20 of 25 Contestants Revealed for Weekly Pick’em Contest
Born in Michigan, he’s a football fan of the Wolverines and Lions. Jeff Petch has a lot in common with Circa owner Derek Stevens, who designed the green jacket Petch put on as the winner of the second annual Circa Friday Football Invitational.
By bumping the guarantee to $16 million in prize money this year, Stevens runs the two biggest NFL handicapping contests in the world — the Circa Million and Survivor contests. Another contest is returning to the Friday night lights for a third year.
The Circa Friday Football Invitational, a VSIN-produced event that was launched in 2022, features a comprehensive format that includes the college football and NFL regular-season schedule and is designed to crown the season’s most successful all-around handicapper. Fox Sports analyst Chris “The Bear” Fallica won the inaugural invitational before Petch became last season’s champion.
Petch nearly pulled off a football season triple crown of sorts. After taking the Friday Football Invitational title and watching Michigan win the national championship, the Detroit Lions seemed headed for the Super Bowl in Las Vegas until collapsing in the second half of the NFC Championship.
“We were so close,” Petch said. “What a great year.”
Petch, who was born in Battle Creek, Mich., and lives in Florida, is known as the “Mad Russian.” He’s back to defend his Friday night title and will be joined by “The Bear,” who finished eighth last year. Invitational champions earn a five-year exemption into the field. The contest’s top five finishers earn exempt status for the following year, so Tony Gordon, Scott Pritchard, Weston Stradtman and Chris Piper are also automatically included this year.
Stevens is again putting up $25,000 in prize money: $15,000 for the winner, $7,000 for second place and $3,000 for third place. Unlike the Circa Million and Survivor contests, which require a $1,000 entry fee, the Friday Football Invitational is free to play and requires an invitation from Circa and VSiN.
The contest begins Friday, September 6 and continues each Friday through January 3, 2025.
Two changes will be featured this year:
- The field is expanding from 16 to 25 contestants, with the 25th spot awarded to the winner of a VSiN subscriber promotion.
- The Best Bet that contestants choose each week is now worth 1.5 points if it wins instead of one point. In the contest’s first two years, the Best Bet point total was used only as a tiebreaker if needed.
“I love the idea of going to 1.5 on that,” Petch said. “I think the Best Bet is a focus for the Average Joe who’s watching this contest every week, and now it’s going to be that much more important.”
All contestants submit seven plays — college and NFL sides and totals — using the Circa Sports lines posted at 12 p.m. PT each Friday. All contestants use the same lines, and the seven plays must be submitted no later than 5 p.m. PT. The plays will be revealed on a VSiN show airing on Friday nights and also will be published on VSIN.com.
The contest features a survivor element: At the conclusion of Week 9 of the NFL schedule, the two contestants with the lowest point totals will be cut. The same elimination process — with one exception — will continue each week for the following seven weeks through Week 16 of the NFL schedule. The two contestants with the lowest point totals will be cut each week through Week 15; at the conclusion of Week 16, the three contestants with the lowest point totals will be cut, leaving the eight remaining contestants compete to the end.
The contestants filling out the field of 25 will be announced over the next three weeks.
Here are the 15 contestants who have been named so far:
AUTOMATIC QUALIFIERS
Jeff Petch
Professional handicapper from Florida; 2023 Circa Friday Football Invitational champion; 2021 Circa Million runner-up
Chris “The Bear” Fallica
Fox Sports analyst; 2022 Circa Friday Football Invitational champion
Tony Gordon
Professional bettor from California; 2021 Circa Million champion; 2023 Circa Friday Football Invitational runner-up
Scott Pritchard
Professional bettor from Las Vegas; 2023 Circa Friday Football Invitational third-place finisher
Weston Stradtman
Professional handicapper from Nashville, Tenn.; 2023 Circa Friday Football Invitational fourth-place finisher
Chris Piper
Professional bettor from Las Vegas; 2021 Circa Survivor co-champion; 2023 Circa Friday Football Invitational fifth-place finisher
INVITED CONTESTANTS
Steve Fezzik
Professional bettor from Las Vegas; only two-time winner of the Westgate SuperContest (2008, 2009); finished 21st in Circa Million in 2023
Cris Zeniuk
Professional bettor from Las Vegas; winner of football contests at Palms, Wynn and Station Casinos; three Top 20 finishes in Circa Million
John Accorsi
Professional bettor from Massachusetts; winner of football contests at Golden Nugget (2021) and William Hill (2022); Top 15 finish in Westgate SuperContest (2023)
Matt Ste. Marie
Finance manager from Minneapolis; 2023 Circa Million champion
Alex White
Las Vegas handicapper, media personality; winner of Station Casinos Last Man Standing College Football contest in 2022
Vinny Castillo
Professional bettor and former pro golfer from Los Angeles; winner of Westgate SuperContest mini-contest in 2020
Chuck Edel
Professional bettor from Las Vegas; 2022 Circa Friday Football Invitational runner-up
Jason Jarvis
Professional gambler from Connecticut; Circa Million fourth place in 2021 and 10th place in 2023
Randy McKay
Professional gambler from North Dakota; three-time major contest winner, including two at DraftKings, and Top 15 finishes in Circa Million (2023) and Westgate SuperContest (2016)
Paul Bovi
Professional bettor from Las Vegas; Top 20 finishes in Circa Million (2019) and Westgate SuperContest (2010)
Marc Lawrence
Professional handicapper from Florida; 2005 Stardust Invitational champion
Brett McMurphy
“America’s College Football Insider” with Action Network
Kelly Stewart
Professional handicapper from Florida; winner of Westgate SuperContest mini-contest in 2013
“AVERAGE JOE”
Pete Wilder
Married father of two from the Los Angeles area; sales manager for a moving and storage company
Circa Friday Football Invitational 2024 Official Rules
Twenty-five invited handicappers compete — with no entry fee required — in a season-long contest with $25,000 in prizes awarded.
When: Friday, September 6 through Friday, January 3, 2025 (18 weeks)
Where: VSiN studio in the Circa sportsbook
Contest plays: Seven plays, college and NFL full-game sides and totals (no props, team totals or first-half plays) with one designated as the Best Bet (BB). Contestants are limited to four college football totals per week.
—Plays will be graded as one point for a win — a Best Bet winner is worth 1.5 points — and a half-point for a push. If a game is canceled or postponed, it’s graded to be worth a half-point; a postponed game must be played by the following Thursday or is graded to be worth a half-point.
—The Best Bet (BB) point total will be used as a tiebreaker if needed.
Use the Circa Sports lines posted at Noon PT Fridays. All contestants are using the same lines. Any contestant failing to designate a Best Bet will get a zero for the Best Bet record that week.
—Seven plays must be submitted no later than 5 p.m. PT each Friday; any contestant who misses the deadline gets zero points for the week.
Prize structure: Circa owner Derek Stevens is awarding $25,000 in total prize money: $15,000 for the winner, $7,000 for second place and $3,000 for third place. The winner also receives a trophy and a green jacket designed by Stevens.
Contest field/format: The contest begins Friday, September 6 and continues each Friday through January 3, 2025.
—In December during the college bowl season, any games scheduled through the following Thursday can be used in the contest (and any games must be scored as final on that Thursday to count). For the final week, only games scheduled through Monday, January 6 can be used in the contest (and any game must be scored as final on that Monday to count).
—If there is a disruption to the weekly football schedule and more than 50% of the scheduled NFL games get canceled, all remaining contestants will continue to the following week.
Elimination rounds: At the conclusion of Week 9 of the NFL schedule (the Friday, November 1 contest week), the two contestants with the lowest point totals will be cut.
The same elimination process — with one exception — will continue each week for the following seven weeks through Week 16 of the NFL schedule (the Friday, December 20 contest week). The two contestants with the lowest point totals will be cut each week through Week 15; at the conclusion of Week 16, the three contestants with the lowest point totals will be cut.
—At the conclusion of NFL Week 16, the eight remaining contestants compete to the end.
—If there is a tie for last place in any elimination week, the Best Bet (BB) point total for the two or more contestants will be used as a tiebreaker to cut one contestant; if there still is a tie, the most recent week’s Best Bet result will be the tiebreaker, and that process of grading Best Bets continues in reverse order until the tie is broken.
(Derek Stevens has the authority to make a final ruling on any contest rules disputes.)
