Bronc's or Bust

One of the cardinal rules of sports betting is don't let your heart rule your head. Sometimes, that's easier said than done. Ask Boston native Robert Jaynes, the Stratosphere Tower's race and sports director. He's standing pat with the Pats, winners of the last two Super Bowls. Then there's Jay Kornegay, race and sports director at the Las Vegas Hilton and a graduate of Colorado State University. Guess who he'll be pulling for in the NFL Playoffs this weekend? And what are the Denver Broncos, 3 1/2-point favorites over New England in a Saturday AFC game, going to do to the Pats? "They're going to kick booty," said Kornegay, whose office is adorned with orange and navy Broncos memorabilia. "They're better than a lot of people thought they'd be. To come out of the regular season 13-3 is pretty good. "The Super Bowl? I think it'll be difficult. I think they'll lose to Indy." Jaynes obviously doesn't believe Denver will get that far. "The Pats are a long shot," Jaynes conceded, "but they're peaking at the right time. They started the season kind of shaky, but the (regular) season is 16 games long and they're still standing. "People have the impression that if you don't start off the season with a bunch of wins, you're out of the picture, but the Pats had some injuries to deal with earlier. "We opened Pittsbugh (versus Indy) plus 9 and it's currently 9 1/2," Jaynes continued "The NFC is tough ... any one of them, I'd say. "We got a lot of futures and early money on the Bears, but we always get money on Chicago, Los Angeles and San Diego teams, so that's nothing unusual. "We have the most (futures) money on Seattle, but we've seen late money on the Redskins. "Carolina has an outside chance -- they're peaking at the right time -- but we don't have as much money on the Panthers as the others." The Hilton has seen minimal action on this weekend's games and what has come in has been against the SuperBook's opening numbers. "We opened Seattle minus 10 and it's now 9 1/2," said Jeff Sherman, one of Kornegay's top aides. "We're seeing Panthers and Redskin money. The Bears are now minus $1.35 on the money line. "We opened New England plus 4 and it's now plus 3 1/2 minus $1.20." Kornegay says it's kind of a Catch 22 for him when it comes to the Broncos. "I don't bet on these games, but when I pick against the Broncos nobody takes it serously and when I pick them, they say, "Oh, you're just a Broncos fan. "I can't win."