Progressive Gaming International Product Manager Jeff Harms, at the firm's Las Vegas offices, touts the potential of Rapid Bet Live. Photo by John Locher.

By the time Super Bowl XL kicks off Feb. 5 in Detroit, a new sports wagering system could be available that would allow gamblers to bet in real time throughout the game, rather than just on the outcome or total score.

For example, if the system were in place for today's Jacksonville-New England National Football League playoff contest, a sports book customer could wager during a particular Patriots' offensive series on whether the drive's conclusion will result in a Tom Brady touchdown pass, an Adam Vinatieri field goal or an interception by the Jaguars' defense.

Las Vegas-based casino equipment provider Progressive Gaming International Corp. will field test Rapid Bet Live for 60 to 90 days at the Palms sports book once Nevada gaming regulators give their approval. Progressive Gaming officials said broad interest in the NFL's championship game would be the ideal time to try out the system.

"That's our target date because the Super Bowl offers a lot of options for this system," said Jeff Harms, Rapid Bet Live product manager for Progressive Gaming. "We would like to have it out in the sports book before the game.

Rich Baccellieri, race and sports book manager at the Palms, said the casino will put up about 150 various proposition wagers on the Super Bowl. Rapid Bet Live, he said, allows the casino another way to offer football bettors action on the game.

"Once a game starts, Nevada sports books cease taking wagers," Baccellieri said. "This system opens the door for players to wager during the game. You can actually bet on who's going to score the game's first touchdown while the game is in progress."

Progressive Gaming, which supplies casinos with management systems and develops slot machines and table games, acquired Rapid Bet Live when it bought gaming software provider VirtGame Corp. last year in a $20 million stock swap.

If testing at the Palms is successful, Harms said, the system could quickly find its way into other Nevada sports books.

Rapid Bet Live allows a sports book to offer anywhere from 30 to 50 different wagers on an individual sporting event with odds that are automatically refreshed once the bet is concluded. While the game will have its initial testing with the Super Bowl, the system could be active at the Palms during the NCAA basketball tournament in March.

Harms said the system can be configured for different sporting events; for example, which team will make the next 3-point shot in a basketball game, what will happen during a particular at bat in a major league baseball game, or who will score the next goal in a National Hockey League game.

Rapid Bet Live requires a sports bettor to deposit money into an account and choose a user name and password. Wagers are accepted in the sports book on a touch-screen terminal; winnings are accrued to a player's total account with payouts posted automatically.

"Internet gaming has made people comfortable with wagering on a computer terminal," Harms said. "The idea is this eliminates dead time in a sports book. Usually, you place your wager and then sit and watch and wait for the outcome. Now, you can still wager during the game, but in a different way."

Harms said the system's technology benefits both the player and the sports book. Many of the individual wagers during a football game offer three different scenarios, such as scoring, punting or a turnover during an offensive drive. The bettor has more options but the house gains a 2-out-of-3 advantage.

Baccellieri said he isn't sure how much wagering volume Rapid Bet Live will add to the Palms' average daily take. But he said the betting limits will be "reasonable" for the "recreational" sports gambler, with a minimum of $5 per bet.

"The idea is to have someone wager for awhile," Baccellieri said. "We probably will not have a large maximum bet because we want to keep players in the game for the duration."

Real-time sports betting is legal in Europe. In England, sports betting parlors allow gamblers to wager on action during soccer, rugby and cricket games and tennis matches through an interactive system.

A similar system to Rapid Bet Live, SportXction, was tested at a couple of Las Vegas sports books in the mid-1990s, but failed quickly. Sports book observers said the system was too futuristic and poorly configured.

"Do I think the time is right for something like this? Absolutely," said sports handicapper Jimmy Vaccaro, who operated sports books in Las Vegas in the 1980s and 1990s. Vaccaro now handles public relations for statewide sports book operator Leroy's Horse and Sports Place.

"The technology has advanced so that a system like this is feasible and the players are much more in tune to technology," Vaccaro said. "The old system was really slow and this seems to be much faster. I think the betting public is ready for it and I think the industry is ready for it. I think there are a lot of ways to use this system."

Vaccaro also said Baccellieri is an innovative sports book operator who has the type of clientele at the Palms, younger and more attuned to technology, to make the system a success.

Baccellieri said he would have liked to have had Rapid Bet Live available during Wednesday night's back-and-forth Rose Bowl game, in which the University of Texas outlasted the University of Southern California 41-38.

"I saw a lot of possibilities in that game where this system could have been very popular," Baccellieri said. "We'll promote it in the book and I'm sure Progressive will market it. I think there will be some interest."