Call options were a popular choice on Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - 49.13) in Wednesday's session, with roughly 42,000 contracts crossing the tape -- more than doubling the casino stock's average daily call volume. Meanwhile, only about 23,000 LVS puts changed hands yesterday.

The most active strike was the February 50 call, where 7,721 contracts were traded. More than two-thirds of these calls crossed at the ask price, suggesting they were purchased, and open interest rose overnight by 5,875 contracts. In other words, it looks as though new bullish bets were added at this strike on Wednesday.

Based on the option's volume-weighted average price (VWAP) of $2.09, call buyers need LVS to rise above breakeven at $52.09 (strike plus VWAP) before they'll begin to see profits. The stock closed yesterday at $48.75, so these bulls are betting on a rally of about 7% over the next six-plus weeks until February options expiration.

Wednesday's surge of interest in LVS calls coincided with some upbeat data on Macau gambling revenue. However, the shares stopped short near the round-number $50 level, which previously served as resistance during 2010 and 2011.