Jay Cornegei wasn’t surprised, though he was proud and happy to hear the official news last week that the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino’s famous Football Super Contest would break its own participation record.
In fact, when it comes to the veteran vice president of racing and sports operations, the best is yet to come. 파워볼게임
The annual Football Handicap Challenge, where participants choose five weekly NFL games of the regular season against the spread, is the most widely known and most prestigious competition in the United States. This year, 1,854 football fans and handicaps reached an all-time high for the seventh consecutive season, giving up $1,500 tickets for the chance to win nearly $1 million in prize money.
“We’re talking about football, the most popular sport to bet on at a time when sports betting is increasing and growing year after year, so the sky is really the limit,” Kornay told Casino City after records were officially broken last Thursday. “I keep telling people not to scare you because the number of entries is going to increase. One day we’ll look back and say, ‘Do you remember when you had to only beat 2,000 to get this?’
Korngei was smiling when he made his point, but he was not joking. When it began as the Hilton Super Contest in 1988, the contest was considered an event only for the locals. It has remained that way through the years, and continued when Korngei came to the Hilton in 2004 from the now-defunct Imperial Palace, which is home to the Linke Hotel and Casino.
From 2004 to 2010, the average number of participants was about 386, the highest at 505 in 2005. It rose to 517 in 2011, and continued to surge every year, rising to 745 in 2012, 1,034 in 2013, 1,403 in 2014, and 1,727 last year.
As participation surges, prize money and challenges to finish in the top 50 and cash in increased as well. In 2004, each champion received $131,520, tying for first place. Last year’s champion received $906,675 in a group that calls itself a “Round Again.”
Two years ago, the winning team, the “CH Ballers,” set a record of 64.5 points (1 point for every winning team, 1 point and a half for every “push,”) and recorded an astonishing 76 percent of selections, 64-20-1. The previous high of 60.5 points and 58-22-5 (73 percent) came in 2011 by a team called the “Sans Souci.” In contrast, the winning team in 2004 received 62 percent of selections, with 52.5 points.
While prize money is awarded to the top 50 finalists (a tie for 50th place last year was awarded $6,044 apiece), there are other ways to win. There is a 67 percent total bonus for participants with a score of more than 67 percent to waste their $20,000 prize money.