Circa Million NFL contest winner claims $1M prize on tiebreaker

When two entries in the Circa Sports Million contest finished tied for the best record at 60-29-1 against the spread, they expected to split the $1 million prize for first place and $500,000 prize for second and win $750,000 each.

But a tiebreaker neither entry was aware of gave Chris Coyne (contest alias “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 one 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 in which a record $31.6 million was awarded to contest winners. “This way, it’s guaranteed. We don’t want eight people chopping first. We want somebody to get that check for $1 million.”

Contestants in the $1,000-entry NFL handicapping contest, which drew 5,685 entries, make five weekly picks ATS during the 18-week season.

The tiebreaker is most winning weeks and Coyne finished with 15 to edge McElmurry and Patochek, who had 14.

“I didn’t know there was a tiebreaker,” said Coyne, 34, from Brooklyn, New York. “I went to bed thinking it was a chop for $750,000. You can’t complain about that.

“Then I turned over the next morning and see all the texts from my buddies saying, ‘You won the Million on a tiebreaker.’”

After Las Vegas resident McElmurry, 47, and Patochek, 59, from Nashville, Tennessee, won their final pick on the Steelers (+3½, beat Ravens 26-24) on “Sunday Night Football” to tie for first, 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 the tiebreaker.

“It was a high mitigated by a low that night going to bed to waking up going, ‘You can’t complain,’ ” Patocheck said.

Had Patochek been aware of the tiebreaker, he said he wouldn’t 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 being $750,000 versus $350,000. I hedged myself accordingly to soften it a little bit. But I didn’t read the rules about the tiebreaker,” 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, didn’t hedge.

“It’s either $750,000 or a million. Am I going to be that much happier?” he said. “Had I done it, I would’ve won $1.1 (million).”

‘Putting in picks changing diapers’

After entering Week 16 with only one losing week, Coyne had losing records in two of the final 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 place, so it would’ve been really crushing to fall outside 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 who just goes on his gut and fades the public,” he said. “You don’t feel good when you submit those picks but somehow they turn out all right. You look at the lines early in the week, you see the popular favorites, you want to fade those. Home (underdogs) that are not getting a lot of love, you like those teams.

“I have no models. I have no Excel spreadsheets. I’m sitting there putting in picks changing diapers.”

‘I’ll win this thing before I die’

Four years ago, Patochek gave McElmurry, his longtime friend, proxy and contest partner, a proposition and a prediction.

“I told him, ‘Don’t take a fee, just ride with me. I’ll 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 starting field of 18,718 vying for an $18.7 million prize.

They overcame a 9-11 start in the Million to tie for first.

“At that point, you consider shifting and going for the booby prize, because you’ve got 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 an amazing year. We can’t complain. We were very fortunate to be in this position.

“(Patochek) said he’d win before he dies. He tied for first. I’d say he delivered on that.”

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on X.