‘Seattle Paddle’ spanks field in Westgate SuperContest, wins $206K

After reading a story on a Seattle 9-year-old competing in the USA Mullet Championships, Kris Lundborg used the boy’s nickname as his alias in the Westgate SuperContest.

“He called himself the ‘Seattle Paddle,’ and he had a killer mullet. I thought that was kind of funny,” said Lundborg, 42. “My first thought was maybe I can take that name and my motto would be ‘to spank or be spanked.’”

Lundborg spanked the competition in the world’s longest-running NFL handicapping contest, finishing 58-27-5 against the spread (68.2 percent) to top a field of 1,301 entries and win the first-place prize of $206,220.

“I did some spanking this year, but I sweated it out the whole way,” he said. “I can’t believe I won the damn thing. I’m really excited about it. It’s a real blessing for me.”

Lundborg, a good-natured U.S. Navy veteran and aviation mechanic from Seattle, said he already has plans for the prize money.

“That money’s gone. I’m in the middle of a renovation of my house right now. I’ve got a leaky roof in Seattle,” he said. “It came right on time. The big guy is looking out for me.”

Lundborg had only one entry of his own and split another entry with a friend that didn’t place. He made a steady climb in the contest, from the top 65 after three weeks to the top 40 after six to tied for 10th after nine.

“I didn’t really have any bad weeks. I never did have a 1-4 or 0-5,” he said. “I had a couple 4-1 weeks and a few 5-0 weeks. I went 3-2 for the most part.”

Surprisingly, Lundborg didn’t place in any of the SuperContest’s 11 in-season contests.

He entered Week 18 with a one-point lead (one point for a win, half-point for a push) and went 3-2 ATS to win the SuperContest by 1½ points.

“I didn’t think I was going to get it. I pivoted from my strategy,” he said. “I told myself to stay away from the crappy teams, the bottom two or four teams, and I ended up backing the Panthers in Week 18.”

Carolina failed to cover as a 4½-point underdog in a 9-0 loss to Tampa Bay. But Lundborg had winners on the Giants, Titans and Bills to seal his victory in his first year in the contest.

“I’m really grateful for that,” he said. “I did the Circa a few times. I wanted to get into the SuperContest No. 1, because it’s always been there, and I think it’s a great value. A thousand bucks for 18 weeks of entertainment.

“It’s a lot of fun for me and I figured there would be less entrants than the Circa, and it worked out for me.”

Besides not backing bad teams, Lundborg employed his own unique strategy to pick winners.

“I didn’t really have time to nerd out and do my own power ratings, which I had done before,” he said. “I had this system that works some years. When I’m looking at the lines, I’m looking for what do the books want people to take.

“When I see certain key numbers like 2½ or 6½, that tells me books want you to take the favorite. Or if it’s 3½ or 7½, they want you to take the ‘dog. I’m on the other side of that.”

Lundborg, who is single with a longtime girlfriend, said he got into sports betting when he was in the Navy and always seems to win when he needs the money most.

“I’m just a lucky guy. I’ve been a lucky guy my whole life,” he said. “Things just went my way on a lot of games I was on. I was on the Jets six times, and they covered every time.”

Other SuperContest winners

Las Vegas residents Nolan Dalla (alias “NolanDalla3LVBS”) and Whitney Meggs (“Willy Balters”) tied for second place in the SuperContest at 58-30-2 ATS for $57,692.50 apiece.

Dalla, a former World Series of Poker media director, won a total of $190,180.35 in the SuperContest. He had two other entries that finished fifth and tied for sixth, and he won the in-season contests for Weeks 10-12 (13-2, $25,000) and Weeks 10-18 (33-11-1, $75,000).

Brian Seba of Hot Springs, Arkansas (“Riva Seba”), won the $5,000-entry, winner-take-all SuperContest Gold, going 57-30-3 ATS to top a field of 92 entries and claim the $460,000 prize.

Jason Chung of El Paso, Texas (“Jkwin”), won the $500-entry SuperContest Reboot, going 31-13-1 ATS in Weeks 10-18 to top a field of 166 entries and win $37,350.

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