World’s Biggest Sportsbook to Begin Taking SuperBook Contest Entries July 1
The 16th annual Westgate Las Vegas SuperContest at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook will begin signing up entrants on Friday, July 1 and will do so up until 11 a.m. PDT on Saturday, Sept. 10. Anyone signing up before Sept. 5 will receive an entry into the $15,000 SuperBook Mini-Contest (the final 3 weeks of NFL season). Contestants in the SuperContest choose 5 NFL games against the spread every week and the entry fee is $1,500 and all weekly entries need to be submitted by 11 a.m. on Saturdays, unless picking the Thursday Night game, in which case entries then need to be in by Thursday. And technology, progress and the popularity of the SuperContest may make getting involved in this endeavor—which some now compare to the World Series of Poker—easier maybe a little sooner than you think. Last year there were a record 1,727 entrants in the annual SuperContest, won by Rounding Again, who took home a record-setting $914,175 payout—$906,675 plus a $7,500 bonus for topping the 67% mark. This year, 92% of the Entry Fees will be returned as Prize Money after the contest has had a 100% return to winners in all previous years. Kornegay explained the necessary change to co-hosts Matt Youmans and Dave Cokin the on ESPN 1100 Las Vegas radio show, The Las Vegas Sportsline on Monday afternoon.
“We’ve been talking about it [a takeout percentage] for a few years because...the popularity of the contest, it escalated real quick,” said Kornegay who added that much of the 8% takeout will actually go directly back into the SuperContest. “We knew we were putting in a lot of time and resources and the expenses were adding up.” Kornegay cited IT, Accounting, Legal and Human Resources among the many administrative expenditures involved in simply having this contest which has grown exponentially over the last three years. “A couple of years ago we had 300 and some [entrants] in the [Super] Contest and we had 1,700-plus last year,” Kornegay added of the event in which the top 50 finishers will get paid this year and which grew from just 745 entrants in 2012 to the 1,727 last season. “When we looked at the number [cost], it was worse than I thought,” Kornegay revealed. “We were definitely putting more time into it and more expenses were being absorbed, not only in the [Regular NFL] season, but into the Offseason.”
Last 12 Winners of Westgate Las Vegas SuperContest (Record, Points)
2015—Rounding Again $914,175 (59-23-3, 60.5)
2014—CH Ballers $736,575 (64-20-1*, 64.5)
2013—David Frohardt-Lane $557,850 (55-26-4, 57)
2012—Al Sr. $447,000 (56-23-3, 57.5)
2011—Sans Souci $310,200 (58-22-5, 60.5)
2010—Richard Stand $207,000 (54-28-3, 55.5)
2009—Steve Fezzik $196,800 (53-29-3, 54.5)
2008—Steve Fezzik $210,000 (54-26-5, 56.5)
2007—Ptshverj Gallery $205,200 (54-29-2, 55)
2006—Sans Souci $310,200 (58-22-5, 60.5)
2005—Blue Team $303,000 (58-25-2, 59)
2004—LetItRideSports $131,520 (52-32-1, 52.5)
*Record Overall Record
>Last year’s standings at Westgate Las Vegas website
You Too Can Enter the SuperContest and it May Get Easier in the Future
Kornegay and his crack staff at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook have done a wonderful job of making the SuperContest more accessible, and it looks like it’s going to even get better, maybe sooner than you think for those outside of the Silver State who want to get involved in the SuperContest. In early years of the contest, the deadline for weekly submissions was on Friday night but now contestants can make picks as late as Saturday mornings while the actual cards used to enter the contest weren’t available online and were only available at the actual casino.Now the SuperBook has the Weekly SuperContest Cards published online by Wednesday nights and contestants can also conveniently now check the results and Weekly Standings online. Out-of-state residents (and even in-state Nevada) can hire a Proxy to put in their weekly entries, and Kornegay hinted at some potential changes in the near future in terms of contestants outside the state of Nevada entering the SuperContest and making weekly picks, saying the attorneys had already looked at it and that he had already introduced to idea to the Nevada Gaming Commission.
“Contestants will be able to enter [the Super] Contest in person, the same as they do right now, but we’re hoping, if everything goes through and we develop a program with IT and all of the security steps are taken to make it a secure process, guests that live outside of Nevada—or even the Nevada residents—will be able make their weekly selections from home via the Internet or possibly by phone,” said Kornegay who is looking to someday get rid of the Proxy system.
Entrants of the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook SuperContest must be at least 21 years old and over $3 million in prize money is anticipated this time around. The Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook will also be holding its 5th annual SuperContest Weekend Aug. 26-27 with a free Handicapping seminar at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino on Friday night—and a Raffle in which 6 entries into the SuperContest are given away—followed by a Golf outing on Saturday.
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