A lot of attention has been on Circa’s survivor pool these past few weeks, but it was Circa’s handicapping contest that came down to the wire.
More than 5,000 people signed up for Circa Sports Million, the sportsbook's annual NFL contest, where players select five games against the spread every week and the highest scores at the end of the season collect from the $6 million prize pool. The overall winner receives $1 million, while second place gets $500,000.
After 89 of 90 picks, the difference between first and second place was less than a point, and they had opposite picks for the final game, the Buffalo Bills at the Miami Dolphins. Matt Ste. Marie, a financial manager from Minnesota playing as SAINT31, took Bills -3, while RDLOWN had Dolphins +3.
“Coming into the weekend, of course I wanted to win, but I would have been happy as long as I finished in the Top 5 because of how tough the competition is,” Ste Marie told VSIN.com.
The anxiety was sky high as Buffalo fell behind 14-7 at halftime before coming back to win 21-14.
Circa owner Derek Stevens brought the winner (and his group) for a champagne celebration in his VIP area and then invited them downtown to the Italian American Club.
.@CircaSports Million champ @MattySaint pops the champagne with @CircaLasVegas owner @DerekJStevens and @BigBallsAtTheD. https://t.co/UpQZXDqtap pic.twitter.com/iR89OJKJbf
— VSiN (@VSiNLive) January 8, 2024
On Friday, Circa will be hosting a cocktail reception to formally award the winners of both the survivor and handicapping contests their prize money, absurdly sized fake checks and all.
