Football handicapping: Last Man Standing collects $86,325

The big annual NFL handicapping contests are coming down to the wire with two weeks left in the regular season, but there has already been one big winner.

Eric Wasyliw, 32, beat 4,205 other contestants in the Last Man Standing pro football contest at Station Casinos. Last Man Standing is a survivor-style contest where players make one pick a week against the spread. Lose once and you’re eliminated. Wasyliw took down the winner-take-all prize of $86,325 when the Giants covered the 7.5-point spread in their 38-35 Week 13 loss to the Packers on Dec. 4 and the other remaining contestant lost with the Falcons -2 1/2 against the Texans. The Falcons  lost 17-10.

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The Last Man Standing costs $25 per entry and if you buy four you get one free. Wasyliw paid the $100 for his five entries and said he lost one in each of the first two weeks before going on a great run where he kept his three entries alive until Week 9, when he lost with two of them and was one of only eight contestants remaining.

“That’s when it really got tense,” said Wasyliw, who added that he started hedging against his plays at that time – wanting to lock in at least some profit for his good run – and ended up giving back about $18,000 over the course of the next four weeks.

His biggest hedge of $8,000 in Week 12 almost paid off big-time when he had the Browns +7 1/2 in the contest and bet on the Bengals -6 1/2. Late in the game, it was tied 20-20 and a Cincinnati touchdown would have won his hedge while also staying alive in the contest, but the Bengals kicked a field goal for a 23-20 victory.

“The other guy kept winning and I started to worry that I could hedge away the whole thing if it kept going, so I started cutting down my bets,” Wasyliw said. “I could barely stand to watch the end of the Giants-Packers game as they were trailing by 8 and I was only getting +7 1/2, but they scored the touchdown and two-point conversion in the final minute to tie it and I knew I was safe. I was so relieved when I went in that Wednesday to get the new sheet and was told it was over. I told them, ‘I guess I won it.’ ”

Wasyliw was working for an accounting firm in Chicago before moving to Las Vegas in October 2010 to become a professional sports bettor. He said he knew he would have to devote 100 percent of his time to it to be successful.

“I’m doing better than I thought I would,” said Wasyliw. He chose not to disclose exact amounts, but added, “I’m making more than I did in my previous job.”

And this job paid him a nice Christmas bonus.

Back to the NFL betting board

I went 1-3 with my plays posted here last week, which was a shame with all those dogs barking. The Redskins were a nice winner as they beat the Giants outright, but the Vikings and Steelers were losing sides and the Lions-Raiders game crept over the total with the Lions’ last-minute victory. Happy holidays to everyone, and hopefully we have something to cheer about with our Christmas cheer.

Browns +13 vs. Ravens

The Browns are 4-10 straight-up, but they haven’t packed it in and continue to play hard as evidenced by their competitive 14-3 loss to the Steelers two weeks back and outplaying the Cardinals last Sunday before losing 20-17 in overtime. They covered both games and that’s all we’re looking for them to do here, getting nearly two touchdowns against a Baltimore team that has lost two straight and shown a tendency to play down to the level of competition (see games vs. Jaguars, Cardinals, Seahawks, and Colts). Double-digit dogs are 19-14-2 (57.6 percent) against the spread this year and I will back this one.

PLAY: Browns for 1 unit.

Buccaneers +7.5 vs. Panthers

Yes, it’s another ugly dog, but this is more of a play against the Panthers, a team that I like when they’re an underdog like they were last week against the Texans. But laying more than a touchdown when they haven’t been favored by more than 3.5 points all season? I will fade that kind of overadjustment every time.

PLAY: Buccaneer for 1 unit.

Falcons-Saints over/under 53

Come Monday, the whole world will be betting this game over due to the Saints’ high-flyin offense at home and just the public’s love of betting the over on Monday Night Football or overs in general, but I will be on the under (wait for the best number you can get). In their first meeting this year, the game went to overtime and was still only 26-23, and this time with more on the line (Saints trying to get first-round bye; Falcons trying to secure a wild-card berth), it should be more of a playoff atmosphere.

PLAY: Under 53 points for 1 unit.

Last week: 1-3 for a net loss of 2.3 units (based on risking 1.1 units to win 1). NFL season record: 17-25-1 for a net loss of 9.5 units.

View From Vegas - NFL against the spread - Week 15