When two entries in the Circa Sports Million contest finished tied for best record at 60-29-1 against the spread, they expected to split the $1 million first-place prize and $500,000 runner-up prize and win $750,000 each.
But a tiebreaker unknown to either entry gave Chris Coyne (competition aka “Coynehop”) first place and $1 million, while Thomas Patochek and Jeff McElmurry (“Bisonsportscards”) took second and half a million.
“We have the tiebreaker because we want an entry to get $1 million,” Mike Palm, vice president of operations for Circa, The D and Golden Gate casinos, said Friday night at a check presentation ceremony at Circa where a record $31.6 million was awarded to contest winners. “This way, it’s guaranteed. We don’t want eight people cutting first. We want someone to get the $1 million check.”
Contestants in the $1,000 entry NFL handicap contest, which drew 5,685 entries, make five ATS picks per week during the 18-week season.
The tiebreaker is the most winning weeks and Coyne finished with 15 to beat McElmurry and Patochek, who had 14.
“I didn’t know there was a tiebreaker,” said Coyne, 34, of Brooklyn, New York. “I went to bed thinking it was a hoe for $750,000. You can’t complain about that.
“Then I turned around the next morning and saw all the texts from my friends saying, ‘You won the million on a tiebreaker’.”
After Las Vegas native McElmurry, 47, and Patochek, 59, of Nashville, Tenn., won their final pick on the Steelers (+3½, defeated Ravens 26-24) on “Sunday Night Football” as a first-time tie, they celebrated as if they won $750,000.
“Until about 11 p.m. Nashville time,” Patochek said.
That’s when they learned via social media that they lost on tiebreak.
“It was a highlight tempered by a low night going to bed to waking up and saying, ‘You can’t complain,'” Patocheck said.
Had Patochek been aware of the tiebreaker, he said he would not have lost a $39,000 hedge bet he placed on Baltimore.
“If Pittsburgh covers, we tie for first. If Baltimore covers, we tie for third. The difference is $750,000 to $350,000. I hedged accordingly to soften it up a little bit. But I didn’t read the tiebreaker rules,” he said. “It’s a cautionary tale for people. It’s on me for not reading the rules.”
Coyne, who had a one-point lead heading into the final game, did not secure.
“It’s either $750,000 or a million. Am I going to be that much happier?” he said. “Had I done that, I would have won $1.1 (million).”
“Insert hoes and change diapers”
After entering Week 16 with just one losing week, Coyne had losing records in two of the last three weeks, going 2-3 in Week 18. McElmurry and Patochek went 3-2.
“Since the end of October I was either first or second, so it would have been really devastating to fall out of those two,” Coyne said.
He works in finance and sales and is married with two children, a 7-month-old and a 3-year-old.
“I’m a family man with a full-time job just living on my stomach and fading the public,” he said. “You don’t feel good when you send those picks in, but somehow they end up being good. You look at the lines early in the week, you see the popular favorites, you want to tone them down. At home (underdogs) that don’t get a lot of love, you like those teams.
“I don’t have models. I don’t have Excel spreadsheets. I’m sitting there putting hoes and changing diapers.”
“I win this thing before I die”
Four years ago, Patochek gave McElmurry, his longtime friend, proxy and racing partner, a suggestion and a prediction.
“I told him, ‘Don’t charge, just come with me. I’m going to win this thing before I die,” said Patochek, who owns Bison Sports Cards.
They said they didn’t pay much attention to the million until they were eliminated from Circa Survivor in Week 14 by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after reaching the remaining 49 entries from a field of 18,718 competing for an $18.7 million prize.
They overcame a 9-11 start in the million to tie for first.
“At that point, you consider switching and going for the booby prize, because you have to hit like 70 percent to win this thing,” McElmurry said. “After that, we went 35-9-1. That got us back in the hunt. It’s been a great year. We can’t complain. We were very lucky to be in this position.
“(Patochek) said he was going to win before he died. He tied for the first time. I’d say he delivered.”
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@ theplayerlounge.com. Follow @tdewey33 on X.
