sports Bets

Nevada bookmakers took in $81 million on the biggest day of the year in U.S. sports, with the financial crisis having only a minor impact on the event, state gambling regulators reported Tuesday.

Although it was the first time since 2004 that less than $90 million was bet on the game, bookmakers still made an 8.2 percent profit, an improvement on last year when a surprise New York Giants win over New England cost state sports books $2.6 million, according to Nevada's Gaming Control Board.

Jay Kornegay, the Las Vegas Hilton's executive director of sports books, was quoted by news agencies as saying he was surprised by the lower betting volume.

"That's a huge drop," Kornegay said. "Going into the weekend...we were a little concerned. By midmorning Sunday, we were pleasantly surprised by the volume that we saw coming through the windows."

As expected, the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Arizona Cardinals 27-23 to take out a record sixth Super Bowl victory.

However, the margin worked in favor of the bookmakers, as most bets were either placed on the Steelers to cover the seven point spread or on the Cardinals to win outright. Only those few who bet on the Cardinals against the spread won.

The record amount bet on a Super Bowl in Nevada was $94.5 million in 2006 when the Steelers beat the Seattle Seahawks, 21-10. The casinos took in a $8.8 million profit that year.