Contests calling all sharps, squares

With the first pick in the 2000 NFL Draft, the Cleveland Browns did not select Tom Brady. That was a lucky break for Brady.

If he had started his career in Cleveland instead of New England, Brady might have disappeared by now. As it is, he’s serving a fourgame suspension. But it’s a good bet he would not have won multiple Super Bowls with the Browns. There’s no doubt Brady is good, but in life we all need to catch an important break along the way.

Football handicappers fully understand the luck factor, and if it’s not on your side, you will not win the Westgate SuperContest or any other contest being staged at a Las Vegas sports book this season. You will need to be good and lucky.

The SuperContest is the king of the hill, setting records for entries (1,727) and prize money ($2.59 million) last year, and it’s getting bigger. The rules are simple — pick five NFL sides against the spread each week for 17 weeks — while the route to winning is complex and unpredictable.

“It has a long history and tradition as the most prestigious pro football handicapping contest in the world,” Westgate sports book director Jay Kornegay said. “It has been proven that anybody can win the contest.

“Some people think it’s for sharps only. The last two winners were firsttime entrants. Our first female winner was in 2012. Anybody can get on hot streaks. Some people pick from the hip. But I think in the long run, the sharper players do better. The people who spend a lot of time doing research and handicapping will do better over time than the Average Joe.”

Kornegay and his staff host the fifth annual “SuperContest Weekend” on Friday and Saturday