Each week we will present the selections of some of the nation's leading handicapers
as they compete for cash prizes and handicapping acclaim. Three such contests have
attracted national notoriety. Two of the contests, those sponsored by the Las
Vegas Hilton and the Sunset Station Hotel and Casino, are season-long
contests with the same contestants making selections each week against the Las Vegas
pointspread. The third contest, sponsored by the the Stardust Race & Sports
Book, is an invitational tournament with 16 invited handicappers participating
in a one-on-one elimination format that runs for 15 weeks with just one of the 16
contestants surviving.
Out of respect for the handicappers who participate
in the season-long contests, and thereby provide selections each week, we will not
reveal the names of the individuals, many of whom have their own consulting servies
for which they charge a fee for selections. The identities are known to those of
us who reside in, or travel weekly to, Las Vegas. Clients of Logical Approach may
telephone our offices if they would like further details on the contestants and/or
selections.
We will be identifying the participants in the Stardust Invitational
because of its unique head-to-head format and because the successful participants
will only appear a handful of times over the course of the season, with the winner
advancing and the loser being eliminated.
Contest Format -- 16 nationally prominent celebrities & handicappers
have been invited by the management of the Stardust Race & Sports Book to compete
for a winner-take-all $10,000 prize. Each week two contestants are matched against
each other in a head to head meeting with each handicapper making 7 selections against
the pointspread at the Stardust using the line at approximately 8:30 PM (the contest
airs over radio station KDWN (AM 720) at 9:00 PM and is also available for broadcast
on the Internet). One of the 7 selections is designated as a Best Bet. The winner
is determined by the handicapper having the greater winning percentage with all selections
rated equally. The Best Bet is used only as a tie breaker in the event both handicappers
have the same record on all 7 selections. Pushes are ignored (thus 5-2 would lose
to 4-1-2). The winner will be the handicapper who successfully wins a total of 4
matches with the finals to be held in week 15, December 17, 1999. The weekly contest
is held in the Race & Sports Book at the Stardust at 9:00 PM on Fridays and is
open to the public.
Dave Cokin's Selections --
Seattle Seahawks - 3 over Buffalo Bills
Chicago
Bears + 9 1/2 over Detroit Lions
Atlanta Falcons + 4 over Kansas City Chiefs
Tennessee
Titans - 13 1/2 over Dallas Cowboys
New England Patriots + 4 over Miami Dolphins
Oakland
Raiders - 8 1/2 over Carolina Panthers
(BEST BET) : Green Bay Packers - 2
1/2 over Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Stanford Wong's Selections
Seattle
Seahawks - 3 over Buffalo Bills
Miami Dolphins/New England Patriots UNDER 34 1/2
Dallas
Cowboys + 13 1/2 over Tennessee Titans
Dallas Cowboys/Tennessee Titans UNDER 37
1/2
Green Bay Packers - 2 1/2 over Tampa Bay Buccaneers
N Y Jets/Baltimore
Ravens UNDER 34 1/2
(BEST BET) : New Orleans + 3 1/2 over St Louis Rams
NEXT WEEK: End of Tournament -- Congratulations to the Winner
UPCOMING
MATCHES --
2001 Tournament next season
Results of Previous Matches
First
Round Results--
Papa Joe Chevalier (4-3) defeated Randy White (3-4)
Dave
Cokin (3-4) and Wayne Root (3-4) tied
Dave Cokin (5-1-1) defeated Wayne Root (5-1-1)
in a Playoff
(determined by Best Bet Record of Win vs. Push)
Cathy Creevy (2-5)
defeated Russ Culver (1-6)
Stanford Wong (3-3-1) defeated Scott Ferrall (3-4)
Ken
White (4-2-1) defeated Michael Pomer (2-4-1)
Jimmy Vaccaro (4-2-1) defeated Mayor
Oscar Goodman (2-5)
Brent Crow (4-3) defeated Larry Ness (3-4)
Robert Walker
(5-2) defeated Doc (1-6)
Second Round Results
Papa Joe Chevalier
(3-4) defeated Cathy Creevy (2-5)
Stanford Wong (5-2) defeated Robert Walker (3-4)
Ken
White (4-3) defeated Jimmy Vaccaro (3-4)
Dave Cokin (3-3-1) defeated Brent Crow
(2-4-1)
Semi-Finals Results
Stanford Wong (3-4) defeated Papa Joe
Chevalier (2-5)
Dave Cokin (5-2) defeated Ken White (4-3)
Through 14
weeks of this season's contest, the handicappers
combined to go 96-106-8 overall
for 47.1% with Best Bets going 10-17-3 for 37.0%
Contest Format -- Twelve reputable and nationally or regionally prominent
handicappers have been invited to participate in the contest. Each contestant makes
6 selections against the pointspread (generally Thursday noon lines are used),
designating one selection as a Best Bet. Each regular winner is worth 2 points; a
Best Bet winner is worth 3 points, all pushes (including Best Bets) are worth 1 points;
losers are worth 0 points. The top four contestants after 15 weeks advance to the
semi-final with the top two advancing to a head-to-head final in week 17. With 13
points available to be won each week, through 15 weeks a 'perfect score' would be
195 points.
In week 16 the top four finishers from the first fifteen weeks
will compete according the same rules except that this phase of the contest runs
just one week. The top two finishers in week 16 will compete head-to-head in week
17 for the 2000 Sunset Station Handicapping Championship and $5,000 winner-take-all
first prize.
Selections & Results for the 2000 Contest
Please note that the
selections are not listed in the same order as the Contestants are listed above.
Since most of the Contestants also offer their selections for sale to clients, in
order to achieve an ethical balance between providing solid handicapping information
to the public free of charge and retaining the integrity of the handicappers to their
paying clients, the names of the specific contestants are not being disclosed as
to the identity of whose selections are whose but the same Contestant's selections
will be provided in the same spot each week. In other words, Contestant # 1 will
ALWAYS be Contestant # 1 throughout the season so that you may track the performance
of each Contestant week by week.
Selections of Contestant # 1 (Finished
in 12th place with 83 points; Best Bets 7-7-1)
(BEST BET) --
Selections of Contestant # 2 (Finished in 4th place
with 110 points; Best Bets 10-5-0)
Oakland Raiders - 9 over Carolina Panthers
Oregon
State - 3 over Notre Dame
South Carolina + 5 1/2 over Ohio State
Chicago Bears
+ 9 1/2 over Detroit Lions
U of Pittsburgh Pick 'em over Iowa State
(BEST
BET) -- Baltimore Ravens - 5 1/2 over N Y Jets
Selections of Contestant
# 3 (Finished in 11th place with 92 points; Best Bets 6-9-0)
(BEST BET) --
Selections of Contestant # 4 (Finished in 1st place
with 116 points; Best Bets 10-5-0)
(BEST BET)
--
Selections of Contestant # 5 (Finished in 8th place with 99 points;
Best Bets 8-6-1)
(BEST BET) --
Selections
of Contestant # 6 (Finished in 3rd place with 113 points; Best Bets 9-6-0)
Wisconsin
- 4 1/2 over Ucla
U of Tennessee + 4 over Kansas State
South Carolina + 5 1/2
over Ohio State
Green Bay Packers - 2 over Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Northwestern
+ 15 over Nebraska
(BEST BET) -- Miami Fla - 5 1/2 over Florida
Selections
of Contestant # 7 (Finished in 5th place with 107 points; Best Bets 7-7-1)
(BEST
BET) --
Selections of Contestant # 8 (Finished in 7th place with
101 points; Best Bets 7-7-1)
(BEST BET) --
Selections
of Contestant # 9 (Finished in 6th place with 106 points; Best Bets 7-8-0)
(BEST
BET) --
Selections of Contestant # 10 (Finished in 10th place with
94 points; Best Bets 5-10-0)
(BEST BET) --
Selections
of Contestant # 11 (Finished in 9th place with 96 points; Best Bets 5-10-0)
(BEST
BET) --
Selections of Contestant # 12 (Finished in 2nd place with
115 points; Best Bets 8-6-1)
(BEST BET) --
Contest Format -- The SuperContest is open to anyone who pays the entry
fee. Each entrant pays a $1,500 entry fee with 90% of the fees being returned
to the winners. Only the top 20 places (and ties) are paid. Historically, a 60%
winning percentage will finish in the Top Twenty. Each contestant must make five
selections each week vs. the pointspread (generally the lines at the Hilton as of
noon on Tuesdays). Each winning selection counts 1 point; a push counts 1/2 point;
losses are 0 points.
N Y GIANTS (23) - 4 1/2 vs. Jacksonville (34)
DENVER (19) - 6 1/2 vs. San
Francisco (22)
SEATTLE (36) - 3 1/2 vs. Buffalo (18)
GREEN BAY (46)
- 2 1/2 vs. Tampa Bay (13)
WASHINGTON (20) - 7 1/2 vs. Arizona (13)
St Louis
(11) - 3 1/2 vs. NEW ORLEANS (25)
Miami (13) - 4 vs. NEW ENGLAND (45)
Kamsas
City (14) - 4 1/2 vs. ATLANTA (16)
DETROIT ( 8) - 9 1/2 vs. Chicago (48)
BALTIMORE
(40) - 5 1/2 vs. N Y Jets (31)
PHILADELPHIA (10) - 10 1/2 vs. Cincinnati (19)
Pittsburgh
(22) - 3 1/2 vs. SAN DIEGO (28)
INDIANAPOLIS (21) - 6 1/2 vs. Minnesota (25)
OAKLAND
(27) - 8 1/2 vs. Carolina ( 8)
TENNESSEE (18) - 13 1/2 vs. Dallas (17)
Top
5 selections are in Bold type
# in parentheses indicates contestants
selecting that team
(i.e. xx contestants took N Y Giants - 4 1/2 over Jacksonville)
HOME
TEAM is in CAPS
* There are weeks when fewer than all contestants submit
entries
THESE SELECTIONS WILL BE AVAILABLE BY ABOUT 8 AM PDT SATURDAY MORNINGS
N
Y GIANTS ( 1) - 4 1/2 vs. Jacksonville ( 1)
DENVER ( 2) - 6 1/2 vs. San Francisco
( 1)
SEATTLE ( 5) - 3 1/2 vs. Buffalo ( 2)
GREEN BAY ( 3) - 2 1/2 vs.
Tampa Bay ( 2)
WASHINGTON ( 2) - 7 1/2 vs. Arizona ( 0)
St Louis ( 0) - 3 1/2
vs. NEW ORLEANS ( 3)
Miami ( 2) - 4 vs. NEW ENGLAND ( 5)
Kamsas City
( 3) - 4 1/2 vs. ATLANTA ( 3)
DETROIT ( 0) - 9 1/2 vs. Chicago ( 6)
BALTIMORE
( 6) - 5 1/2 vs. N Y Jets ( 1)
PHILADELPHIA ( 0) - 10 1/2 vs. Cincinnati (
2)
Pittsburgh ( 1) - 3 1/2 vs. SAN DIEGO ( 2)
INDIANAPOLIS ( 4) - 6 1/2 vs.
Minnesota ( 5)
OAKLAND ( 4) - 8 1/2 vs. Carolina ( 2)
TENNESSEE ( 0)
- 13 1/2 vs. Dallas ( 2)
Currently the Leader is at 54-26-0 (67.5
%)
There are 4 contestants at 50-29-1 (63.1 %) or better
There are
20 contestants at 48-32-0 (60.0 %) or better
Top 3 selection(s)
will be shown in Bold type