Westgate Las Vegas SuperContest on track for record number of entries

With 25 days remaining until entries close, the 2019 Westgate Las Vegas SuperContest is on track to set a record for the most entries ever. Jay Kornegay, the vice president of the Las Vegas Hotel & Casino SuperBook, said on Tuesday that this year's contest has drawn 1,361 entries. At this rate, the SuperContest would break the record of 3,123 set last year. Entries close at 11 a.m. PT on Saturday, Sept. 7.

Born in the late 1980s as the Las Vegas Hilton SuperContest, the Westgate Las Vegas SuperContest, which has an entry fee of $1,500, has exploded in popularity over the last 10 years, becoming the most storied contest of its kind in the country. Entries have grown every year since 2010, when the contest drew 345 entries.

This year, contestants who live in Nevada or their proxies will be able to submit picks through an app for the first time. The app will be available beginning Aug. 20.

"The app is something we've wanted to do for years," says John Murray, director of race and sports at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook. "It's something we've been working on for years, and it just makes it so much easier for the local people. Nobody really wants to drive down here.

"Betting is now going mobile. So it made sense that the next logical step was to have the SuperContest go mobile too."

Contestants who submit their five weekly picks through the app will be required to have those picks in by 11 p.m. PT Friday. Contestants who submit their picks in person or through a proxy have until 11 a.m. PT Saturday to enter their picks. Any contestant who wants to include the Thursday night game must submit all five picks by Thursday's kickoff.

As always, the SuperContest will pay the top 100 finishers. In addition, the entry with the best record for the first four weeks and the first eight weeks will receive $15,000. Last year Eric Kahane, a 44-year-old from Irvine, Calif., won the contest and the $1.42 million first-place prize.