Thanks to a friend and friendly competition, Hale'iwa's Michael Pelekai began playing Pigskin Picks a few years ago.

But now that Pelekai won the top weekly prize of a trip for two to Las Vegas and $500, would he repay his loyalty to his friend, Helman Lauaki, by taking him on the trip?

"Oh no, I'm taking my wife," said Pelekai, 47. "It's the first time for both of us going to Vegas."

Pelekai, who plays online and is therefore limited to one ballot, correctly picked the winners of all 15 games and then won the tiebreaker by getting closest to the total offensive yardage for the Hawai'i-Idaho game (his 569 to the actual of 575). There were more than 30 perfect ballots.

Pelekai said he and his friend compete "with each other to see who gets the most wins each week."

"He was happy for me because he was beating me all year long," Pelekai said. "Actually, he was more shocked, then he said, 'Congratulations.' I'm still in shock that I won."

Pelekai said he doesn't employ any strategy. "Just teams that I like," he said. "I just punch them in."