Poker Players Pick Super Bowl Sides: Niners or Chiefs?
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The San Francisco 49ers are slim favorites over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII, but which team will hoist the Lombardi Trophy inside Allegiant Stadium at around 7 p.m. PT on Sunday? That is a question we'll let the poker community answer (and we'll give our pick at the end of the article).
Kansas City, the defending champions going for a third Super Bowl title in five seasons, is currently a 2-2.5-point underdog at most sportsbooks. Don't expect heavy movement on that line by kickoff at 3:30 p.m. Sunday.
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Who You Got?
Allen Kessler said he predicts the Chiefs will come out victorious, but he admits he's a bit confused why San Francisco is favored. He referred to the betting line as "fishy." But he isn't confident in Brock Purdy, and said the Niners second-year quarterback is "mediocre at best."
Purdy, the last player taken in the 2022 NFL Draft out of college football laughingstock Iowa State, finished the season fifth in passing yards and second in completion percentage. Until a late-season brutal performance, "Mr. Irrelevant" had been a leading MVP candidate.
Kessler isn't buying the hype, however, but he did shower Chiefs signal caller Patrick Mahomes, a two-time regular season and Super Bowl MVP, with praise.
At the Celebrity Poker Tour in Las Vegas on Thursday, Joey Ingram picked the Chiefs to win. His reasoning? "Taylor Swift, let's go." Fair enough, Papi.
One-million-follower poker vlogger Alexander Wolfgang Seibt also chimed in with his pick to click. The talented content creator said, "I'm going to go with the Niners just because one of my best friends is a 49ers fans."
During Thursday's Charity Series of Poker (CSOP) event, PokerNews asked 17-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth for his Super Bowl pick, and given he lives in California and has close ties to team ownership, it was no surprise to learn he likes the 49ers.
2006 WSOP Main Event champ Jamie Gold, who will be hosting a charity poker tournament on Saturday at the Leigh Steinberg Super Bowl party, isn't ready to give away his pick, but he did say he'll release it on Sunday before the game on his Telegram group.
PokerNews Picks a Winner
Kansas City, 11-6 in the regular season, is tough to beat in the playoffs, and much of that is due to the unflappable Mahomes, who led the Chiefs to a Super Bowl comeback victory in the fourth quarter over the 49ers four years ago. But this Chiefs team differs from in the past in that the defense drives the team arguably more so than the offense.
Will the Niners cover the 2.5 points? Or, is Kansas City just unbeatable this time of year?
San Francisco, a 12-5 regular season team, has star power all over the field on both sides of the ball. Many refer to Purdy as a "system quarterback," a somewhat insulting term that insinuates that player can only be successful in a specific system surrounded by talent galore. While it's true the Niners are stacked on offense with the best running back in the NFL (Christian McCaffrey) and one of the best receiving corps (Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel), Purdy has done more than just manage games.
So, who will win what should be an entertaining Super Bowl? Will the Niners cover the 2.5 points? Or, is Kansas City just unbeatable this time of year? We're going with the Chiefs, a team that has won six straight playoff games and is 14-3 in the postseason since 2018. It's tough to bet against Mahomes in a close game, and this one should be a nail-biter.
Close game throughout, but Mahomes drops the dagger, orchestrating a late touchdown scoring drive to ice the game and give the Kansas City Chiefs a 31-20 win.
