FRIDAY FOOTBALL SHOWDOWN
Presented by the Golden Nugget sports book and
Las Vegas Review-Journal
Hosted by The Las Vegas Sportsline and airing on ESPN Radio (1100 AM, 98.9 FM)
Each Friday throughout the football season, two handicappers go head to head in a bracket contest. A video version of the contest for ReviewJournal.com will be shot at 12:15 p.m. Fridays at the Golden Nugget sports book. The radio version will be held from 2 to 3 p.m. Fridays at the ESPN Radio (1100 AM, 98.9 FM) studio.
(Entry fee, bracket draw and play selection rules)
Sixteen contestants are invited to enter for $1,500 each. The Golden Nugget is adding $1,000 to the prize pool for a total of $25,000.
A blind draw, held live on radio Tuesday, Sept. 3, will determine the eight first-round matchups in the bracket.
Each handicapper makes seven selections against the spread, from all college and NFL sides and totals posted on the Golden Nugget board at noon Friday.
(Winners and tiebreakers)
The winners of the eight first-round head-to-head matchups are not guaranteed to advance; the eight contestants with the highest winning percentages on seven plays advance.
Beginning with the second round, when eight contestants remain in the bracket, the winner of the head-to-head matchup advances, and that remains true for the rest of the contest.
In the event of a tie after seven selections, these tiebreaking rules will apply: The seventh selection - designated as the Best Bet - is the first tiebreaker. (For example, if each contestant finishes 4-3, the one who wins the seventh play advances.) The sixth selection will be used as the second tiebreaker, and that tiebreaking process continues in reverse order to the first selection. Any point-spread push is thrown out when determining winning percentage.
If the contestants remain tied after seven tiebreakers, the contestant who cleared the point spread or total by the most points with his seventh selection advances as the winner. (For example, if Contestant A picked a 21-point favorite that won by 35 points, he cleared the spread by 14 points. If Contestant B picked a 14-point favorite that won by 24, he cleared the spread by 10 points. In that case, Contestant A would advance as the matchup winner.) That tiebreaking process also would continue in reverse order to the first selection.
(Contest registration)
Registration opens at the Golden Nugget sports book on Wednesday, Aug. 28. Handicappers invited to participate are allowed one proxy. The entrants agree to participate, or name a replacement, in the media portions of the contest for ReviewJournal.com and ESPN Radio (1100 AM, 98.9 FM).
The Golden Nugget will record the contestants’ seven plays, with lines posted as of noon the day of the matchup, on an official contest form.
(Schedule)
The first round consists of eight weeks, Sept. 6, 13, 20, 27 and Oct. 4, 11, 18, 25.
The final eight consists of four weeks, Nov. 1, 8, 15, 22.
The final three weeks are Nov. 29 and Dec. 6 and 13.
All college football bowl games posted on the board are eligible contest plays in the Dec. 13 championship match.
(Seeding the bracket)
The bracket will be seeded after the first round. The contestant with the highest first-round winning percentage gets the No. 1 seed; lowest winning percentage to advance is the No. 8 seed.
The top-seeded contestant gets first choice for which week he will participate in the second round. The No. 2 seed gets second choice and No. 3 gets third choice.
If winning percentages match for two or more contestants, the aforementioned tiebreaking rules will be used to seed the bracket.
The bracket is reseeded for the final four, with the contestants’ overall winning percentage for two rounds being used, and the same tiebreaking rules apply, beginning with the contestants’ second-round selections.
(Summary and prize money distribution)
The Golden Nugget is contributing $1,000 to the prize pool for a total of $25,000.
The winner takes 80 percent ($20,000) of the pot with the runner-up earning 20 percent.
If any ties exist and cannot be broken after the scheduled conclusion of the contest, the surviving contestants will divide the prize pool equally.
The contest schedule and weekly plays will be posted at the Golden Nugget sports book and TheLasVegasSportsline.com.