Handicapping contest tracker: Circa awards nearly $250K in prizes

Circa Sports handed out its first prizes of contest season, with five entries splitting the first-quarter prize in the Circa Sports Million III.

The entries all finished 18-2 and received $49,350 each. (The original prizes were $171,750 for first, $50,000 for second and $25,000 for third.)

Circa also gave out a $25,000 prize for last place in the first quarter, split between two entries at 3-17.

Each week, I’ll track the major handicapping contests and detail my progress. Here’s how the contests stand after Week 4:

Circa Sports Million III

Format: Contestants pick five NFL games against the spread each week ($1,000 per entry).

Field: 4,087 entries.

Leaders: Five entries (Almost Covered, DeadMoneyMedia.com, 818Madden20Survivors, Stoney and Mr. Wiggles) at 18-2.

Barnes’ status: 3-2 last week, 10-10 overall, tied for 2,221st. Winners on Washington -1, Jets +7 and Giants +7½, and losers on Rams -4½ and Steelers -6½.

Circa Survivor

Format: Contestants pick one straight-up NFL winner each week (each team can be used only once) and are eliminated with a loss ($1,000 per entry).

Field: 4,080 entries, but Circa added $1.92 million to the prize pool to reach the $6 million guarantee.

Leaders: 2,333 survivors advance. Week 4 eliminated 584 entries — 409 on the Saints, 151 on the Titans, four on the Dolphins and one on the Vikings, plus 19 entries who forgot to make a selection.

Barnes’ status: Alive, after the Bengals rallied to beat the Jaguars 24-21.

Westgate SuperContest

Format: Contestants pick five NFL games against the spread each week ($1,000 per entry).

Field: 1,972 entries.

Leaders: Two entries (Tempest and Wolfgang) at 17-2-1.

Barnes’ status: 3-2 last week, 12-8 overall, tied for 338th. Winners on Washington -1, Jets +7 and Seahawks +3, and losers on Vikings +2 and Panthers +4½.

Westgate SuperContest Gold

Format: Same as the SuperContest, but with a $5,000 buy-in and the winner taking all.

Field: 87 entries.

Leaders: Two entries (MilesToGo and TKASPro277) at 14-5-1.

Barnes’ status: Not entered.

Station Last Man Standing

Format: Contestants select one game against the spread each week. Entries cost $25, but the maximum $100 gets five entries. There are separate pro and college contests. Winner takes all — $150,000 in the pro contest, $100,000 in the college.

Entries: Pro — 283 alive out of starting 6,241; college — 124 alive out of 3,075.

Barnes’ status: Alive with one entry in the pro after Jets +7½ covered; eliminated from college in Week 3.

William Hill College Pick’em

Format: Contestants pick eight college games against the spread each week ($1,000 per entry).

Field: 452 entries, but an extra $548,000 added to the prize pool to reach the $1 million guarantee.

Leader: One entry (Micash) at 24-8.

Barnes’ status: Bouncing back at 5-3 last week, still only 15-17 overall. Winners on Cincinnati -2½, Texas Tech +7½, Kentucky +8½, Oklahoma State -3½ and Auburn +3½, and losers on Arkansas +18½, Wisconsin -1½ and Texas Christian +4½.

William Hill Pro Pick’em

Format: Contestants pick 15 NFL straight-up winners (or selected totals) each week ($25 per entry). There are weekly and seasonlong prizes.

Field: 7,316 entries.

Season leader: Two entries at 46-14 (no names given).

Weekly winner: One entry (no name given) went 14-1 to win $10,000.

Barnes’ status: 9-6 last week, 37-23 overall.

Golden Nugget Ultimate Football Challenge

Format: Contestants pick seven NFL and/or college games against the spread each week ($1,000 to enter).

Field: 149 entries.

Leader: One entry (Captain Kent 33) at 24-4, holding a three-game lead.

Barnes’ status: Not entered.

Contact Jim Barnes at jbarnes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0277. Follow @JimBarnesLV on Twitter.