Las Vegas and gambling are synonymous with each other, but as many know — the chances of winning big, aren't very big.
Some very lucky sports bettors defied the odds this week and took home some of the largest sums of money ever handed out by Circa Sports, with one individual taking home $3 Million all for himself.
ORIGINAL REPORT: Circa Sports to award $1M to winners of Circa Million IV pro football contest
With the NFL season drawing to a close, Circa Sports put on their annual professional football betting competitions, Circa Millions IV and the Circa Survivor.
For Circa Million IV, the name of the game is betting against the spread, which means each week, every player or group has to pick 5 games and specify which team will win by a specific point spread. The person or group at the end of the season with the highest amount of wins is eligible for a million-dollar prize.
For Circa Survivor, each player or group only has to pick one team to win each week and will rack up points if their selected team wins. The catch for Circa Survivor, however, is that each player or group must select a different team each week. But similar to Circa Millions IV, the player or group with the most wins at the end of the season is also eligible for a large-sum cash prize.
One group known as the "Chief-3" from Detroit, Michigan, which includes Brian Koestering and some of his friends, were awarded $1 Million as the winners of the Circa Million IV betting competition. All four are Detroit Lions fans.
They say they had a process in how they won, but at the end of the day, they just love football.
"I mean we watch a lot of football so it's good to put it to use finally," Koestering said.
$12 Million in total were given out, including two checks for $3 Million, which is the largest-ever payout in a professional football contest.
Circa Sports CEO Derek Stevens says the record-breaking money depends greatly on the enthusiasm for sports.
"Sports has always been popular, but it just keeps growing in popularity," Stevens said. "People love watching sports, people love betting on sports."
Koestering says he is happy to share this moment with friends he holds near and dear.
"It was just a lot of fun," Koestering said. "It was a lot of fun in doing it with the guys that you root for football every weekend together, and the best part was we had the lions to finish it off."
