Circa Survivor winner relishes run to perfect 18-0 NFL season

A celebratory feast is certainly in order for the group of friends who, under the alias WHERE’S LUNCH-2, were one of the winners of the inaugural Circa Survivor contest.

Thirty-four other contestants also have cause for celebration after completing a perfect 18-0 season of picking weekly NFL winners (straight up, with no point spreads) without using the same team twice.

All 35 $1,000 entries from the starting field of 1,390 that were still alive Sunday survived and will chop the $2.39 million pot for a payday of $68,285.71 each.

The prize pool was comprised of the $1.39 million in entries for first place and a $1 million bonus added by Circa owner Derek Stevens for an undefeated season, which included a separate week on Thanksgiving Day.

“The interesting part was that Thanksgiving Week, which really made you think about it,” said professional sports bettor Jeff Whitelaw, who was a partner in WHERE’S LUNCH-2. “There weren’t a lot of upsets this year of the big favorites. That probably added to the additional winners.

“But you’re always happy to win anything. When you start, you never really think you’re going to win anyway. It was more of a bonding with all the guys, and it was just a lot of fun to decide which pick to go with.”

WHERE’S LUNCH-2 had an easy winner Sunday on the Ravens, who blew out the Bengals 38-3. But 13 entries had to sweat out their wins, with three on the Titans, who beat the Texans 41-38 when Sam Sloman banked in a 37-yard field goal as time expired; three on the Browns, who held off the Steelers 24-22; one on the Vikings, who edged the Lions 37-35; and six on Washington, which outlasted Philadelphia 20-14 on Sunday night.

“It always takes a ton of luck,” Whitelaw said, noting that 11 contestants survived in Week 13 when the Raiders beat the Jets on Derek Carr’s 46-yard touchdown pass to Henry Ruggs with five seconds left.

WHERE’S LUNCH-2 also lucked out in Week 13 on Minnesota, which beat Jacksonville 27-24 with 1:49 left in overtime on a field goal by Dan Bailey, who missed two extra points and a field goal in regulation.

“The Vikings were 10-point favorites and were losing in the fourth quarter,” Whitelaw said. “That was life and death. There were definitely a few calls that were real close.

“I tried to map it out before the season started. But it doesn’t always pan out that way. I saved Dallas for Thanksgiving Week because it was an 11-point favorite over Washington in games of the year. But I didn’t use Dallas because they ended up being an underdog.”

Two contestants — LoveMyBaxter and TIM’S SUNSCREEN — each had two winning entries and won $136,571.42 apiece. LoveMyBaxter had Washington on both entries Sunday and TIM’S SUNSCREEN had the Browns and Ravens.

Circa Sports Million II

DSR90-1 won the Circa Sports Million II contest and the $1 million first prize after going 4-1 ATS Sunday, finishing 56-27-2 (67.5 percent). ODBMG-2 and DV8-1 tied for second and won $200,000 each after finishing a half point back at 56-28-1 (66.7).

The $1,000-entry contest drew 3,148 entries who made five weekly NFL picks ATS.

SuperContest

ODBMG2 won the Westgate SuperContest and $435,623.20 for first place with a 54-26-5 (67.5) mark, 1½ points ahead of YUGO 77 (54-29-2, 65.1).

The $1,500-entry contest drew 1,172 entries who made five weekly NFL picks ATS.

SuperContest Gold

BRETTFAVRE444 won $360,000 for topping a field of 72 entries in the $5,000-entry, winner-take-all SuperContest Gold.

The winner finished 54-27-4 ATS (66.7) after going 4-1 on Sunday. Runner-up INVISIBLE 1 also went 4-1 to finish two points back at 52-29-4 (64.2).

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.