LAS VEGAS — When it comes to the Super Bowl, every little detail warrants a wager.

Will the player who scores the first touchdown in Sunday's big game have a jersey number higher than 38? Who will catch a pass first: Arizona's Anquan Boldin or Pittsburgh's Hines Ward? Will Kurt Warner complete his first pass?

Many bettors watching the Super Bowl from Las Vegas this weekend will have money riding on much more than the outcome. Seemingly inane details such as the distance of the first field goal or whether the first score is a touchdown pass or run can be as important as the final score.

Proposition bets — prop bets, for short — let gamblers put money on just about every game situation possible and give bettors reasons to root during each play.

"From the coin toss until the final play of the game, there's some prop being decided," said Jay Kornegay, executive director of the Las Vegas Hilton's race and sports. "It might seem like a meaningless play, but here in Vegas there's some money riding on that 2-yard carry."

The bets can be downright zany. For example, the Hilton offers 9,999-1 odds on the Steelers scoring 4 points for the entire game against the Cardinals. Sure, it's possible, but only if Pittsburgh manages two safeties.

Other bets can involve other sports.

MGM Mirage Inc. Race and Sports Book Director Jay Rood said his company's casinos are offering a bet on which will be higher: the combined score after the first quarter, NBA center Dwight Howard's total rebounds in the Orlando Magic-Toronto Raptors game, Detroit Pistons forward Rasheed Wallace's total points against the Cleveland Cavaliers or the combined number of holes shot under par by golfers Anthony Kim and Phil Mickelson during Sunday's final round of the FBR Open in Scottsdale, Ariz.

"What makes it good is it's something that they can track and know where they stand on it," Rood said.

Rood said prop bets accounted for 15 percent to 20 percent of all bets his books take on the Super Bowl. Kornegay said the percentage is higher at the Hilton, with half of all bets on the NFL title game coming on props.

Last year, $92.1 million was wagered on the Super Bowl in Nevada's 174 sports book.

Kornegay said the weird bets became wildly popular in the 1990s, during an 11-year run in which the NFC team won every Super Bowl.

In 1995, books expanded the proposition bets offered after the 49ers opened as 17.5-point favorites over the Chargers.

"The game was going to be so boring," Kornegay said. "We were trying to keep everybody's interest."

In 2003, Kornegay said, a casual bettor drove from Los Angeles and bet hundreds of dollars at 100-1 odds that the Carolina Panthers would score exactly 29 points against the New England Patriots — an unusual total.

"We actually got killed on that proposition — he didn't have any logic to it," said Kornegay, who said the bettor won a five-figure sum on the bet while Carolina lost the game, 32-29.

While prop bets might be a fun alternative for casual fans, serious sports gamblers pore over the numbers to look for edges in bets that casinos offer only once each year.

Professional gambler Teddy Sevransky said he has made more than 40 bets already on this year's Super Bowl, with prop bets outnumbering his other wagers tenfold.

"When you talk to someone, Joe Public, who says, 'Oh, well you're a professional bettor, who do you like — Arizona or Pittsburgh,' It's irrelevant," Sevransky, 41, said. "What I'm looking to do is outthink the linesmaker, outthink the betting public on these options."

Sevransky said prop bets let bettors deduce information about how the game will play out and make dozens of bets based on just a couple opinions, such as whether each team will pass or run on most plays.

Last year, Las Vegas casinos lost a record $2.6 million when the New York Giants upset the New England Patriots.

Sevransky said he had bet the Patriots, but ended up having a winning day by betting more money on propositions.

Rood said it's not uncommon for serious bettors to bet $10,000 or more on specific circumstances or occurrences if they think they have an edge over the sports book.

"Everyone's got their own formula on what they think is right — that's what makes the world go round," Rood said.