What’s the guarantee?
Now we know.
Circa Survivor, already the world’s largest legal football survivor contest, will have a guarantee of $15 million, up from $10 million last year. Circa Million, the football pick’em contest, will remain at $6 million.
And a new high-stakes survivor contest, Circa Grandissimo, will debut with a guarantee of $1.5 million.
In other words, $22.5 million — and no doubt more once all the entries are in — will be on the line for the 2025 NFL season at Circa.
Circa owner Derek Stevens revealed the addition to the contest menu on Thursday’s Follow The Money with Mitch Moss and Pauly Howard.
“We’ve always thought there was a need for a higher stakes Circa Survivor, but we wanted to do something that wouldn’t cannibalize the original Survivor,” he said. >>Listen to the segment.
The Grandissimo rules are the same with two exceptions: A limit of two entries (instead of 10) and the buy-in is $100,000 (instead of $1,000).
These contestants will also be treated to a “Grandissimo experience” — perks like a three-night stay in Circa’s largest suite, a Barry’s Prime dinner at the chef’s table, a cabana at Stadium Swim and more.
Aside No. 1: The contest is named after the mega-hotel/casino that Jay Sarno envisioned after he built Caesars Palace and Circus Circus. Alas, Jay died at 62 in 1984 and his dream went unrealized. Recommended reading: Grandissimo: The First Emperor of Las Vegas: How Jay Sarno Won a Casino Empire, Lost It, and Inspired Modern Las Vegas by David G. Schwartz.
Aside No. 2: I didn’t know it when I bought it, but I live in Jay Sarno’s house in Las Vegas. Rumor has it that Circus Circus star attraction Tanya the elephant (immortalized in Diamonds Are Forever) played with his kids in the backyard.
Registration opens today at 9 a.m. Pacific. The first Grandissimo contestant with $100K already wired in plans to sign up shortly thereafter.
>>Adam Burke has more details on the three contests.
Can Knicks recover?
The Thunder took a 2-0 lead with a 118-103 victory over the Timberwolves on Thursday night.
Which brings us to tonight’s Pacers-Knicks Game 2 (8 ET, TNT). New York, down 1-0 after a choke job, is favored by 6.
In his preview, Zach Cohen credits Jonathan Von Tobel with this stat: The loser of the previous game in each playoff series is 35-18-1 against the spread the next game.
That system just isn’t one I’m personally willing to back blindly. In some scenarios, I just can’t wrap my head around one team being a bigger underdog after a win than they were in the game they won. This is one of those scenarios.
>Steve Makinen’s Game 2 Analytics Report.
>>Check for selections in the KillerSports NBA Playoff Challenge after 7 p.m. ET.
Oilers-Stars Best Bets
Jonathan Davis will post his picks later this morning for tonight’s Oilers-Stars Game 2 (8 ET, ESPN). The Stars, up 1-0, are -117 favorites.
Thursday recap: The Panthers (+117) posted a 5-0 victory over the Hurricanes and now return home with a 2-0 series lead.
Betting against Rockies?
Mike Somich offers some new angles on how to bet against the hapless Rockies.
Greg Peterson already has filed his top plays for today.
Josh Appelbaum and Steve Makinen will post their Best Bet contributions later this morning.
Quick Hits
French Open: Zach Cohen makes his predictions for Roland Garros. Zach also joined Drew Dinsick on Gill Alexander’s Beating The Book mega-pod. >>Listen here.
