SOURCE: The Toronto Star

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How far has sports gambling come since that huge Super Bowl upset?

R.J. Bell, president of Pregame.com, an online provider of betting information, told ABC News last year that seven out of 10 U.S. adults place some sort of wager every year and that $600 billion changed hands in 2005 as a result of gambling – sports and casino, legal and illegal. Bell also said that online gambling on sports is estimated to be five times bigger than Las Vegas sports betting.

At the heart of all that wagering is the Super Bowl.

"This is the biggest and busiest weekend for us. Hands down," playersonly.com oddsmaker Maurice Perez told ESPN.com. "Everyone comes out of the woodwork to place a bet. With the whole world watching the game, a lot of folks like to have something a little extra riding on the outcome. It makes sense."

It's not just the outcome. There is also no shortage of weird and wonderful "proposition" bets to be found. Recall that Janet Gretzky allegedly bet thousands of dollars on the pre-game coin flip at one Super Bowl. The most inventive "prop" bets in Super Bowl history involve crossovers to other sports and quirks of that particular Super Bowl, such as whether William (Refrigerator) Perry would score a touchdown in the 1986 game. (He did.)

Publicly, NFL officials "tut-tut" about gambling, but privately, they jump in the air and click the heels of their Gucci loafers.

Hey, does anyone honestly believe that the detailed, weekly injury report, common only to the NFL among major sports, is for the benefit of the casual fan? Coaches like Bill Belichick of the Patriots, have been fined for failing to list injured players or listing guys that weren't hurt.

How about the existence of an NFL rule that states that even if a game is decided with a last-play touchdown that the game is not over until the extra-point attempt is made. Hey, it could affect the point-spread or the over-under total and lead to lawsuits, after all.

And there is the scheduled two weeks between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl. Why? All the better to hype the game and entice more people into betting on some aspect of it, leading them to watch more of the game on television, leading to higher rights fees, leading to more profit. It's the circle of life.

Last year's game was a 21-10 win for the Steelers, who seemed to be in control throughout. But what if you had bet the Seahawks with the four-point spread? One late touchdown toss by Matt Hasselbeck and a two-point conversion, which they surely would have gone for, and you win your bet. Stay tuned to the bitter end. And that's what the NFL and its tolerance for, in fact its encouragement of, gambling is all about.

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