Two High-Profile Poker Players Get Share of $18.7 Million Sports Betting Contest Win
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A handful of familiar poker names were glued to NFL games on Sunday as Circa Survivor VI, one of the biggest sports betting competitions in the U.S., came down to the wire in Las Vegas.
Among those riding the action, chasing a share of the millions of dollars at stake, were poker streamer pioneer Jason Somerville and high-stakes poker player Galen Hall, both of whom were alive heading into NFL Week 18.
Circa Survivor VI attracted a record 18,718 entries at $1,000 apiece, smashing the $15 million guarantee and creating an $18,718,000 prize pool. Five entries survived the entire NFL season resulting in a five-way split, with each entry officially earning $3,743,600.
Hall had two entries reach the finish line, meaning the 2011 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event champion and World Series of Poker bracelet winner banked nearly $7.5 million before any hedging or private deals were factored in.
Poker Royalty in the Mix
Former PokerStars ambassador Somerville, widely regarded as the godfather of poker streaming thanks to his early prime-time Twitch success, was part of the final sweat after a career that includes a WSOP bracelet and more than $3 million in live tournament earnings.
Somerville was part of the JUICY KEWCHI entry, a team run by Survivor Atlas founder and poker player Gabe Patgorski that included several members of the poker community according to VSiN.com.
Hall is no stranger to big scores either. He won the 2011 PCA Main Event for $2.3 million and later captured a WSOP bracelet.
According to professional poker player and accomplished sports bettor David “ODB” Baker, poker talent was everywhere at the top of the leaderboard.
“At least four of the five Circa Survivor winners were owned or picked by poker players,” Baker noted on social media.
Matt Graham (L), Casey Diener (centre-left)
Baker proved his sports betting chops in 2021 when his team, which included Mark Gregorich, won the Westgate Las Vegas SuperContest for $435,623 and took second place in the Circa Sports Million for $200,000.
Among those involved was Matt “Mattg1983” Graham, a two-time WSOP bracelet winner and well-known online grinder during the poker boom era, who was part of the REAL BRO entry.
REAL BRO was run by poker player Casey Diener alongside partner Joey Michael, with Graham also part of the team. Diener, a regular on the live tournament circuit with nearly $471,329 in career earnings, helped guide the entry through the entire NFL season and into the five-way split.
While the exact amounts each individual or team ultimately locked up remain unclear due to reported widespread hedging and monetization of entries, there is no question the returns were enormous relative to the $1,000 buy-in.
What is the Circa Survivor Sports Betting Contest?
Circa Survivor is held every NFL season by Circa Sports and has quickly become one of the most followed contests in sports betting.
Players select one NFL team to win each week, but can only use each team once per entry for the entire season. Pick a losing team and that entry is eliminated. There are no consolation prizes, and entries must survive the entire NFL season to cash or until only one entry remains.
Six entries entered the final day with an implied value of more than $3.1 million apiece, but that number quickly dropped to five after PARTZ1-9 was eliminated when the Cincinnati Bengals lost on a last-second field goal against the Cleveland Browns.
Several of the remaining entries gathered at a viewing party hosted by Circa owner Derek Stevens inside the Circa Sportsbook in downtown Las Vegas, where the final five survived the remaining games on the slate to lock up a share of the record prize pool.
Poker Players Outperform Perry
In 2023, high-stakes pro Sean Perry made headlines by refusing to chop Circa Survivor when 13 entries remained, turning down a deal that would have paid each finalist $400,000 with the rest left to play for.
Perry ultimately busted without reaching the end and walked away with nothing. The high roller and son of old-school poker pro Ralph Perry has created some drama and controversy within the sports betting community for selling picks and claiming to crush the sportsbooks, a claim that many have disputed.
