Steve J., a 59-year-old retired truck driver, took home the first jackpot of $48,000 in the Lucky’s Race & Sports Book Progressive Carryover Pro Football Contest.

Lucky's football contest winner Steve J. (center) accepts his $48,000 prize check at Terrible's Hotel & Casino from Jimmy Vaccaro (left), director of sports operations and public relations, and Dan Shapiro, director of marketing.

Steve, a Las Vegas resident originally from Milwaukee, submitted his picks at Terrible’s Hotel & Casino on Flamingo and Paradise. He was the only contestant in Nevada to pick the winners of all 13 Sunday games correctly without the point spread. He needed the Tennessee Titans to win their Monday night home game against the Indianapolis Colts to claim the prize.

After falling behind 14-6, the favored Titans rallied to win 31-21. The Titans tied the game with 3:21 left in the third quarter after scoring a touchdown followed by a two-point conversion.

“After the two-point conversion, I wasn’t concerned,” Steve said. “I knew they would win.”

Steve says he spends 60 hours a week handicapping football and playing in several contests around Vegas. He would not reveal his methods for picking winners.

“I have my own system, but it’s nobody’s business,” he said. “I don’t tell anyone.”

Steve said he would take his wife, Jean, somewhere special for dinner and put the rest of the winnings in various investments, including real estate investment trusts.

In addition to the Titans, Steve correctly picked the Browns, Cowboys, Dolphins, Eagles, Giants, Jets, Panthers, Patriots, Ravens, Redskins, Saints, Seahawks and Texans in Week 8 of pro football season

The Lucky’s Progressive Carryover Contest, unique in Nevada, requires players to pick all the winners of each week’s Sunday and Monday night games without the point spread. If nobody selects a perfect card, the contest prize carries over to the following week, with $6,000 being added to the total. The prize started at $6,000 and carried over for seven weeks until it grew to $48,000.

The contest resumes this week with a $6,000 prize. Picks can be submitted until 9 a.m. Sunday at any Lucky’s Race & Sports Book in Nevada. Lucky’s has sports books as the following casino locations: The Plaza and Terrible’s in Las Vegas, Terrible’s Primm Valley Resorts, Terrible’s Town and Terrible’s Lakeside in Pahrump, the Grand Sierra in Reno, Casino Fandango in Carson City and the Red Lion in Elko.