Yahoo Sports 
Starbucks barista, soybean farmer each win six figures in NFL handicapping contest
The Westgate Las Vegas SuperContest is an NFL handicapping contest that began in the late 1980s for elite professional handicappers, the sharpest of the sharps, to see who can pick NFL games best in a head-to-head format. In recent years, the contest has opened to regular Joes to compete — and this year’s winners prove that the non-pros can do just fine, thank you very much.
Of the 1,853 entries SuperContest — nearly $1,500 to get in — the two finishing at the top were far from your average football bettor. First-place winner Damon Graham, 32, is a Starbucks barista who works just off the strip. His winnings: a cool $895,481. Second place might have been even more unlikely: Mark Jorstad, a soybean-and-corn farmer from Morris, Illinois, which is about 60 miles southwest of Chicago.
So what are the secrets to their success?
In between brewing lattes, Graham dabbles in sports betting on the side. His two final entries were actually beautifully hedged — he picked opposite on every game for each, with hopes for giving himself a better chance to win. Smart move, and lucky, too, as his card with all of the opposites from what he thought were the winning picks ended up coming through. How about that?
Jorstad, who took home $360,000 for second, said he made many picks after listening to sports radio while harvesting crops. And, no, he isn’t planning a career change after his massive payout. “I’m just a farmer, there’s no professional in me,” Jorstad said. “This is like somebody walked across the street and got hit by lightning.”
So whether you’re a coffee maker or a farmer — or even a goldfish — yes, you too can win money in this elite tournament. But just make sure you don’t go around bragging about your winnings within earshot of the pros who do it weekly for a living. They might not like that too much.
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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!
