The New York Giants made history at Super Bowl XLII with a historic 17-14 upset against the New England Patriots in the Arizona desert.

It also made history 350 miles north in the Nevada sports books, although there's no celebration in Las Vegas.

The Super Bowl has been an annual moneymaker for the sports books in each of the past 12 years.

The streak was snapped when Giants quarterback Eli Manning hit Plaxico Burress in the end zone for a late fourth-quarter touchdown, guaranteeing a loss for the sports books for only the second time in the past 18 years.

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the 174 sports books in Nevada reported a combined loss of $2.6 million, with a total of $92.1 million wagered on the game.

The signs started to show early.

The opening line for the Super Bowl made only hours after the NFC Championship Game established New England as a prohibitive 14-point favorite, the third-largest favorite in the history of the game.

Professional money immediately moved the line down to 12 points, with heavy betting action on the Giants.

Many bettors felt that New England would win the game but not cover the large bumper of points given to the Giants.

Others got bolder, believing that the Giants were playing so well after consecutive road upsets of Dallas and Green Bay that they could win outright.

These gamblers took the money-line option, where gamblers are given odds and the team just needs to win the game regardless of point spreads. These are the bets that hammered the sports books.
Most money-line bets were paying +350 for the Giants, meaning that every $1 bet would return a $3.50 profit.

Nevada books could have cleaned up with substantial New England money-line bets. That bet paid off –420 (meaning a bet of $4.20 would win $1) since the Patriots were such heavy favorites, and at face value, it appeared to be an attractive bet.

“When you're giving out 3-1 (odds) or more on the money line, you just can't overcome that,” MGM Mirage sports book director Robert Walker said to the Review-Journal. “I expected the Patriots money-line bets to come in, and they never did.”

Last year, Nevada sports books cleared a profit of nearly $13 million when the Indianapolis Colts beat the Chicago Bears 29-17 in the Super Bowl.

Chuck Blount | 210SA Contributor