Odds Shark’s very own Joe Osborne may have been viewed as the honorary captain of Team Odds Shark this year as he represented the company well in the first-ever Circa Sports Million football contest in Las Vegas. While Osborne will not collect any prize money paid out to the top 10 finishers in the NFL-only handicapping contest, he ended up a respectable 47-35-3 (57.3 percent) to tie for 160th place out of 1,875 total entrants.
The Sportsbook of the $1-million Circa Sports Million grand prize was “Booty Blockers,” who picked up 10 points more than Osborne with a 57-25-3 mark. The cut-off for the top 10 was 54.5 points, with two contestants tying for the last two payout spots at 54-30-1.
However, few entrants were hotter than Osborne over the final three weeks of the year. He went 4-1 each of the past two weeks and was 11-3-1 in the last three. In fact, his “Paper Chaser” entry had five 4-1 performances and just five losing weeks overall.
"Obviously, the goal was to finish in the money, but I’m still pretty happy to pick at 57.3 percent for the season,” Osborne said. “I looked forward to the lines arriving each week, giving them some time to breathe, then making my picks. After this experience, I guarantee that I’ll easily win next year and finally get the recognition I deserve as the world’s top sports handicapper ... only half of this statement is sincere.”
In addition, Joe Fortenbaugh also had a solid season for Team Odds Shark with a 45-39-1 record in the Circa Sports Million followed by Kris Abbott (36-48-1) and Pamela Maldonado (34-47-4). Unfortunately, the SuperContest – which is currently the largest football handicapping contest in the world at the Sportsbook SuperBook in Vegas – did not see similar results from the team’s four participants. Jon Anik led the way with a 40-43-2 mark after going 6-3-1 the last two weeks while Tony Riccobono (36-46-3), Paulo Antunes (36-46-3) and Frank Schwab (35-47-3) did not fare as well. The Sportsbook of the SuperContest’s $1.47-million grand prize was “It Ain’t Breezy” at 58-25-2 (59 points).
The Golden Nugget’s Ultimate Football Challenge still has another week of college bowl games to go before the standings are finalized. “Cousin Sal” Iacono and Harry Gagnon were the team’s top two entrants heading into the final week of competition, but both of them have struggled so far. Sal went a disappointing 2-5 on his combination of seven college and pro picks, going 0-4 in early bowl action. Gagnon is 2-2 with three picks remaining, and going 3-0 over the next week may not be enough to crack the top 20.
