I once participated in a contest very similar to this one against a class of upper level engineering students. It turned out that I couldn't use the software package required for the contest due to irrelevant VPN issues. After the contest period was up, I had my $5 of play money sitting untouched, and every other student had less than $5 due. I won the contest.

Just sayin', being able to use the software is not necessarily required to win.