The last six weeks of the football season will determine who cashes in the biggest Las Vegas handicapping contests and who does not. For Team Odds Shark’s Harry Gagnon, the pressure is on for him to turn things around after going 2-5 in Week 11 to drop him into a tie for 39th place in the Golden Nugget’s Ultimate Football Challenge. This is the lowest position he’s been in this year, with the top 20 spots paying out in the end.
Gagnon’s ‘Cuseboy entry ranked among the top 20 for seven of the first 10 weeks, but a 7-13-1 mark in the past three has put him below 60 percent overall for the first time too. He is 44-31-2 (45 points) so far on his combination of seven weekly college and pro picks in the Ultimate Football Challenge, and the leader sits at 51-24-2 (52).
Team Odds Shark’s other three entries in the Ultimate Football Challenge went a combined 10-11 in Week 11, led by Brian Szokoli’s 4-3 record while brother Darren and “Cousin Sal” Iacono each went 3-4. Iacono is tied for 134th out of 282 total entries with a 40-36-1 mark (40.5 points), and the Szokoli brothers both remain outside the top 200.
In the NFL-only Circa Sports Million contest, Odds Shark’s own Joe Osborne (28-25-2) and Kris Abbott (23-31-1) each went 4-1 in Week 11 to lead the team. Joe Fortenbaugh (28-26-1) struggled to a 2-3 record to essentially put him out of contention for the third-quarter MVP prize of $143,750 after going 8-1-1 the previous two weeks. The third-quarter leader is 13-1-1, and two others are right behind at 13-2. In addition, Pamela Maldonado went 1-4 to fall to 18-35-2. The two overall co-leaders are tied at 39-15-1.
The SuperContest leader is 38-16-1 with six weeks left, and none of the four Team Odds Shark participants are within striking distance of the top 100 at the moment. The cut-off for payouts in the SuperContest is currently 33.5 points, and Jon Anik and Paulo Antunes are tied for the team lead with 25.5 after both went 2-3 in Week 11.
