Daughter adds to family legacy, wins Last Man Standing for $100K

Alex White comes from a family of sports handicappers but had yet to make her mark in the business.

Now she has her own bragging rights as a sports bettor.

White won Station Casinos’ Last Man Standing college football contest, outlasting 2,907 other entries to earn the $100,000 winner-take-all prize.

Participants pick one game against the spread each week and are eliminated with a loss. Each entry costs $25, and contestants who purchase four entries get a fifth for free.

“It’s pretty cool to win a contest this early on in me jumping into the sports betting and everything with my dad,” White said. “It’s pretty exciting.”

White, 33, is a former UNLV cheerleader who serves as the on-field emcee for the Las Vegas Aviators and the sideline reporter for local “Thursday Night Lights” prep football games.

She also works in medical sales and for her father at Kenny White Sports.

Kenny White, nicknamed “The Wizard of Odds,” is a renowned sports handicapper and the former chief operating officer of Las Vegas Sports Consultants. White’s grandfather, Pete, created one of the first player ratings for college football.

White entered Station’s college basketball Last Man Standing in the spring and said she enjoyed it so much she decided to enter the college football contest.

White said she learned from her father how to create power ratings for teams. She compared her numbers to those of her dad and grandfather, then looked for discrepancies in the lines to make her selections.

“That’s really where I went. The ones I liked the most, I looked at the game and looked at the coach’s matchup and of course the location, the motivation, especially at the end,” White said. “I ended up picking a lot of underdogs. I think I picked only two favorites really throughout.”

White had a routine each week that starting with picking up her sheet Thursday morning at Wildfire Sunset then turning in her ticket each Saturday morning at Green Valley Ranch Resort.

White said she had a few close calls early, including one Mountain West game involving Fresno State. Once the contest hit Week 8 and about 30 entrants remained, White said she started to believe she had a chance to win.

Entering Week 13, White was one of two entrants left and chose Auburn +22½ against Alabama.

“The difference they made since they fired their coach and they had (interim coach) Cadillac Williams, he kind of fired them up,” White said. “And being such a huge rivalry game, getting 22½, I was praying and hoping they could keep it close enough.”

Auburn trailed 42-14 in the third quarter, but answered with 13 straight points to close within 42-27 late in the fourth quarter. Alabama scored with 12 seconds remaining, but the Crimson Tide kicked the extra point and won 49-27, giving White the cover by the hook.

“Going in, each pick would be a little bit more stressful, but I stuck with the system and had a little luck,” White said. “I never gave up hope.”

White said she doesn’t have big plans for her winnings other than some extra Christmas presents for her family and to travel.

“It was great having the guidance and expertise of my dad,” White said. “It was a great experience.”

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.