We are happy to announce “Worley360” as the winner of the 2026 OSGA NCAA Bracket Challenge! Worley360 had Michigan winning the Championship game and had all four teams correct in the Final Four. He had a seven point winning margin by hitting a massive 50 picks to collect a whopping 101 points to cash for the top cash prize of $1000!

Every prize winner had Michigan as their tourney champ and though “aposulli” was near the top of the leaderboard throughout much of the tourney, be had had UConn losing in the round of 32. Despite that stumble early on, he still managed to pick the tourney champ in Michigan and unload enough winners to finish in 2nd place! His 2nd place finish was good for a $300 prize.

In any tourney bracket contest, they key to winning is simply having the team that hoists the trophy and cuts down the nets, as the winner is worth 10 points, as are the two combined Final Four games. The dominance by Michigan sealed the deal for everyone who cashed for a prize. Michigan backers dashed to the front of the leaderboard, as twelve of the top 13 finishers had the Wolverines to win it all.

“BTownRat” and “Cjam36” both came from way down the leaderboard to wind up tied for third place with 90 points. Both players had Michigan in the final, but neither had UConn. We were forced to go to the tie-breaker, which was the total for the NCAA Championship game. BTownRat had 146 to cjam36’s 155 and when the game ended at Michigan 69, UConn 63, the lower point total rewarded “Under” bettors and BTownRat! He cashed for $200 and CJam36 rounded out the cash prizes with $100.

After 24 years, we still enjoy hosting an NCAA Tournament bracket contest ad giving away cash prizes, especially boosted ones to OSGA Members. Despite no member htting the final leaderboard, watching the ever-changing leaders, as well as our own OSGAJim’s picks, adds a little excitement around OSGA for the three weeks of college hoops Madness.

Congratulations to everyone who played and to those who cashed in! Head to the OSGA NCAA Bracket Challenge leaderboard to check the standings and see how you fared versus other players. We are going to make our annual Progressive Pick ‘Em the biggest ever, with a huge surprise for players, when NFL football returns in the fall.

Become a member today to get in on the members’ only extra prize offerings for our annual NFL Progressive Pick ‘Em.

In 2026 we’ve seen some oof the highest point totals ever in the 24 years of offering our NCAA Tournament Bracket Challenge. Picking favorites has again been a solid strategy and every team in the Final Four is represented near the top of the leaderboard.

Top Seeds Alive

A whopping 36 players have Arizona as the overall tourney winner and twenty-six took Michigan. 61 players who had either Florida or Duke are out of the running. Suprisingly just two players have UConn to win it all and yet three players somehow used a crystal ball to choose, Illinois as their National Champion.

Still, anyway you slice it, there are still huge possibilities for anyone with any of these four teams going in the weekend. Patrick9 and Worley360 are tied at the very top of the A, href=”mmx-page=%2Fleaderboard%2F” target=”_blank”>leaderboard with a whopping 81 points. Arizona is Patrick9’s pick and Michigan is Worley360’s tourney winner. West Coast Wiseguy had a great run to 3rd place with 80 points, but has Iowa State as his overall tourney winner. aposulli (MI) sits in 4th place with 79 points and Joad8 (AZ) founds out the top 5. In 6th place is one of the two players with UConn as the National Champion, BrendanP18 and longtime OSGA contest participant The Gambler, currently in 13th place, is the top player with Illinois.

Best of luck to everyone in the OSGA NCAA Bracket Challenge. Remember, the top four places get cash prizes and OSGA Members get an extra prize.

There’s been some talk that with NIL and the transfer portal that a perfect March Madness bracket has a greater chance of happening than in previous years. And based on what players in the 2026 OSGA Bracket contest have shown, taking the higher seeded teams is a path to profits.

Using typical bracket scoring, the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament are worth a combined 64 points, 32 points in each round. The most points any player has mustered so far in the OSGA NCAA Bracket Challenge is 54 by gen’sorange! That’s three points better than last year’s leader at the Sweet 16 and a full seven points better than 2021 & 2022. In fact, five players were at 53 points this year heading into the Sweet 16. These six players are all elgibile for the Sweet 16 prize, a week of premium picks from any of the top handicappers at gamblersWORLD.net.

Top Seeds Chosen

Florida was the #1 pick to be crowned the National Champion with 38 players taking the Gators. Unfortunately, for those players it’s safe to say their brackets were busted when Iowa took out Florida in the round of 32! 36 players have Arizona, twenty-six took Michigan and just 25 have the #1 overall seed, Duke as their National Champion. It is interesting to note that none of the top leaders right now, have Duke to win it all.

Still, anyway you slice it, there are still huge possibilities for anyone with at least a handful of teams going in the Sweet 16. The games are worth 3 points each and more upsets (we’re looking at you Iowa) can kill even the best looking brackets. But, it’s the Elite 8 games that will determine who makes a dash for the cash next weekend.

Best of luck to everyone in the OSGA NCAA Bracket Challenge. Remember, the top four places get cash prizes and OSGA Members get an extra prize.

What makes this Super Easy?
Pick 8 prop bets and the winner of Super Bowl LX against the spread. Simple!
Players must also pick the total of the Big Game for the tie-breaker and a shot at an extra prize.
This is a winner take all contest! Each prop and ATS game selection is worth one point (unless otherwise noted), so the player(s) with the most points cashes in.

Prizes
1) $500 will be awarded to the player(s) who gets all 8 prop bets correct (does not count ATS game selection).
2) If no one gets all 8 prop picks correct, the player with the most points will win $250. OSGA Members get a $100 Prize Boost to $350!
3) Any player who correctly picks the exact final total score of SBLX will win $50, regardless of standing in the contest.
4) Any Member who gets 6 or more prop bets correct will get one additional month added to their membership!

Contest Rules & Prizes:
– This contest pays OSGA members Boosted & extra Prizes!!
– One entry per player, per household, per email address, per IP address. Multiple entries will be disqualified.
– Entries must be received by 6:20PM ET prior to the Super Bowl on February 8th.
– Players must pick the 8 Prop Bets, the winner (ATS) of SBLX and enter a total score for SBLX.
– The player with the most points (each prop is worth 1 point, game ATS is worth 1 point) wins $250. OSGA Members get the winning prize boosted by $100 to $350!
– If multiple players tie with the most correct selections, the player closest to the final total score of the Super Bowl, without going over, will win. Players still tied will split any prizes.
– The player who gets all 8 prop bets correct can earn the largest prize – $500.
– If multiple players get all 8 props correct, the $500 prize will be split evenly amongst the winners.
– Any player who guesses the exact total score will win $50.
– If any player gets all 8 props right, they can only win the $500 prize.
– Members who get 6 or more prop bets correct will receive three free months of OSGA membership.
– Final winner determined by osga.com

General Rules:
– OSGA reserves the right to terminate players at any time for violation of any posted rules.
– Acceptance of any prize constitutes permission for OSGA to use the first name and last initial (ex: JohnS) or user nickname (ex:SnoopyDawg) of the winners for advertising and promotional purposes without additional compensation, unless prohibited by law.
– By accepting prize, winner agrees to hold OSGA and its respective directors, officers, employees and assigns harmless for any injury or damage caused or claimed to be caused by participation in the Contest.
– OSGA is not responsible for any error in the printing of the offer, administration of the Contest or in the announcement of the prizes.
– All federal, state, local and provincial laws and regulations apply.
– Entrants agree to be bound by the terms of these Official Rules and by the decisions of OSGA, which are final and binding on all matters pertaining to this contest.
– In the event that players submit multiple entries into the Contest, only the most recent entry received prior to the start time of the Contest will be used.

The 20th year for the OSGA NFL Progressive Pick ‘Em saw just one perfect card, a different winners every week and a huge amount of cash and prizes ever given away. The final leaderboard saw three players tied with a massive point total.

Top players followed surprising hot teams

This was an NFL season that saw more parity, but key injuries crushed hopes for teams early and late in the season and some surprising squads, behind great QB play, headed to the playoffs. The Steelers with Aaron Rodgers somehow made it into the playoffs, the Chiefs struggled all season and lost future Hall of Fame quarterback Patrick Mahomes along the way, and injuries to Lamar Jackson cost the Ravens a playoff bid and their 18 year head coach. The 2025 season featured the rise of second year quarterbacks with Bo Nix, Drake Maye and Caleb Williams all taking their teams to division titles and Daniel Jones proved that maybe the New York Giants were the problem, not him. Players that picked up on the Colts, Patriots and Broncos strengths, faded the Commanders, Chiefs and Lions and trusted that the Raiders, Browns and both NY squads would remain terrible were rewarded. After a year that saw ties in multiple weeks for perfect cards, only one player cashed the Progressive Pool in 2025, in week 12. Last year players needed well over 21,000 total points to sit atop the final leaderboard, but 19,500 total points was enough to generate a 3-way tie after the final gun of Week 18.

Congratulations to “romgav5150” who averaged more than 10 wins a week for the entire season to win the 2025 OSGA Progressive Pick ‘Em! With extra points awarded for a correct Monday Night Football pick and 183 winning selections, “romgav5150” amassed 19,500 points, yet still was tied at the top of the leaderboard! This year’s pool was again guaranteed and that really worked out for players. The final pool was just $600 after being hit in Week 12, so the guaranteed $1000 final pool was a serious boost to the top 4 players. Despite a dismal week 18, “romgav5150” pulled pulled out the victory, cashing for 50% of the final pool money – $500.

Tie-breakers need to declare a winner

The first four places at the end of the season are all winners in the OSGA Progressive Pick ‘Em and after 272 games, multiple tie-breakers still needed to be used to determine the final standings. “romgav5150”, “spike manning” and “Caddy111” tied for the top spot with a massive 19,500 points, so we had to go to the season-long tie breakers. It was so close that we had to go to the 2nd tie-breaker! “romgav5150” picked 183 games correctly and that was enough to satisfy the first tie-breaker (number of correct picks) to claim first place. But “spike manning” and “Caddy111” each picked 181 games correctly, so we had to use the second tie breaker – the closest number of points scored in the tiebreaker game of week 18 (SNF). In week 18 the Sunday Night Football game is the deciding factor and after three quarters it looked like a low scoring game, but a massive 24 points were scored in the final period. “spike manning’ had 48 and “Caddy111” had 38 and with a final score of Steelers 26, Ravens 24, handing “spike manning” second place and the $250 prize for the runner-up. “Caddy111” was awarded 15% of the total prize pool, good enough for $150! “TallShip” managed to grab 1,200 points in Week 18 to come from behind and grab $100 for 4th place with 19,400 points.

We would like to thank all the players for participating in 20 years of the OSGA Progressive Pick ’em! It has been our pleasure to roll out this contest for the past two decades.

Players should look for our annual NCAA Tournament contest and OSGA members should keep their eyes on osgamembers.com for our annual Members Only Super Easy, Super Bowl contest in just one month!

Become a member at OSGA.com today!

One consistent around the world in recent years is frustration with the amount of sports betting ads on TV, radio and in print. It’s virtually impossible turn on a game or sporting event without being told the most recent odds or given the latest promotions for signing up.

Early rules did address advertising

The province of Ontario addressed the one issue by putting in a rule from the start that sportsbooks could only promote offers and incentives on their websites or by email to those who agreed to accept mailings from them. But in the rest of the world, including the U.S., ads promoting gambling incentives are constant. And Ontario also addressed another issue of concern early in 2024 by disallowing advertising of sportsbooks by athletes and celebrities, since the Ontario government deemed that these promotions were influencing minors. That ban excluded athletes, role models, social media influencers, entertainers, cartoon figures and any symbols “that would likely be expected to appeal to minors.” But it seems that some of those rules are subjective, since Jamie Foxx still appears in ads for MGM and other “celebrities” are in ads for other companies. I guess while Connor McDavid or Wayne Gretzky are deemed influential to minors, Jamie Foxx is meaningless to anyone under 19 years of age. As it stands, no other province has issued an similar ban on sports betting advertising since they are all run by the provincial lotteries (although Alberta seems just about ready to have a model similar to Ontario), but what is clear is that people in general are getting sick and tired of the constant ads for sports betting in general.

Ban talk gaining momentum

Two Canadian Senators, Percy Downe and Marty Deacon want the ads stopped completely.

They have asked Prime Minister Marc Carney to instruct the Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to ban all advertising for sports gambling apps and websites. Their motion has received support from 40 other senators. The country has 105 Senators, meaning that 40% of the Senators are supporting the motion for a complete ban! While Senators have no power to enact new laws, they are very instrumental in affecting change, and any changes to existing laws must go through them. When Canada looked at changing the criminal code to allow single game sports betting, a bill to amend the criminal code passed with bipartisan support in the House of Commons when Stephen Harper was Prime Minister, but that change was nixed by Senate later when they refused to vote on the bill before the session ended. The Senate which are all unelected patronage appointments by the Prime Minister included many athletes like Ken Dryden who were lobbied by the NHL not to let the bill pass. And the Senate did just that, making up the excuse that they were not going to agree to the change because it did not receive proper debate in the House before being passed.

The truth is that the lobbying, combined with a spending bill scandal in the Senate forced the decision, since it was a way to show they were relevant, as Harper and others considered reforming the Senate as an elected body rather than patronage appointments by the Prime Minister. Eventually, in another vote under Justin Trudeau, the single game sports betting bill that was killed, later was agreed to by the House, after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down PASPA and the country realized it was a losing battle.

Downe has said that the proliferation of ads is not only annoying but also dangerous because everyone has a mini casino in their pocket and said it should be treated the same way society treated smoking ads:

“For the very same reason we banned cigarette ads on all platforms, we should ban this because of the harm it does to society, and there’s no benefit,” he said. “You can’t legislate away human weaknesses, but you can legislate away the ability of others to take advantage of them.”

Psychologists have noted that over 20% of every sportscast is gambling ads and that it’s pretty much impossible for vulnerable people not to be affected by the ads. They also say kids are most vulnerable.

Paul Burns, the CEO of the Canadian Gaming Association was asked about the ads previously and said that sports betting is a legal product and like with any legal product, companies have the right to advertise. “Advertising is an important part of a regulated marketplace. It’s one of the privileges that operators have,” Burns told reporters after the initial athlete ban.

As it stands now only Italy has a broad ban on sports betting advertising while the UK, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands and Australia have bans across certain platforms and “whistle to whistle” bans during live games meaning that no sports betting ads can be shown as long as a game is taking place.

Does a ban have legs – will a full ban happen?

I spoke to ‘Joe’, a friend who works for the CRTC but asked to remain anonymous and he said that he thinks that Prime Minister Mark Carney, who is facing a lot of backlash right now for not doing enough with Trump and tariffs, may see this as an easy way to win support without really doing anything or affecting his base.

“Everyone is sick and tired of all the sports betting ads and if a law can be passed that would stop advertising not only during games but also during popular Prime Time TV shows, I think most of the public would pat the government on the back. Obviously, the marketing reps from the likes of FanDuel and Bet365 would complain vehemently, but I think the congratulations for the action would supersede the upset about an ad ban.”

I spoke to other gambling analysts in Canada and they said that a full ban on a legal product may be seen as a violation of the law, since it would be hard to prove that sports betting is detrimental to health the way cigarettes are which was the justification for the ban on tobacco. And alcohol ads along with lottery ads are still allowed on TV and in print ads so a ban using the reason of morality would never work. Consequently, the expectation is that there will be a compromise like in other countries and there will be bans in place during live games and in timeslots that caters to minors (i.e. Saturday mornings).

I asked Joe if he had any timeline and he said no, but he expected to hear from the government sometime next year and has no doubt that if it comes up for a vote in the House it would receive almost unanimous support. Any party that votes it down would be seen as pariahs. For his part Joe said that he agrees with a ban too because he’s sick of being bombarded with ads of up-to-the-minute-odds during every hockey and football game but at the same time he also understands that in a free country, legal companies have a right to advertise, so a partial ban during games is the way to go. And it may be coming to Ontario in the near future.

Read insights from Hartley Henderson every week here at OSGA and check out Hartley’s RUMOR MILL!

Congratulations to ‘billybike’!

Long time OSGA member and contest player ‘billybike’ was able to correctly pick all 14 games in Week 12 of the NFL season to cash in on the second largest prize ever paid out to one player by OSGA in 25 years of running contests, $1200! ‘billybike’ has been on a roll in the last few years playing the contests at OSGA.com.

Back in Week 7 ‘RomGav5150’ had a shot at cashing the Progressive pool, then $700, heading into Monday Night. But he went for an upset taking Tampa Bay on the road to beat the Detroit Lions as one of his two MNF picks. Unfortunately, the Lions won and the prize pot continued to grow. This week was a different scenario where ‘billybike’ has the 49ers over the Carolina Panthers, who were at least a touchdown underdog. San Francisco was up 10-3 at the half, and won the game handily, despite the low 20-9 score. An interception in the 4th quarter caused ‘billybike’ a bit of sweat, but a field goal missed badly at the 2 minute warning sealed the deal, giving the Niners and ‘Billybike’ the win.

The OSGA Progressive Pick ‘Em is again the featured Free NFL contest on OSGA.com, with over 140 participants and thousands in cash and prizes up for grabs. Each week players pick all of the NFL games on the board straight up, with no point spread. Both a season-long contest and a weekly contest, the progressive aspect of the contest rewards players who can pick all of the games on the board correctly, straight-up, with no point spreads. The weekly prizes are also cash this year and 13 winners have already grabbed $25 VISA gift cards. In addition, each week the progressive pool builds by $100, so in Week 12, the prize to sweep the board was $1200.

The last time the OSGA Progressive Pick ‘Em went this deep into the season was back in 2020, when no one cashed and the weekly prize pot grew until Week 17! “It was again starting to feel like a year where no one would hit the pool all season long,” said Jim Quinn, head man at OSGA. “But, we are happy to see a member and long time fan of what we do here cash in on the giant prize!”

Congratulations again to ‘billybike’ for a huge effort in Week 12 of the NFL season. The Progressive Pool resets again to $100 and in January we will crown the overall winner. In previous years, if the contest was hit late in the season, the progressive pool would reset and the overall season-long winner would get a piece of the reset pool. But luckily for players, five years ago, OSGA featured a guaranteed pool for the cumulative winners. Even if a player wins in week 18 (or week 12!), this year’s contest features a guaranteed final prize pool of $1000, with $500 going to the winner. With just 6 weeks to go, ‘Sparky24’, ‘spike manning’ and ‘vito’ are tied with 13,500 points. ‘romgav5150’ is in 4th place and ‘punter’ and ‘Caddy11″ are right behind. Overall only 600 points separates first from 19th place!

Good Luck in the final weeks to all of the players in the 2025 OSGA Progressive Pick ‘Em contest. There is still plenty of cash up for grabs, between the reset $100 Progressive Pool and the guaranteed final season pool, so players should continue to fire picks, right until the final gun sounds on the regular NFL season!

It is the 20th anniversary celebration of the OSGA Progressive Pick ‘Em NFL pick contest! The free pickem contest started in 2005 with only weekly sports betting prizes and has evolved into over $2000 in cash payouts and hundreds of dollars in free bets being awarded very year.

The pick ’em challenge is really two contests in one, with a weekly prize and a progressive element that builds each week. And the best part, it’s free to enter.

Players pick all the games on the board straight-up with no point spread in the OSGA Pro Football Progressive Pick ‘Em, with the goal of picking all the games correctly. The progressive prize of $100 in CASH builds each week and only pays out when a player sweeps the entire board.

2024 was the craziest season ever

Last year’s Progressive Pick ‘Em was the wildest ever with perfect cards cashing in three different weeks. In Week 6, eight players hit a perfect card and split the $600 Progressive pot to get $75 cash each!!! And it happened again in Week 13, where four players split the $700 progressive pool! The pool was hit for the third time in the 2024 season in Week 13 for another $200 payout! But starting in 2021, the prize pool became guaranteed at $1000, so players who stayed at the top of the leaderboard throughout the contest, cashed-in as well! Overall, in 2024, OSGA handed out $2500 in cash prizes!

In addition to the Progressive prize, weekly prizes are up for grabs for the player with the best score for that week. The prizes will change each and every week, with different value prizes being offered to the top player-of-the-week. Click Here to sign-up for the 2025 OSGA Pro Football Progressive Pick ‘Em.

Enter the 2025 OSGA Pro Football Progressive Pick ‘Em AND become a member to get in on more contests and get more ways to win. We’re happy to celebrate 20 years of FREE football contests for every fan, friend and member of OSGA and wish everyone who enters, the best of luck!