Super Bowl Secrets

Even Las Vegas sports bettors -- who used to trumpet their plays to anyone who would listen -- are playing it close to the vest and hiding under heavy cloaks these days. No one ... except maybe Steve Fezzik ... wants to give anything away. In this age of the Super Information Highway, everyone is looking for even the tiniest edge; gleaning an advantage is like finding gold. Some sports gamblers, mostly NFL players, relocate to Las Vegas during their chosen seasons and then crawl out of the woodwork or the off-Strip studio apartments they rent when it's time for the big game, in this case the Super Bowl. I bumped into one such creature the other day who provided a few pointers, anonymously of course. Where he got the info he didn't say and I didn't ask. This is top secret stuff, you know. "Obviously, the Super Bowl is different than most games," he said. "It ain't a game against the Lions in Week 11 when you take it easy offensively if you're up two touchdowns in the fourth quarter while Detroit punts on fourth and four with five minutes left. "Everyone wants to make a big play. "The losing team is desperate and will deviate from its game plan to make big plays. "As a result, Super Bowl second halves, and particularly fourth quarters, have been very high scoring in recent years." Our gambler continued: "Over 13 1/2 in the fourth quarter has occurred 7 of the last 8 years and 13 of the last 17. "Fourth quarters have seen 17, 37, 26, 17, 10, 17, 30, and 14 points scored. "There has been more scoring in the second half than the first half in 7 straight years and 12 of the last 17. "Second half totals in recent years have been 31, 37, 46, 20, 31, 40, 30, and 24. "I bet over 13 1/2 in the fourth quarter and more scoring in the second half than the first. "I don't see a scenario where I would be under in the second half and will consider an over bet there and/or some in progress overs in the second half."