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Circa Survivor contest on pace to eclipse $20M prize pool
LV REVIEW JOURNAL SUBSCRIPTIONA month before the NFL season opener, the Circa Survivor contest is on track to obliterate last year’s record prize pool of $14.2 million and this year’s $15 million guarantee.
There were 4,100 entries in the $1,000-entry contest on Sunday. There were 2,800 entries on the same day last year en route to a record 14,266 entries.
“We’re pacing just a little over 40 percent up,” said Mike Palm, vice president of operations for Circa, D Las Vegas and Golden Gate. “If we can maintain this pace, it would put us just over $20 million for our prize pool.
“Last year, the last six days we did basically $1 million a day. We did 1,000 entries a day. Doing 1,400 a day, it’s tough to get that many people through. But I’m very bullish on us getting to $20 million.”
Contestants pick one straight-up NFL winner each week, with no point spread involved, but can use each team only once. The contest is comprised of 20 legs (NFL Weeks 1 through 18, plus Thanksgiving/Black Friday and Christmas).
Last year’s contest was captured in the 10-episode docuseries “Circa Survivor: The Quest For $14.2 Million,” which will be available to stream at 6 p.m. Tuesday on VSiN.com and YouTube TV.
Circa is debuting a $100,000-entry Survivor contest this year called Grandissimo, which guarantees $1.5 million to the winner. Palm set an informal over-under of 30½ entries for the contest, which needs 15 entries to meet the guarantee and already has 11.
“I was very confident that there was no shot there wouldn’t be 15 entries in this. If there wasn’t, poker players would come and gobble up the overlay,” Palm said. “But if you’d had told me there would be 11 on Aug. 1, I’d have been shocked, because (I thought) people aren’t going to put $100,000 up until a week or two out.
“I think someone else has wired in $100,000 already that’s in the cage. I still think my number is pretty accurate. Maybe I’m a bit on the low side. Maybe it’s mid 30s, maybe it’s 40. But certainly it’s been a great response to this new contest.”
The Circa Million VII contest is on almost the exact same pace as last year, when it drew 5,817 entries. The contest, in which entrants make five weekly NFL picks against the spread, needs 6,000 entries to meet the $6 million prize guarantee.
“That seems to be the sweet spot right there at $6 million,” Palm said. “It’s right at the number.”
Palm will host a free “Circa Football Preview” at 2 p.m. Aug. 23 in the hotel’s Galaxy Ballroom. Panelists will include pro sports bettor Chuck Edel, NBC Sports Bet analyst Drew Dinsick, NFL analyst Sam Monson and former NFL player and Rancho High School standout Mike Pritchard.
SuperContest updates
Westgate vice president of race and sports John Murray was pleased with the pace of sign-ups Sunday for the $1,500-entry SuperContest (five weekly NFL picks ATS) and the inaugural $500-entry SuperContest College (seven weekly college football picks ATS).
“SuperContest is at 171 versus 201 on the same date last year. But with the entry fee raised from $1,000 to $1,500, the prize pool is up to $256,500 versus $201,000 on the same date a year ago. We are very happy with that growth,” Murray said. “And this should really entice players: A bigger prize pool and less competition. Both are very good news for a patron trying to decide which contest to join this season.
“The college contest is sitting at 212. I think it will end up in the 1,400 range. A good start for a first-year contest. It needs time to grow. Hopefully it gets bigger and bigger in the coming years.”
SuperContest weekend will take place Aug. 15 and 16 with two SuperContest entries and four SuperContest College entries given away. A four-man scramble golf tournament will take place Aug. 16 at Las Vegas Country Club. The entry fee of $120 will include an entry to the SuperContest weekend slot tournament and raffle tickets for prize giveaways. The field is capped at 80. To enter, call 1-888-457-3307.
