Golden Nugget Friday Football Showdown
Ultimate Football Challenge – The entry fee is $1,000. Top 20 contestants win cash prizes. Must sign up by September 8th, 10 PM PST. Contestants can have up to 3 entries into the Ultimate Football Challenge. Contestants don’t have to be Nevada residents to enter but ALL registrations must take place in person at the Golden Nugget Casino. Contest: Friday Football Showdown 2017 Pool: Prelims Show Entries: All Entries Location: All Locations Place Acct-#/Entry Alias Location Picks W-L-T-C Points Entry Date Cash Prize 31T 2017053-1 @LASVEGASCRIS-1 GN VEGAS 84 44-37-3-0 45.50 28-Aug-17, 13:20:37.
Golden Nugget Friday Football Showdown Schedule
LAS VEGAS -- The Friday Football Showdown at the Golden Nugget is down to the semifinals after the top four seeds all lost their quarterfinal matches.
FRIDAY FOOTBALL SHOWDOWN 2017 Presented by the Golden Nugget Sports Book Hoste d by The Las Veg as Sport sline, airi ng on ESPN Ra dio (1100 AM, 100.9 FM) Each Friday throughout the football season, entrants compete in a college football and NFL handicapping contest. The radio broadcast is 2 to 3 p.m. From the ESPN Radio studio.
The first semifinal match, pitting Anthony Curtis against Michael Wright, will take place on Friday, Dec. 16, with picks being made from 2-3 p.m. PT on The Las Vegas Sportsline radio show (ESPN AM-1100 here in Vegas and online at lvsportsnetwork.com). Each competitor will give their seven best bets on NFL and NCAA sides and totals (with games though Wednesday, Dec. 21 available). We'll post their plays Friday night in the Comments section below. Joe Gaffney meets Christopher Kozak in the second semifinal, which is similarly timed and covered on Friday, Dec. 23; both semifinal winners meet in the finals on Dec. 30.
There were 96 entries in the Friday Football Showdown this year, for a total prize pool of $192,000. All entrants made picks through the first 10 weeks of the season, with the top seven records advancing to the head-to-head playoff format along with a 'wild-card chase' winner from Weeks 9-10).
Wright, playing under the alias 'BBQ Guy,' was the wild-card winner at 13-4-1 ATS, which was best among players who hadn't already qualified for the playoffs. He faced No. 1 seed Randy McKay (aka 'RoughRider39') over Thanksgiving weekend and both went 4-3, but Wright won the tiebreaker as both won with their top two plays while Wright won his third-best bet (the Chiefs +3.5 in their 30-27 overtime win at the Broncos) and McKay lost with Toledo +9 in a 55-35 loss at Western Michigan.
His opponent, Curtis, is the owner of Huntington Press book-publishing house and the Las Vegas Advisor newsletter (lasvegasadvisor.com), who uses his own name on the contest entry along with his partner Frank Betti, the sports betting expert on the LVA sports blog. They were the No. 6 seed and went 5-2 to defeat No. 3 seed Chris Zeniuk (3-4), and they are now the top seed -- giving them the right to pick which weekend to compete.
Next week's semifinal features Gaffney, who was part of the 2007 Hilton SuperContest-winning team of 'Ptshverj Gaffney.' His entry at the Nugget was called 'Hell's Kitchen' and was in the name of Nancy Clark, his proxy. He went 4-3 in the first quarterfinal match as the No. 5 seed to eliminate No. 4 Derek Stevens, the owner of the D Hotel-Casino in downtown Las Vegas. Kozak, the No. 7 seed, went 4-3 games from Dec. 2-5 and beat Frank Perez on the second tiebreaker.
All of the playoff qualifiers earned $3,000 apiece and then the quarterfinal winners each won $2,000 for a total of $32,000 out of the purse. The remaining $160,000 is split up with $96,000 to the eventual champion (for a total haul of $101,000), $40,000 to the runner-up, $8,000 each to the semifinal losers and $8,000 to the winner of a bonus mini-contest held in NFL Weeks 15-17 for all contestants (even those eliminated earlier, so don't forget to put in your seven plays this weekend if you entered).
SuperContest heads into final three weeks
It's crunch time in the Westgate SuperContest, with three weeks remaining in the NFL season for the top contenders and those trying to finish in the top 50 of the famous contest that drew a record 1,854 entrants this year at $1,500 apiece, with first place worth $895,482.
The SuperContest also has a mini-contest with $20,000 (aggregate) for the best record over the last three weeks.
The contestant using the alias Mac Sports Inc. is the leader for the second straight week at 46-23-1 (66.7 percent) with 46.5 points, as players receive one point for each win and half a point for a push. Orange Crush is in second place with 46 points with the sextet of Greybeard, Just Cover Baby!, Unclebobn4brothers, Vegasportsline.com and former leaders Mark Davis and Janknation (who is actually the same person with two separate entries that has been using mostly identical plays all season) at 45.5 -- meaning that the top eight is separated by just one correct pick.
The top five most selected teams -- a point of reference that, when used, usually fares well as SuperContestants play the stale lines that are posted on Wednesday afternoon with final picks not due until 11 a.m. PT Saturday -- were ridiculed as a great fade this year when they were below 30 percent. However, they went 4-0-1 ATS last week (with the push coming on the Ravens +7 on Monday night), and they are 15-4-1 ATS the last four weeks to silence those critics; they're up to 30-37-3 (44.8 percent) on the season.
With the arrival of football season, college teams across the country will suit up to represent their schools in NCAA action, while the 32 pro teams in the NFL will vie for the Super Bowl. And the while, fans will sweat every tackle and touchdown by betting on the NFL and NCAA’s biggest games.
Football is the biggest economic engine for sportsbooks in Las Vegas, drawing fans from far and wide to put a little dough on their favorite teams. Single-game tickets, parlays, props, and futures betting combine to bring football fans to the sportsbook in droves. But over the last decade or so, sports betting contests have become an increasingly popular segment of the overall market.
In case you’re unfamiliar with the concept, a sports betting competition utilizes a tournament format, a la the big poker games you see on TV. Players pony up a set entry fee, typically between $500 and $1,500 for most of the major sports betting contests running in Sin City, before setting to work picking a slate of games against the point spread.
Back in the day, the Golden Nugget casino in Downtown Las Vegas was one of the venues experimenting with pick contests as a marketing angle. The Golden Nugget’s original football handicapping competition was known as the Friday Football Showdown, and players paid $2,000 to submit seven NCAA or NFL picks per week.
The old Friday Football Showdown was unique in that it used an actual tournament bracket format, pitting players against one another week by week until only one was left standing.
That all changed in 2018, however, when Golden Nugget sportsbook director Tony Miller overhauled the old format to create his Golden Nugget Ultimate Football Challenge.
History of the Golden Nugget Ultimate Football Challenge
Golden Nugget Friday Football Showdown Odds
To usher in the new Golden Nugget Ultimate Football Challenge era, Miller scrapped the bracket-style gameplay in favor of a pooled points system.
In other words, he went with the Westgate SuperContest route, with players trying to rack up the highest point total by seasons’ end through sharp selection on a weekly basis.
Miller also cut the old buy-in of $2,000 in half, so players entering the Golden Nugget Ultimate Football Challenge only need $1,000 to get in the game ($500 less than the SuperContest entry fee).
In yet another departure from the SuperContest, Miller preserved the old Friday Football Showdown’s use of both NCAA and NFL games.
Instead of choosing five sides from the NFL slate like in the SuperContest, the Golden Nugget Ultimate Football Challenge has players select seven sides from the full NCAA + NFL schedules.
Speaking with the Vegas Stats and Information Network before last year’s inaugural contest kicked off, Miller explained how the use of college and professional games makes the Golden Nugget Ultimate Football Challenge unique among Las Vegas sports betting competitions. He also pointed out that his Golden Nugget Ultimate Football Challenge offers football fans an alternative to the NFL-only SuperContest.
“We’re expecting a lot of entries for this. It’s a true handicapping contest because we have every game on the board available – all college and NFL sides – and that’s a big thing… The SuperContest is great because it’s so big. I’m not going to say this is better, but there needs to be another big contest that includes college football.”
In 2017, the final Friday Football Showdown ever held attracted only 95 players, a pale comparison to the 2,748 entries generated by that year’s SuperContest.
But one year later, Miller’s adjustments in creating the Golden Nugget Ultimate Football Challenge sparked an immediate increase in interest, with 308 entries joining the party. That uptick can be explained both by the price reduction and a provision allowing individual players up to three separate entries apiece.
Rich Velez took home the title as champion last year, reeling off a gaudy 81-36-2 record for a cover rate of 69.2%. That performance was good enough to claim the $119,200 top prize payout, while the rest of the top-20 took home lesser prizes.
How the Golden Nugget Ultimate Football Challenge Works
Players have until Tuesday, September 3rd at 10 PM local time to register for the Golden Nugget Ultimate Football Challenge.
Sign-ups take place at the Golden Nugget Sportsbook in Downtown Las Vegas, and if you’re planning to play from out of state, your designated proxy will need to be in attendance to complete the necessary paperwork.
Players can enter up to three times.
From there, the contest involves picking seven games against the spread from the NCAA and/or NFL schedule each week during the leagues’ respective regular seasons. That means 17 weeks of action are on tap, and the goal is to wind up with the highest point total by season’s end.
Correctly picking a side that covers the point spread is good for 1 point, while a push produces 0.5 points, and failing to cover generates 0 points.
Picks must be submitted by Friday at 10:00 PM, either in person or through your designated proxy service.
The point spreads used for the Golden Nugget Ultimate Football Challenge are created by the in-house bookmaker, and they’re released to the public at 2:00 PM every Wednesday afternoon.
Here is a full rundown on all of the fine print concerning rules and regulations.
Prize Money up for Grabs
Last year’s debut field of 309 entries created a total prize pool of $309,000, of which 40 % was awarded to champion Rich Velez.
As for the rest of the payouts, check out the table below to see the prizes 2018 Golden Nugget Ultimate Football Challenge competitors played for:
Golden Nugget Ultimate Football Challenge Payouts
| Place | Payout |
|---|---|
| 1st | $119,200 |
| 2nd | $59,600 |
| 3rd | $29,800 |
| 4th-5th | $20,860 |
| 6th-7th | $14,900 |
| 8th-10th | $5,960 |
| 11th-20th | $1,000 |
After 40% of the total prize pool is awarded to the winner, the runner-up pockets 20%, third place wins 10%, fourth and fifth place take 7 % each, sixth and seventh place earn 5% each, and eighth, ninth, and 10th place receive 2% each.
As for the 11th through 20th place finishers, a $1,000 payout means they make their original buy-in back to break even.
Now that the word is out on the Golden Nugget Ultimate Football Challenge, expect the field to grow this year, and the prize pool to swell in kind. Velez won $119,200 in this contest’s first crack at it, so a top payout of $150,000 this year (based on an estimated field size of 375 entries) is entirely possible.
Conclusion
When most folks hear the term “football betting,” their mind immediately goes to the NFL, where the world’s best players take the field every Sunday. But on Saturdays, the NFL stars of the future hone their craft playing NCAA football and, for millions of Americans, the college game is their true passion.
With most of the major Las Vegas sports betting contests revolving around the NFL only, the Golden Nugget Ultimate Football Challenge’s ingenious inclusion of NCAA games is a huge bonus for diehard college fans.
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