Sports betting: New Jersey bookie offering season-long NFL contest that is a little different
Players must bet a minimum of $25 on the Thursday game each week. Bonus prizes start with three consecutive wins. The grand prize is $1 million.
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PlaySugarHouse in New Jersey is running a $1 million NFL handicapping promotion that is nothing like the popular contest out in Vegas.
It’s a little more clever and not as difficult.
PlaySugarHouse’s contest, available only in the Garden State online or via their mobile app, requires players to pick the winner (against the spread) of each Thursday game. Cost is a minimum $25 wager each week. The contest opens Tuesday at 10 a.m. look for the link “Million Dollar Streak," which will have all the rules.
There are 17 Thursday games during the season, including three on Thanksgiving. The first is Sept. 5 when Green Bay visits Chicago. The Bears are 3-point favorites.
One winner who correctly picks all 17 will win $1 million. If no one goes 17 for 17, the contestant with the longest streak during the season gets a trip to the Super Bowl in Miami. Picking 16 in a row is worth $250,000, plus however much was bet on the games.
“We wanted a season-long contest, something with a big prize,” said chief operating officer Mattias Stetz. “This isn’t a pool. This is [customers going] against us.”
There are tiebreakers for multiple winners, beginning with average bet made on the Thursday games throughout the season. Prizes are awarded for winning streaks, starting with $25 in site bonus money for three in a row. Cash prizes start with $5,000 for 11 consecutive wins.
The SuperContest run by the Westgate sports book in Las Vegas is the most popular among football bettors of the season-long promotions. Entry is a one-time $1,500 fee and players pick five NFL games each week. First place last year was worth $1.4 million.