Granny’s Boy takes home $1.3M for Westgate SuperContest win

Thirteen always has been a lucky number for Granny’s Boy, the alias of the Westgate SuperContest winner who won a cool $1.3 million for finishing 58-22-5 (72.5 percent) against the spread in the country’s most prestigious NFL handicapping contest.

Granny’s Boy, whose name is Briceton Jamar Branch, took the lead over a record field of 2,748 entries this season heading into Week 13. That’s when he noticed the first four numbers of the first-place prize ($1,327,284) were almost identical to the address of his childhood home on 1326 NE Fremont St. in Portland, Oregon.

“After I took the lead, I spent a lot of time by myself, going on hikes and doing a lot of meditation trying to tap into my intuition,” he said. “I started to pay more attention to the first-place prize numbers, and they just started looking more familiar. I remembered my childhood address.

“The race was over after that. I knew nobody was going to catch me.”

The 39-year-old father and entrepreneur said his alias was in honor of the woman who raised him in Portland, where he still resides.

“That’s what I called my mother growing up,” he said. “All of her children called her Granny. I thought that would be catchy. She was a big part of my life.”

Each entry picks five games weekly ATS. A win is worth a point and a push a half point. Clinging to a 1.5-point lead heading into Week 16, Branch went 5-0 on Christmas Eve to extend his edge to 2.5 points over HowDoIPlay XX and 3.5 over Schematic Advantage.

Needing a 3-2 record to clinch the first $1 million payday in contest history, Branch hit his first play Sunday on the Lions, who easily covered as 6½-point favorites over the Packers in a 35-11 victory before Detroit coach Jim Caldwell was fired.

“I knew they were playing for their coach, and since it was their last home game of the season, I liked that strong,” Branch said.

When HowDoIPlay XX lost his early play on the Redskins, Branch needed only one win to capture the crown from his afternoon selections on the Bills (-2.5), Falcons (-3.5), Saints (-7) and Jaguars (+3).

“I had two must wins on the Bills and Falcons. Those were my strongs,” he said. “The Bills hadn’t been to the playoffs since 1999. That was a no-brainer. And Atlanta had to win at home.”

When the Falcons beat the Panthers 22-10 to clinch a playoff spot, Branch was a millionaire, winning the SuperContest in his first attempt.

A quick study, he went a sizzling 22-5-3 over the final six weeks. He kicked off the run with a 4-0-1 Week 12 to take the lead heading into lucky 13.

The runners-up also finished strong. Schematic Advantage (58-25-2) went 5-0 in Week 17, and HowDoIPlay XX (57-24-4) went 4-1 to tie for second place, earning $398,185 apiece.

Branch wanted to tie 2014 SuperContest winner CH Ballers (64-20-1) for the fewest losses in contest history. But he settled for matching the second-highest contest score (60.5 points) after missing out on a 5-0 when he switched out Tampa Bay for the Saints and Cincinnati for the Jaguars.

“I switched for two losers. That irritated me because I wanted to tie the record, but I’ll take the win,” he said. “I’ve just got to come back next year and win it.”

While he declined to divulge his handicapping strategy, Branch did share one secret to his success.

“You can’t second guess yourself,” he said. “You’ve got to go with your gut.”

In the inaugural $5,000-entry, winner-take-all SuperContest Gold, Stag Capital beat Midwest Square by a half point to win $470,000. Stag Capital (51-31-2, 52) and Midwest Square (49-31-5, 51.5) each went 4-1 in Week 17, with Stag clinching on his final play on Tampa Bay. Midwest’s only loss was on the Redskins.

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.