Bettors line up to place Super Bowl wagers Sunday at The Orleans sports book. Valley casinos were packed for the biggest betting day of the year, though book directors weren't yet sure of the handle. Photo by Samantha Clemens. Super Bowl fans, from left, Tom Rulon of Las Vegas, Albert Sessoms, 28, of Las Vegas and Dan Rotto, 25, of Chicago react to a play while watching the game at the Palms sports book on Sunday. Photo by Craig L. Moran.

All the intrigue of a Super Bowl featuring Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning was expected to attract record business for Nevada sports books. Manning did his part, but the other half of the equation remains a mystery.

Manning led the favored Colts to a 29-17 victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday at Miami, wrapping up a very profitable NFL season for bookmakers.

But whether Super Bowl XLI will make a $100 million mark in the record books is a toss-up. One certainty is that Las Vegas sports books were overflowing with bettors.

"It's getting to a point now where the sports book is just way too small for a Super Bowl Sunday," Wynn Las Vegas sports book director John Avello said. "But we tried to accommodate everybody. It was a good day, very smooth."

Across the Strip, Mirage sports book director Robert Walker said business was just as good.

"It was spectacular how busy we were today. I don't remember it ever being like this," Walker said. "It was unbelievable the amount of money that poured in the last four or five hours."

The late rush might prove to be enough to top $100 million in wagers for the first time in state history. Or it might not.

On that point, Avello and Walker were singing a slightly different tune.

A record $94.5 million was wagered on last year's Super Bowl in Nevada, as the betting handle increased for the fifth consecutive year, up from $71.5 million in 2002.

It generally takes two days for the state's sports books to report handle before the Gaming Control Board releases the total.

"It could probably reach that $100 million mark," Avello said.

That would surprise Walker, who said, "I don't think we'll do as well as we did last year. It will be really interesting to see the state's figures."

The Colts opened and closed as 7-point favorites at MGM Mirage books, but at the Wynn and most other books, the line closed at 6 1/2. The Colts fell behind 14-6 in the first quarter, but dominated the rest of the game and covered the spread.

Walker said wagering was heavy on the Bears until the final hours before kickoff.

"The money was really 10-to-1 on the Colts in the last couple hours. It was a complete and utter onslaught of Colts money," Walker said. "I'm a little disappointed with the final outcome. A backdoor touchdown would've made an unbelievable impact for us."

MGM Mirage books took fewer six-figure bets than in past years, Walker said. The two biggest bets were for $400,000 each on Indianapolis minus-7. He said there also was a $250,000 money-line wager on Chicago.

Walker said he dropped the money line on the Colts as low as minus-215 because he was seeing so many tickets written on the Bears.

"There was a lot of interest in the underdog in the game," Avello said. "The money-line underdog always gets bet in the Super Bowl.

"I believed the Colts were going to win the game. I think there were a lot of so-called sharp and fairly sophisticated guys who gave out the Bears."

A majority of sharp bettors played it under the total, which fell from 49 to 47 partly because of poor weather in Miami, where it rained heavily most of the game. The books took a minor hit on the total.

"What really hurt us was every teaser combination covered," said Walker, pointing out Bears' bettors cashed tickets at plus-13 on a 6-point teaser.

Proposition bets were mostly favorable for the books, with one exception.

Chicago's Devin Hester returned the opening kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown. Hester was getting 30-1 odds to score the game's first touchdown.

"That's the biggest hit we've ever taken on a player to score the first touchdown," Las Vegas Hilton sports book director Jay Kornegay said. "It was an accumulation of $20, $10 and $5 tickets, but they add up pretty quickly when you're paying 30-1."

Avello, who said most of the money on the game showed up in the last 24 hours, called it a profitable result for his book.

"We book the game to the best our ability and then after that we can't do anything about it. We watch and hope for the best," Avello said.

"The Colts, without a doubt, their quarterback was head and shoulders above the guy they were going against."

Manning, voted Most Valuable Player, was in control most of the way. But Bears quarterback Rex Grossman folded in the fourth quarter, when he threw two interceptions. One was returned for a touchdown, helping the Colts cover the spread.