As Details for the 2014 Football
Contests are announced (usually in late July/early August) the informtaion
below shall be updated on a frequent and timely basis so please check back often
during July and August.
IMPORTANT NOTE ======================================== Stations
Casinos has begun accepting entries for all 3 of their contests -- Great Giveaway,
College Last Man Standing, Pro Last Man Standing
On Friday, August 1st
William Hill announced their Pro Pick 'em Contest for 2014 but it appears they will
not have either a College Football Contest or their NFL 3 'n Out Contest. Although
their press release discussed only the Pro Football Contest and was silent on other
contests a phone call to their Customer Support Department confirmed that the other
two contests would not be held this season.
This Page Was Most Recently
Updated on Friday, August 8, 2014
Information for Contests held last season
(2013) may be found by CLICKING HERE
If
you have specific questions please contact Andy Iskoe at logical7@cox.net
2014 Football Contests & Available
Proxy Services
This Page Was Most Recently Updated
on Friday, August 8, 2014
Because of the popularity of football,
especially the NFL, each football season many Sports Books in Las Vegas and throughout
Nevada offer weekly and/or season long football contests, often in an effort to attract
as much traffic into their casino and sports book as possible.
Some contests
are free. Some carry a modest price tag to enter ($25 to $250). Others are more of
the "high end" variety (such as the Las Vegas Hilton Super Contest) with
entry fees of $ 1,500.oo -- and upwards.
These contests offer prizes of $250,000
or more and many pay over 100 places. Some of the contests even offer "rebates"
on their entry fees in the form of free slot play or offer end of season prizes in
the form of cash and free slot play.
Some contests offer weekly prizes of
several thousand dollars. Some contests offer season long prizes of $5,000 to $100,000
or more. And some contests offer a combination of weekly and season long prizes.
The
majority of the contests involve picking the straight up winners of NFL games (usually
just the Sunday and Monday games). A few contests -- mainly those that carry entry
fees of $250 or more -- involve picking winners against the pointspread. Some contests
involve just college football.
Contests are available for almost every budget
and for fans with varying degrees of knowledge and interest in football.
These
contests have become increasingly popular with residents and seasonal visitors to
Las Vegas and Nevada.
But there are also ways for non-residents and occasional
visitors to participate in these weekly and season long contests -- BY UTILIZING
THE SERVICES OF A PROXY. Read on for details and further information on these contests
and available proxy services.
Most contests require the contestant to
enter IN PERSON in Las Vegas but then allow the weekly selections to be submitted
by a Proxy.
Depending on the specific contests rules, a contestant may or
may not be required to submit their weekly selections in person.
In some contests
where 'in person' submissions are required, a contestant is able to designate a specific
person as a proxy who is authorized to submit the weekly selections for that contestant
(such as the Las Vegas Hilton NFL Super Contest).
For contests that do not
require weekly selections to be submitted in person a proxy is nonetheless needed
for contestants who are not able to be in Las Vegas to make the weekly selections.
No Contests allow for submissions by telephone or over the Internet.
Since moving to Las Vegas in 1991
Andy Iskoe of Logical Approach has entered many of the football contests offered
and sponsored by the Sports Books in Las Vegas.
In fact, in 2014 he will enter
the LVH Super Contest for a 24th consecutive season!
In addition to having
had great success as a contestant in most of these contests over the years, he has
also been a Proxy for contestants who live out of town and are not able to make the
weekly selections in person at the various Sports Books.
In 2014 he shall
again be offering his services as a Proxy for contestants who are unable to submit
selections in person.
The key to an effective Proxy/Contestant relationship
is communication.
Over the years Andy has developed an organized, structured
and sensible system for disseminating and receiving contest selection information
with the contestants for whom he has served as Proxy. Details of that system are
explained below, both before and after the descriptions of most of the weekly football
contests that shall be offerred for 2014.
The Proxy procedure is similar for
all contests with minor variations due to time and/or deadline variations that will
vary according to the specific contest.
Using the LVH NFL Super Contest as
an example emails are sent on Wednesday evenings by Andy Iskoe to the contestants
for whom he is a Proxy. The email will contain information related to the contest
lines for the upcoming week's games (to be released by 5 PM Pacific time Wednesdays
in 2014), the contestant's results for the previous week and season-to-date results
and the overall standings for all contestants (including information on the status
of the contestants currently in "cashing" position -- Top 30 and ties).
The
contestant is then responsible for providing Andy with his/her 5 contest selections
by either email or telephone (or both) by 6 PM Pacific Time on FRIDAY evening (or
at a later time as mutually agreed upon) so that the selections may be submitted
to the LVH safely in advance of the LVH's official Saturday 11 AM deadline.
The
Fee charged for the Proxy Service is agreed upon with each contestant and is based
upon the specific contest or combination of contests entered, the number of entries,
the complexities of "administering" your weekly entries/selections, and
other factors. The Fee is generall a flat, up front one time fee with no requirement
to share a percentage of any winnings earned by the contestant.
If you have any questions or would like to discuss using Andy Iskoe as your Proxy
please either call him at 702 - 898 - 9802 or contact him via email at logical7@cox.net
Information to be updated frequently
during the next few weeks as details become available so please check back often.
2014
Information below current as of Friday, August 1, 2014
For Contests yet to
release 2014 Contest Information 2013 Information is shown and will be updated as
2014 Information is released
NOTE ================== The information below is taken from the Official
Rules as published by the sponsoring property or organization. Although the information
is believed to be correct no responsibility is taken for any changes or differing
interpretations of the Rules. If you have any questions please contact the sponsoring
property/organization.
For contests having rules posted online on their website
or our webiste, a link is included for your convenience.
HIGHLIGHTS For more than 25 years
this has been the premier high end handicapping contest in Las Vegas, annually drawing
hunreds of contestants at $1,500 a pop that generates a huge prize pool. 2013 set
a record of 1,034 entries (breaking the prior record of 745 in 2012) which resulted
in a record prize pool of $1,551,500! Contestants pick 5 NFL games each week against
the pointspread making for 85 picks over the 17 week season. In 2014 the contest
will pas the Top 30 places and ties (up from 20 places prior to 2013). A record of
60% (51-34) has cashed more often than not over the years.
In 2013 there were
a record 1,034 entries which broke the record of 745 set in 2012. A new record could
well be set again in 2014.
A record of 55-26-4 (67.06%, 57.0 points) won the
2013 Contest which paid $ 542,850.00 to the winner
In 2013 it took a record
of 61.0% (51 out of 85 points) to cash, with 6 entries tying for 29th and 30th place,
splitting $ 9,306 with each collecting $ 1,551.oo
(Had there been no tie for
the final paying spot, 30th, that contestant would have collected $ 4,653.oo)
============================================================================================== For
2014 the LVH shall be holding a special "SuperContest Weekend" that
will include a Golf Outing, a Football Handicapping Seminar and will also provide
the opportunity to win one of 6 FREE Entries to the 2014 SuperContest.
For
more details a link to the 2014 LVH information is included below at the bottom of
the "Other Notes" section' ==============================================================================================
FORMAT -- Contestants select 5 NFL games each week against the pointspread for
17 weeks. Sides only. No Totals. The pointspread is a "static" pointspread
as established by the Las Vegas Hilton on Wednesdays and thus does not change even
though the actual betting lines on the games may change during the week.
ENTRY
FEE & DEADLINE-- $ 1,500.oo per entry with a maximum of 2 entries allowed per
Social Security Number. Entrants (and Proxies, if any) must be 21 years of age. Deadline
to enter the Contest is 11 AM Pacific time on Saturday, September 6, 2014 (deadline
for submission of first week's selections).
PAYOUT -- 100% of Entry Fees paid
to Top 30 Finishers (and ties) ranging from 35% for First Place to 0.3% for those
finishing 27th through 30th. Tie breakers are in place to determine First Place only.
All other ties split the tied places prize money equally.
WEEKLY SELECTION
SUBMISSION DEADLINE -- Saturday 11:00 AM Pacific Time. All selections are submitted
at the same time and, once submitted, may not be changed. If a contestant chooses
to use a Thursday game all 5 selections must be submitted prior to the start of that
Thursday game. The Official Rules clearly emphasize that the submission deadline
will be strictly enforced.
SELECTION SUBMISSION REQUIRMENTS -- Contestant
must submit entries in person or via a Proxy who has been registered by the Contestant
with the LVH Race & Sports Book. Weekly presentation of Contestant ID Card or
Proxy ID Card may be required.
CONTESTANT IDENTIFICATION -- Contestants may
use an alias (approved by management) to identify his/her selections and standings
as published throughout the contest period.
OTHER NOTES --
Additional
$ 15,000.oo put up by the LVH for a 3 week Mini-Contest for the best record over
the final 3 weeks of the season with the prize being winner-take-all -- no tie breakers
-- those tied for the best 3 week record split the prize equally -- Contestants eligible
are those who sign up and enter the contest prior to 4 PM Pacific time on Monday,
September 1, 2014 (Labor Day).
Any contestant who picks 67% (or better) winners
for the season shall receive an additonal $15,000.oo from the LVH. If more than one
contestant hits over 67% the prize shall be evenly divided. Ties (pushes) are disregarded
in calculation the percentage.
In the spring of 2012 British
bookmaker William Hill purchased LeRoys, Cal-Neva and Lucky' The purchas was approved
by the Nevada Gaming Commission prior to the start of the 2012 football season.
All
3 operations were merged into a single US entity that now operates under the William
Hill name and was in place in time for the 2012 football season.
It
appears as though this contest is similar in many respects to the very popular Stations
Casinos Great Giveaway Contest that has been offered for the 30 seasons or so and
is again offered for 2014 in that the selections are made Straight Up (no pointspreads)
and Totals (Over/Unders will be included for weeks with fewer than 15 games).
Two
principal -- and significant -- differences make recommending the Stations Casinos
Great Giveaway over the William Hill Contest are the difference in maximum entries
allowed and the number of end of season prizes.
Highlughts of the William
Hill Pro Football Contest include --
1 -- Contestant must be 21 years of
age and have a "William Hill Rewards Club" Card (issued at no cost) to
enter 2 -- $ 25.oo Entry Fee with a maximum of 25 entries per person allowed.
If you purchase 4 entries you will receive a fifth entry for free. It seems that
this only applies to the first four entries purchased and the free entry counts towards
the limit of 25. Thus, it appears as though if you were to play the maximum 25 entries
you would pay for 24 ($ 600.oo) and get 1 entry for free. The Buy 4/Get 1 Free is
applicable to entries prior to Saturday, September 6, 2014. 3 -- Entry Deadline
to be eligible for end of season prizes is Saturday, September 6, 2014 at the end
of the Sports Book's business day 4 -- Pick games each week Straight Up, NOT against
the pointspread. Totals are used in weeks in which there are fewer than 15 Sunday/Monday
games. 5 -- Contest will last all 17 weeks of the regular season and involves
Sunday and Monday games only 6 -- There are no tie breakers for weekly prizes
-- those tied for most winners, second most winners and most losers split each prize
equally 7 -- Selections must be made by the start of the first Sunday game 8
-- $ 13,000 in weekly prizes -- Same as 2013 but down from $ 21,000 in 2012 -- $
10,000 most winners; $ 2,000 second most winners; $ 1,000 fewest winners) -- was
$ 15,000/$ 5,000/$ 1,000 in 2012 9 -- $ 29,000 in end of season prizes -- 3 places
for most winners; 1 place for fewest winners -- eligible contestants are those who
submit selections for all 17 weeks -- down from $ 46,500 in 2013 which was up from
$ 41,000 in 2012 10 -- In the case of end of season ties those ties split the
money for the tied places -- i.e. a 2 way tie for most winners will split the first
and second place prize equally 11 -- There will be a $100,000 bonus paid to the
First Place winner if that person has made at least 200 winning selections (out of
the 255 total selections). 12 -- IMPORTANT -- All prizes must be claimed IN PERSON
with a valid ID and MUST BE COLLECTED BY FEBRUARY 28, 2015.
HIGHLIGHTS This widely popular
contest has been run for over 20 years and carries a modest entry fee. Contestants
pick straight up winners of Sunday/Monday NFL games for all 17 weeks. There are weekly
and season long prizes for picking the most winners and/or the most losers. There
is also a season long prize for picking 50% winners and 50% losers. Contestants who
make entries for all 17 weeks and do not win a weekly or season long prize will have
their entry fees refunded in the form of free slot play.
FORMAT -- Contestants pick the straight up winners (or losers) of Sunday/Monday
NFL games each week. Contest runs for all 17 weeks of the NFL regular season from
September 7, 2014 through December 28, 2014.
ENTRY FEE & DEADLINE -- Entry
Fee is $ 25.oo with a maximum of 2 entries able to be purchased. If 2 entries are
purchased the contestant receives a third entry for free in a "Buy 2 and Get
One Free" promotion. Thus, an individual is limited to a maximum of 3 entries.
The deadline to enter and be eligible for season long prizes is Sunday, September
7, 2014 prior to the start of the first game. Entries are allowed after that date
but such entries are only eligible to win weekly prizes.
WEEKLY PAYOUTS --
Weekly prizes are awarded to the contestant selecting the most winners. In the unlikely
event of a sole winner that winner has the choice of either $20,000 in cash or a
specified car/truck. In the more likely event of a tie a top winner will be determined
using a tiebreaker and that person will have the choice of either $10,000 cash or
the car/truck with the remaining $10,000 being split among the other contestants
who tied for the most wins that week (or to the lone other contestant in the case
of a 2 person tie). The contestant with the most losers will receive $10,000 in cash
although tie breakers will be used in the event of 2 or more contestants tied for
most losers with the "winner" receiving $5,000 and the remaining $5,000
being evenly split among the others. SEE RULES 20 & 21 FOR MORE SPECIFIC DETAILS.
Bascially, in determing the person who gets the $10,000/$5,000 weekly prize a tie
breaker of total points scored in the Monday night game, without going over, is used.
If a tie still exists the entry with the earliest entry time wins with the remaining
tied entries splitting the other $10,000/$5,000 weekly pools.
END OF SEASON
PAYOUTS -- The season long prizes for most winners aggregate $155,000 in cash and
pay the top 10 places with places 11 through 200 winning $100 or $200 in free slot
play. The winner receives their choice of $100,000 cash or a house valued at $225,000.
Most losers pays an aggregate of $129,000 in cash and pays the top 10 places (winner
gets their choice of $100,000 cash or a house valued at $225.000). Additionally,
places 11 through 200 receive $200 or $100 in free slot play. Prizes must be claimed
IN PERSON with a valid photo ID and Players Card (Boarding Pass, Amigo Card, Wild
Card, etc.) and there are dates specified by which if prized are not claimed, they
are forfeited.
FIDDLE IN THE MIDDLE -- At the end of the contest those contestants
who have picked exactly the same number of winners as losers will share in a prize
pool of $200,000 split evenly amongst all quailified contestants (i.e. no tie breakers).
In the event of an odd number of games being played the qualified winners will be
those who have either one more winner than loser or one more loser than winner. You
must submit selections for all 17 weeks to be eligible for this prize.
SELECTION
SUBMISSION DEADLINE -- Selections must be submitted by the start of the first game
on Sunday. Submissions may be made at any of the Stations Casinos, Fiesta Casinos
or affiliated properties either at the sports betting windows or at kiosks.
CONTESTANT
IDENTIFICATION -- The Rules do not state that entrants must submit their selections
in person so it appears that any person may act as Proxy although they will need
to have BOTH the Contestant's Players Card and PIN # when submitting selections.
REFUND
OF ENTRY FEE FOR NON WINNERS - Contestants who submit selections on EACH of their
entries for ALL 17 weeks and do not win either a weekly prize or season long prize
will have their entry fee refunded ($25 or $50) in the form of free slot play and
must be activated by Monday, February 16, 2015. Once activated you have 30 days to
use the free slot play or it will be forfeited and can be used only at the property
at which the contestant initially signed up.
DEADLINE FOR COLLECTION OF PRIZES
-- Cash prizes must be collected in person by Friday, March 13, 2015 or be forfeited.
Free Slot Play may only be used at the property at which they originally entered.
The free slot play must be activated by Monday, February 16, 2015 and must be used
within 30 days of activation.
NOTE -- The above is not to be considered
officially binding but rather is a summary based upon a reading of the Official Rules.
HIGHLIGHTS This Contest is similar
to a traditional "King of the Hill" contest in that contestants make one
selection each week and if that selected team wins the contestant advances to the
following week. Selections are made against a contest pointspread that does not change.
All games will have half point pointspreads so there cannot be ties. A minimum prize
of $ 40,000 is guaranteed with all funds going to the sole winner. The entry fee
is $25 with up to 4 purchased entries per person allowed. A contestant who purchases
4 entries ($100) will recieve a bonus fifth entry at no cost. Proxies are not specifically
allowed or disallowed but see the "SELECTION SUBMISSION/IDENTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS"
section below for a potential concern. The Contest will run for a maximum of 14 weeks
but could end earlier.
FORMAT -- Contestants select 1 College football game each week to win their game
against a static contest pointspread that uses half point lines and thus eliminates
the possibility of a pointspread "push" or tie. If the selected team wins
the contestant advances to the next week. Thursday and Friday games may be included
in the Contest in addition to Saturday games. Any game that is not played by Sunday
of the scheduled week will be counted as a winner and that contestant will advance
to the following week. Contest continues until only one contestant remains. See the
PAYOUT section below for more information on how the contest will end.
ENTRY
FEE -- $ 25 per entry with a maximum of 4 entries allowed. Entrants must be 21 years
of age and have a Boarding Pass Card, or equivalent, issued by a participating Stations
propery. Entrants who pay for 4 entries will recieve a fifth entry at no additional
cost. The deadline to sign up is Saturday, September 6, 2014 at 8:00 PM Pacific time.
PAYOUT
-- The greater of $ 40,000 or 100% of Entry Fees will be awarded to the last contestant
to correctly select a winner. If at the end of the 14 weeks there are 2 or more contestants
who have not submitted a losing selection the prize pool will be equally split among
such contestants. If all remaining contestants are eliminated on the same contest
day the prize pool will be equally split among such contestants. HOWEVER -- Note
that the Rules do not seem to consider the phrase "same contest day" as
meaning the "same contest week" such that if contestants are eliminated
on a Thursday, Friday and a Saturday of the same week only the contestants eliminated
on that Saturday would win/share the prize pool). I shall try to obtain clarification
on this point.
WEEKLY SELECTION SUBMISSION DEADLINE -- Selections must be
made prior to the start of the game selected. The Contest Lines for week 1 are expected
to be available on Monday, September 1, 2014 with the following weeks' lines available
on Wednesdays.
SELECTION SUBMISSION/IDENTIFICATION REQUIRMENTS -- The Official
Rules do not specifically address the use of a Proxy to submit a contestant's selection.
HOWEVER, Rule # 7 does state "Identification may be required when contest selection
is submitted."
ADDITIONAL NOTES --
If the same contestant
wins BOTH this College Football Last Man Standing Contest AND the Pro Football Last
Man Standing Contest that contestant will win a BONUS $ 135,000 in addition to the
prize pools from both contests.
HIGHLIGHTS This Contest is
similar to a traditional "King of the Hill" contest in that contestants
make one selection each week and if that selected team wins the contestant advances
to the following week. Selections are made against a contest pointspread that does
not change. All games will have half point pointspreads so there cannot be ties.
A minimum prize of $ 75,000 is guaranteed with all funds going to the sole winner.
The entry fee is $25 with up to 4 purchased entries per person allowed. A contestant
who purchases 4 entries ($100) will recieve a bonus fifth entry at no cost. Proxies
are not specifically allowed or disallowed but see the "SELECTION SUBMISSION/IDENTIFICATION
REQUIREMENTS" section below for a potential concern. The Contest will run only
for the 17 weeks of the NFL Regular Season but could end earlier.
FORMAT -- Contestants select 1 NFL game each to win their game against a static
contest pointspread that uses half point lines and thus eliminates the possibility
of a pointspread "push" or tie. If the selected team wins the contestant
advances to the next week. Any game that is not played by Monday of the scheduled
week will be counted as a winner and that contestant will advance to the following
week. Contest continues until only one contestant remains. See the PAYOUT section
below for more information on how the contest will end.
ENTRY FEE -- $ 25.oo
per entry with a maximum of 4 entries allowed. Entrants must be 21 years of age and
have a Boarding Pass Card, or equivalent, issued by a participating Stations propery.
Entrants who pay for 4 entries will recieve a fifth entry at no additional cost.
The deadline to sign up is Sunday, September 7, 2014 at 9:00 AM Pacific time.
PAYOUT
-- The greater of $ 75,000 or 100% of Entry Fees will be awarded to the last contestant
to correctly select a winner. If at the end of the 17 week regular season there are
2 or more contestants who have not submitted a losing selection the prize pool will
be equally split among such contestants. The Contest will not extend into the NFL
Playoffs. If all remaining contestants are eliminated on the same contest day the
prize pool will be equally split among such contestants. HOWEVER -- Note that the
Rules do not seem to consider the phrase "same contest day" as meaning
the "same contest week" such that if contestants are eliminated on both
a Sunday and a Monday of the same week only the contestants eliminated on that Monday
night game would win/share the prize pool). I shall try to obtain clarification on
this point.
WEEKLY SELECTION SUBMISSION DEADLINE -- Selections must be made
prior to the start of the game selected. It appears that all games (including Thursday
night games) will be included in the contest although Stations may decide to exclude
certain games (though not stated these could be games involving key players with
questionable status for which no betting line has been posted). The Contest Lines
for week 1 are expected to be available on Monday, September 1, 2014 with the following
weeks' lines available on Wednesdays.
SELECTION SUBMISSION/IDENTIFICATION
REQUIRMENTS -- The Official Rules do not specifically address the use of a Proxy
to submit a contestant's selection. HOWEVER, Rule # 7 does state "Identification
may be required when contest selection is submitted."
ADDITIONAL
NOTES --
If the same contestant wins BOTH this Pro Football Last Man Standing
Contest AND the College Football Last Man Standing Contest that contestant will win
a BONUS $ 135,000 in addition to the prize pools from both contests.
This Contest involves picking the straight up winner and/or propositions for
the NFL Sunday and Monday games each week during the 17 week regular season. A total
of 20 games and/or propositions will be offered each week. Entries are $25 each and
contestants may purchase a maximum of 3 Entries. Contestants who purchase 3 Entries
will receive 3 free entries for a total of 6 entries. Those who sign up by September
2, 2013 will also receive $10 in Free Slot Play. There are weekly prizes ($170,000),
end-of-season prizes ($34,000), quarterly prizes ($80,000) and Monday Night Live
drawing prizes ($16,000).
Since moving to Las Vegas in 1991
Andy Iskoe of Logical Approach has entered many of the football contests offered
and sponsored by the Sports Books in Las Vegas.
In fact, in 2014 he will enter
the LVH Super Contest for a 24th consecutive season!
In addition to having
had great success as a contestant in most of these contests over the years, he has
also been a Proxy for contestants who live out of town and are not able to make the
weekly selections in person at the various Sports Books.
In 2014 he shall
again be offering his services as a Proxy for contestants who are unable to submit
selections in person.
The key to an effective Proxy/Contestant relationship
is communication.
Over the years Andy has developed an organized, structured
and sensible system for disseminating and receiving contest selection information
with the contestants for whom he has served as Proxy. Details of that system are
explained below, both before and after the descriptions of most of the weekly football
contests that shall be offerred for 2014.
The Proxy procedure is similar for
all contests with minor variations due to time and/or deadline variations that will
vary according to the specific contest.
Using the LVH NFL Super Contest as
an example emails are sent on Wednesday evenings by Andy Iskoe to the contestants
for whom he is a Proxy. The email will contain information related to the contest
lines for the upcoming week's games (to be released by 5 PM Pacific time Wednesdays
in 2014), the contestant's results for the previous week and season-to-date results
and the overall standings for all contestants (including information on the status
of the contestants currently in "cashing" position -- Top 30 and ties).
The
contestant is then responsible for providing Andy with his/her 5 contest selections
by either email or telephone (or both) by 6 PM Pacific Time on FRIDAY evening (or
at a later time as mutually agreed upon) so that the selections may be submitted
to the LVH safely in advance of the LVH's official Saturday 11 AM deadline.
The
Fee charged for the Proxy Service is agreed upon with each contestant and is based
upon the specific contest or combination of contests entered, the number of entries,
the complexities of "administering" your weekly entries/selections, and
other factors. The Fee is generall a flat, up front one time fee with no requirement
to share a percentage of any winnings earned by the contestant.
If you have any questions or would like to discuss using Andy Iskoe as your Proxy
please either call him at 702 - 898 - 9802 or contact him via email at logical7@cox.net