As fall morphs into winter and the year's final solstice approaches, thoughts of most Las Vegas Hilton SuperContestants are turning to the three-week mini-contest at season's end. That's when the majority of contestants get to essentially start over as they begin competing for a $10,000 prize that goes to the winner. The four leaders, with 40 1/2 points apiece, are hitting an average of 66 percent and at the present do not qualify for the $10,000 bonus that goes to a champion who nabs 67 pecent or more winners. According to Shaun Hess, who has strong ties in the gaming community and is best known as a "handicappers handicapper," 34 players in the record field of 505 were hitting 60 percent or better after the 11th week. That number was down from 214 after the first week. Forty players currently are within five points of the leaders. Hilton participants paid $1,500 per entry and pick five pro games weekly against a pointspread that's posted on Tuesday. They get one point for a win and a half-point for a push. Players have 25 more bullets to fire, including 15 the final three weeks (15, 16 and 17). The champion will earn $303,000 and 20 places will be paid. Cincinnati, a 155-58 choice over Pittsburgh, was Week 13's top consensus play. The Bengals are getting 3 1/2 points. The consensus is 82-76-3 after a dozen weeks and best bets are 7-5-1, incliding Week 5, which featured co-top plays. SuperContestants chose nine favorites and seven underdogs in Week 13. The top favorite selection was Miami, a 91-35 pick over Buffalo. The Bills are receiving 4 points. The week's closest call was Baltimore over Houston, 42-36. The Ravens are laying 8. Tennessee got the nod over Indianapolis 58-42 in a big game for the 11-0 Colts. SuperContestants apparently thought Indy wouldn't cover 15. Another AFC game commanding attention is the pick'em contest between Denver and Kansas City at Arrowhead Stadium. Hilton contestants chose a dog and a favorite in a pair of NFC Central Division rivalries. They chose Green Bay plus 7 over Chicago 93-67 and Minnesota minus 2 1/2 over Detroit 118-76. The Monday night call went to Philadelphia plus 4, 80-73 over Seattle. Additional consensus choices were Jaguars over Browns, 112-60; Giants over Cowboys, 106-54; Falcons over Panthers, 94-74; Buccaneers over Saints, 97-37; Cardinals over 49ers, 76-46; Redskins over Rams, 89-43; Patriots over Jets, 74-28; and Raiders over Chargers, 68-43. |
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