Super Bowl XLIV Predictions from the Poker Community

Playing poker and sports betting have long gone hand in hand. In virtually every casino, the poker room is adjacent to the sports book, allowing players to sweat their bets and their cards at the same time. With that in mind, Poker News Daily thought it was only fitting to seek out players’ opinions on who is going to win Super Bowl XLIV. Tomorrow’s bout pits the 14-2 Indianapolis Colts against the 13-3 New Orleans Saints. Like most of the rest of the world, the poker community is a sucker for a Cinderella story and is rooting for New Orleans, but when pressed to name who will win, most everyone is betting on the Colts.

Poker pro and “The Amazing Race” contestant Maria Ho is one of the players who hope the Saints can bring home a feel-good victory for the people living in New Orleans. In her most recent blog post, Ho admitted she didn’t have a strong rooting interest in either team, but if she had to pick one, she is siding with the Saints. She elaborated on her pick later on in her entry: “So I will have to give it to the Saints, because after spending time in New Orleans for the first time a few months ago, I really fell in love with that city and the spirit of the people there. So WHO DAT? WHO DAT? WHO DAT SAY DEY GONNA BEAT THEM SAINTS? Haha.”

One player who really doesn’t care who dey are is Dan “Wretchy” Martin. The online poker pro is a devout Colts fan and was spotted trumpeting his love for Peyton Manning and crew in the Off Topic section of the PocketFives online poker forum. While he didn’t have much to say, save for “Go Colts”, the capitalization and excessive use of the letter “s” to spell Colts indicates that the man means business.

Renowned sports bettor and ten-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Doyle Brunson decided to cover his bases when it came to betting on the Super Bowl. He stands to profit a tidy six-figure sum after placing a couple of high stakes prop bets on both the Colts and the Saints. He explained his situation in detail on his personal blog:
“This will be an enjoyable event this year as I made a 100k bet on picking the winner of the championship game. I took the Colts and my opponent took the Patriots. I think I’ll bet 50k on the Saints +4 1/2 and lock up a nice win. If Indy wins by 4 or less, I’ll win 150K. Nice position to be in huh?”

While Brunson, Martin and Ho are all geared up to watch the big game, one poker player was fairly disinterested in the whole endeavor. Poker News Daily spoke with online player Jon “IveGotToeJam” Wein about the Super Bowl and he had no input to offer on either team. “I couldn’t care less about professional football,” said Wein. “Talk to me in a month when March Madness for basketball begins.” So, while most players will be grinding on Sunday with at least one eye on the game, Wein will solely be focused on making yet another Sunday Million final table, adding to the two he’s already logged in the past three months.

Though he may be a Giants fan, Shaun Deeb also had some insight on the Super Bowl, siding with the Colts. When asked why he thinks the Colts will prevail Deeb summed things up as such: “Peyton Manning is very, very good at football.” On an unrelated note, Poker News Daily tracked Deeb down in the most unlikely of places to get his Super Bowl pick—a poker tournament table. Despite announcing his retirement from tournament poker not three months ago, Deeb couldn’t help but take part in the $20,000 Guarantee tournament at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino last night.

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Poker dictionary:

TAPPED [OUT] - Out of money. Can refer to a player running out of money in the course of a hand, thus still active for the main pot; or can refer to a player who has lost his bankroll and can no longer play.
FIRE - To make the first bet in a betting round. Used to emphasize that the player bet when a check was possible, showing strength.
ANTE - A small bet all players are required to make before a hand is dealt. Not all games have an ante. Related terms: BLIND, FORCED BET.
FILL - To draw a card that makes a five-card hand (straight, flush, full house, straight flush).
MAIN POT - The main pot, as related to one or more side pots, when there are one or more all-in player(s). The main pot is the one in which all active players participate.
BELLY BUSTER - An inside straight draw. Same as GUTSHOT.

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