Basically there are tons of stuff casinos do to make you gamble differently and take your money, which is their job because that is how they survive but I rather not change my gambling ways just because of a contest/promotion. I simply stick within my monthly limit which is definitely 100x lesser than what 25th player in leaderboard wagers.
I have a similar type of strategy on these type of things and it has worked for over 5 years now. I usually deposit a certain amount to casinos at the start of each month, usually that is 50 dollars but it of course depends on my economy, there have been months where I was rich enough to spare 250 dollars during the 2017 peak because I made a very good return, or there have been months where I did zero because I needed every penny I could get.
However usually it was on average 50 dollars per month. When I deposit that, I gamble with it, if I end up losing it on day one, I do not gamble until the last day and restart at the first of next month, if I do not lose it I gamble into other month, if I lose it on 18th day I stop until first, basically that 50 dollars I deposited is the only money I deposit that month no matter if I win or lose.