In professional rodeo, staking a claim as the best of the best means taking the ring at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, held each December at the 19,000 seat Thomas & Mack Center on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). Culminating each year’s rodeo season, the Wrangler NFR is the premier championship rodeo event in the United States, with 21 events and performances over 17 days. Participants compete for the largest rodeo prize money in the world, and winners can walk away with not only a coveted golden belt buckle, but also in excess of two hundred thousand dollars. With plenty of dirt, sweat, and noise, the high stakes are about all the event shares with the glitz of the gaming tables a few miles down the road.