Originally Posted by coach belly
The link posted above shows the following information...Originally Posted by redietz
2017 Top 5 Winners
1) Special K Sports
Total Points: 37
2) Marc Lawrence
Total Points: 34
3RD, TIE - Billy Coleman, Bob Dietz & Joe Nelson
Total Points: 33
2018 Playbook Wise Guys Contest
This is the 33nd year of this competition and this year's contest goes back to its original roots, when the participants paid an entry fee and gambled with their own money.
There seems to be a distinction between the 2018 contest and others that preceded it...namely that in 2018 "the participants paid an entry fee and gambled with their own money".
Does that mean that the 2017 contest was a free contest?
The original early-years Wise Guys Contest, which I was in, was an invitation-only, $500 entrance fee contest. Now I don't have years and precise dates for the evolution, but you can always write Playbook to get the details. Back in the day, it was invite by reputation and there were 30-some people in it. At some point, the contest picked up sponsors who put up the prize money. It was probably worth it to the sponsors to ensure that none of the better reputation entrants decided it wasn't worth their time. Eventually, however, the contest got up to 80-some entrants, despite it being invitation-only. The people at Playbook and other handicapping sites have experienced belt tightening over the years. Some sponsors also had better things to do with their money. Playbook entered into partnership with Jim Feist's organization and wound up trimming the roster of invitees to 50-some, who now pay their own way.
I haven't kept up with the overall tally, but at one point I was the guy with the best overall record who had been in the contest 20 years plus. I may have been superceded by Marc Lawrence (not sure) these last couple of years. A gentleman who went by the handle of Southern Comfort, Florida-based, was something of a sports betting legend, and he had a record comparable or better than mine in the contest. He died a few years ago.
The Wise Guys Contest is a pain in the ass for me, primarily because it's an 18-week contest, and I have plays for 11 or 12 weeks, depending on when the contest kicks off vis-a-vis the start of college football. Since the bowls have turned into a mess with players taking games off, I really don't have any plays once November is finished. I like to compete, but it's tough to do well for three months, then flip coins for two months and try to win. The reality is that unless the college football playoffs expand, I have almost no chance to win this thing now.
I have to make a tough decision as to whether to continue, as it takes a lot of energy to process the information by the Monday night deadline each week. Originally, it was called the Wise Guys Contest because you had to put the plays for the following week in Sunday night, right when the lines came out. You had no idea where the lines would go, and some games did not yet have lines. You had to know what teams you wanted without necessarily seeing the lines. That's why it was originally labeled as the Wise Guys Contest.
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