[toc]While many sports bettors revel in the suspense of watching the game after placing their bets, this was not an experience that Damon Graham had the pleasure of enjoying.
He had to go to work at Starbucks, instead of watching Week 17 action to see if he would win the Westgate SuperContest.
The prestigious football betting contest was won by the Las Vegas barista, who had to wait until his lunch break to check the scores and confirm his victory. He pocketed a whopping $895,481.
Under the team name Pops2008, he played and achieved a season record of 58-24-3.
Graham came to Vegas to be a poker pro
Graham told the Associated Press in an interview that he first arrived in Vegas ten years ago with aspirations of becoming a professional poker player. He managed to save up sufficient funds to purchase two entries into this year’s SuperContest.
During the last week of the game, he selected different sides for five games on his respective cards, hoping one would yield a monetary win. As it happened, the entry where he predicted the losing sides went 5-0, securing him the championship.
The 32-year-old is the most recent amateur to triumph in what used to be a competition largely controlled by professional bettors.
The competition mandates every participant, whether an individual or a team, to submit five selections every week of the NFL regular season. These selections should be based on the point spreads provided by Westgate.
The sports book requires the picks to be turned in. Thanks to the recent introduction of proxies in the contest, participants from all over the country can join, even if they are not physically present in Las Vegas.
This year’s SuperContest drew 1,854 entries
This year’s SuperContest saw a record-breaking 1,854 entries, marking the largest field in the contest’s history.
The SuperContest was initiated in the 1980s. A decade ago, it attracted 342 participants. The number of entries dramatically increased to over 500 in 2011, and the growth has continued in hundreds each year. In 2013, the SuperContest broke a record by exceeding 1,000 entries for the first time.
All the top 50 finishers received a payout this year. A 13-way tie near the bottom of the payouts led to 51 places being compensated.
The least amount of cash was valued at $2,985.05. Each of the top six finishers earned over one hundred thousand dollars.
Graham’s performance ranks highly historically
Graham’s record of 58 wins and three pushes is not the top performance in SuperContest history.
The 2014 team, including Justin Green and Andrew Leff, holds the honor of achieving a record of 64-20-1. This is the only team to exceed 60 correct predictions.
The performance ranking second best has recorded 59 correct picks. Graham is tied in third place with several others who have successfully predicted the outcomes of 58 games.
Graham hasn’t disclosed if he plans to continue making lattes or if he will use his winnings to resume playing poker or engage in sports betting on a more regular basis.
Image courtesy: Iryna Liveoak / Shutterstock.com
