Westgate SuperBook exec John Murray relishes Super Bowl Sunday

LAS VEGAS — The fourth quarter of -Super Bowl LIII had started. The Patriots and Rams were knotted 3-3, and John Murray, as director of the Westgate SuperBook, had an update to deliver.

In a VIP booth inside the SuperBook that Sunday, Feb. 3, 2019, the executives of Westgate Resorts awaited.

Over the previous few days, Murray had informed them that the fewer points the better for the book’s bottom line, regarding side and total bets, and hundreds of props.

“Eventually, I had to tell all the guys who run this company, in from Florida,” Murray said. “We do want it to be boring, I had told them, but not this boring. Because if nobody scores a TD, we would lose X.”

According to former SuperBook boss Jay Kornegay, X represented about seven figures on one prop. “No Touchdown” paid 500-to-1 dividends, around 100-1 on other variations.

Today, Murray admits to feeling some anxiety during that walk and talk.

“I was nervous,” Murray said. “It was my first Super Bowl as director, too.”

He finally exhaled with seven minutes left, when Pats tailback Sony Michel scored from two yards out. New England won 13-3.

“We got to a point where we just wanted someone to score a touchdown,” Murray said. “Those executives were all excited because the game was so boring. They’re thinking, ‘We’re doing great!’ And we did do great on props.

“That was a little tense, but it was a fun one.”

Prestige

A year ago, as the newly minted vice president of race and sports, Murray spent his first Super Bowl sitting behind the most prestigious desk of the world’s most eminent decades-old legal sportsbook.

For the first time in 40 years, Kornegay, having stepped aside to become a SuperBook consultant, did not monitor an NFL title game’s developing liability status behind a book’s counter.

It became the SuperBook, as the Las Vegas Hilton, under Art Manteris. At Caesars Palace in 1986, he begat the Super Bowl prop craze by offering 20-1 on William “The Refrigerator” Perry scoring a touchdown against the Patriots.

That got whittled to 2-1 by kickoff. The Fridge, of course, scored to boost the Bears’ lead to 44-3 in Super Bowl XX. Manteris penned his 1991 book, “SuperBookie.”

In 2004, he took over running the many Station Casino books that ring the valley. -Kornegay left the Imperial Palace and made the SuperBook synonymous with Super Bowl props.

“Jay raised the bar here,” Murray said.

Over the last 10 days, patrons have sifted through 50 pages of SuperBook props.

Murray, 42, is aware of his desk’s prestige, saying, “Many people tell me that this is probably the best office of any sportsbook in this city.”

Kornegay oversaw promoting Murray from book manager to director to executive director to vice president. Twenty years ago, at that initial interview, Kornegay hired Murray on the spot.

“John’s very intelligent; that’s a first impression I had,” Kornegay said. “He had a very balanced demeanor and a personality for the position that we were hiring for. Let’s just say, when I hired John, it was a no-doubter.

“Obviously, 20 years later, we made the right decision.”

Putt master

Murray grew up in McLean, Virginia, as a hoops fan of Georgetown, his pop’s college. John studied English at West Virginia, but he began betting sports at Gonzaga Prep, alma mater of Bears quarterback Caleb Williams.

“Just being honest,” Murray said.

Inspired by Ryan Howard belting home runs by the bushel at spring training in 2006, Murray and three college pals wagered on a 40-1 offshore futures ticket on the third-year Phillies slugger to lead the majors in homers.

Howard hit 58, beating Red Sox masher David Ortiz’s 54.

Murray and his buddies had made a deal to barnstorm Vegas with their winnings if it hit. They stayed at Luxor, explored the Strip.

John had heard of the SuperContest, so they ventured to the SuperBook to watch the Patriots beat the Vikings 31-7 on Oct. 30, 2006.

“The first time I set foot in this book,” Murray said.

He’d return after graduating, still holding Howard profit. He planned to get a gig, stay two or three years and have some fun, return to Virginia.

Murray hasn’t left Vegas.

“Jay kept promoting me,” he said with a touch of his characteristic dry humor. “I got stuck out here because of him.”

He lives by the fifth hole of the Las Vegas Country Club — across the street from the SuperBook — where his putting often shines.

During a round in which Murray sank everything, former UFC champ Aljamain “Funk Master” Sterling called him “Putt Master.”

Just like Kornegay, Murray will traipse the SuperBook grounds, discussing games and wagers with customers as if he were one of them, which he was not so long ago.

He’ll never walk alone

When his Gonzaga Prep rugby team toured the British Isles one summer to play matches in England, Ireland and Wales, Murray experienced an epiphany of thirst.

Drinking pints of Carlsberg, nectar out of British kegs and taps, in pubs with his teammates turned him into an aficionado of Liverpool Football Club because the brewery sponsored the Reds’ uniforms. They’ve become a passion.

Murray went to Anfield, Liverpool’s hallowed grounds, two years ago for the last home match of Jürgen Klopp’s career. He returned a year ago, when Arne Slot capped his first season as Reds gaffer with a Premier League trophy.

He has hotel arrangements in Budapest and Madrid, sites for the next two Champions League finales, should Liverpool advance that far.

“Dude,” Murray said, “I’m a planner.”

He will relish this summer’s World Cup with special zeal because the previous tournaments were in Qatar (during the fall), Russia, Brazil and South Africa.

“Not just having a World Cup, but a World Cup in this time zone will be huge, very significant for every sportsbook,” Murray said. “Hopefully, the U.S. can make a run.”

Super roar

The Super Bowl, however, is Murray’s favorite event. Two weeks of buildup, big bets and exotic wagers, then whoosh, Super Sunday seems to fly by in several heartbeats.

With the rest of the city’s books at Seattle -4½ for Super Bowl LX, Murray and his team made it Seattle -5, at -108 (or risk $108 to win $100), to lure New England cash.

By midweek it hadn’t happened, as 75% of the money and two-thirds of the tickets were on the Seahawks. But the SuperBook sliced its price to -105 for the weekend, so perhaps Pats supporters were waiting.

“Not exactly a bad plan,” Murray said.

A year ago, a colleague sat with him in his office to watch the Eagles trounce the Chiefs 40-22 when late Kansas City points chewed into profits.

New England was 18-0 entering Super Bowl XLII, Murray’s first writing tickets. With 35 seconds left, Giants quarterback Eli Manning threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress to give the underdog Giants a 17-14 triumph.

“It’s still the loudest I’ve ever heard this book,” Murray said. “There have been a lot of big moments, big events and plays here, but I’ve never heard a roar like that one.”