2011 FFFC Trip Report
2011 FFFC Trip Report
FFFC 2011 is officially in the books. Recapping this past weekend in writing will be good practice for me, seeing as it was such a barreling adventure that I can hardly recount the events that took place. But if I had to sum it up, I guess I would go with: Jay-Z, Sierra Nevada, $200,000, and Good People. The good people we met out in Vegas really made the trip. Here’s our journey, to the best of my recollection:
Cal, Dan and I met up at McCarran Airport around 2 PM on Saturday and went straight for the Palazzo hotel, where FanDuel was putting all of the finalists and guests up for the weekend. For those of you who aren’t aware of the Palazzo, it’s a more luxurious addition to the Venetian, a top-of-the-line hotel on the Vegas Strip. The three of us checked into our two hotel suites, but we probably could’ve fit two entire spring break parties if necessary. The rooms were sick. Two beds, 3 TVs, full L-couch, and automated curtains on the windows.
After we settled in the rooms, we grabbed some food at the Lagasse Stadium. Lagasse Stadium is the Palazzo’s sports book/stadium/restaurant/man-cave-on-steroids. Lagasse is named for the famed Emeril Lagasse, so I splurged on a behemoth fried-egg and Canadian bacon burger. I ate too much. Alex ‘WaiverWire’ Zelvin swung by to join us for a bit. Cal, Dan and I then proceeded to put $30 to win $1,200 on a six game parlay, and took off to the ‘V-Bar’ at the Venetian for the FanDuel FFC Cocktail Party.
Welcome to Sierra Nevada
At the party, we got to business. Dan and I pounded a few Red Bulls and got the Podcast booth set up in the corner. This is where the never-ending downpour of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale began. For some reason, we could not shake this green-labeled beer for the duration of our trip. I’m not complaining.
Right as the podcast booth was set up, everyone started arriving, and the venue filled up quickly. Podcast Dan started doing his podcast thing! In eloquent fashion, right before kicking off the first interview with Chuck “HighRidgeHoosiers” Zoeller, Dan began podcast pt. 1 by mispronouncing my name. It’s on. From this date forward, I’m referring to him as Dan Bass in every article I write…that’s a “B” + an “ass”. Yea, deal with it Mr. Bass.
My girlfriend doesn’t usually read my articles , so I will tell you that the cocktail waitresses were looking beyond ridiculous by this point. Welcome to Vegas! We were only there an hour, but we were able to get interviews with seven of the twelve finalists. You can hear those in Part 1 and Part 2 of the FFFC Podcasts.
From there we headed to the Mirage for dinner, and it was incredible. FanDuel really outdid themselves by choosing Brazilian Steakhouse, Samba. We were served eight different varieties of meat on, essentially, sword-kabobs (see pic to right), along with salad prior, and dessert after. Bottles of red wine all night. Great meal.
Jigga, what? Jay-Z?!
Warrick from FanDuel had a great night at Tao planned. Bottle Service at Tao? Don’t mind if I do. But then the whole night Tom Griffiths, Founder of FanDuel (and Valley Girl extraordinaire) kept telling me Jay-Z was going to be there with Kanye West and Rihanna. I thought there was a better chance that Tim Tebow lost a football game.
Then we got there. I was wrong. The line to get in the club was unreal. Probably 300+ people swarming the mall-area entrance. There were a plethora of lines. I didn’t know which to wait in. There seemed to be three main waiting routes: VIP, KIP (kind of important person), and NIP (the area we would normally wait in, if FanDuel were not there). Somehow FanDuel escorted us towards the more VIP of lines. I still don’t know how we were able to get the first wave of our group in with an initial ratio of 9 guys to 1 girls (poor Lesley…) to one of the top clubs in Vegas, while Jay-S was performing. After the first 9 of us got in, we had to bring the remaining finalists and guests into TAO in clusters, even though FanDuel had the booth reserved. Eventually most everyone got in. It was a crazy night, though as Dan mentioned, telling people you were there for fantasy football didn’t exactly kill it with the ladies when one of the best rap artists of all time was present.
Some stayed to watch Jay-Z perform a few songs on the small, Tao stage. Cal, Dan and I couldn’t get remotely close to the stage, so we decided to take off and do our best Swingers impression, and hit the Casino. Dan would probably like for me to skip this next part, and I might have, had Mr. Bass pronounced my name correctly on Podcast Pt. 1. :) Long story, short: Dan lost his butt on blackjack. It was painful to watch as he shoved his remaining green, $25 chips all in and the dealer banged out a 21.
But wait! Dan did his best Tebow impression, and came back strong in the 4th quarter. As Cal and I stumbled back from grabbing breakfast hungover the next morning, we glanced over at the exact same blackjack table Dan lost at the night before, circa 8:30 AM the next morning. What do you know!? Dan B. was at it again! You gotta admire the determination. He wound up winning most of his money back that morning. Impressive. Then it was off to the FFFC!
$150,000 and Good People
Oh, Legasse Stadium Luxury Box, I love you. The setup that FanDuel secured was incredible. Buffet to the left. Buffet to the right. 100” flastscreen highlighting the main viewing area, and the secondary viewing areas were the size of my car. Free food, and you guessed it, free Sierra Nevada!!! I did my best to not leave the Box during the 1st and 2nd rounds of games. I can’t say enough about how awesome the setup FanDuel picked was.
Speaking of the FanDuel staff, they were just awesome. I really enjoyed meeting all of them. They were all friendly, and you could tell they enjoyed being out there as much as everyone else. I can’t say enough about CEO of FanDuel, Nigel Eccles, and his wife and Marketing Director of FanDuel, Lesley Eccles. They were around all day, were very approachable, and you could just tell they loved being out there! RotoGrinders was even luck enough to snag an interview with the executive couple.
It was also awesome meeting WaiverWire, Tom, Warrick, Ken, Rob, Chris and Geoff (sorry if I left anyone off!) I can tell you that these guys really care about what they’re doing. They loved just talking about the game, and what the future holds.
Meet the Finalists
Meeting the finalists was equally as awesome. I can’t say enough about how cool everyone was, and how fun it was hanging out with these guys as they sweat their lineups. I got to meet and spend time with pretty much all of them. Here’s a quick rundown:
Week 1 winner: Joshua Ecker – Josh and his boy Mike were awesome. Haha, their NY accents were great. Apparently everyone thought Josh was 23, but he’s in fact 30 and married. This guy made some sick calls with the ‘Skins WRs, but pulled Moss out last minute.
Week 2 winner: Aaron Goldsmith Aaron Goldsmith was an awesome an admirable dude. He and his wife just seemed like really great people. It was also awesome hearing he and Dan talk – it was like battle of the best radio voice. The most laid-back of convo’s with those two sounded uber-intense.
Week 3 winner: William Whitlock – Well, I’m not sure where Whits got the 23 from, b/c it’s definitely not his age :) I showed up at the end of Whits’ interview, so I didn’t get to hang with the legend as much as Cal and Dan did. After the interview it was a, to-be-expected, game of Where’s Whits at? I heard that questioned uttered more than any other throughout the day. Whits! Congrats on 3rd straight FD final. Keep making RG proud. We’re having a beer together at the next final though.
Week 4 winner: Don Plugge – At first, I thought RG Member PlugDog,was a bouncer for the Legasse, or maybe he actually played in the NFL. He’s a big dude. The week 4 winner, Sherrif Plugge, took 4th place for more than 4 figures :) I got to chat w/ him after the event, and he seemed like an awesome guy.
Week 5 winner: Chuck Zoeller – Chuck was the first finalist I met in Vegas, and got to spend dinner with he and his brother. You couldn’t meet a nicer guy. Chuck was way too laid back about the entire event throughout, and had the best attitude you could possibly have. Oh, he’s now a RotoGrinder member too! Welcome HighRidgeHoosier!
Week 6 winner: Ryan Tien – Kiet claimed a private corner of the room from start-to-finish of the FFFC, so I never had a chance to say “what up?” His lineup came down to the wire though, and I kind of wished I was hanging out with his group towards the end.
Week 7 winner: Raymond Reper – Argh. I really wish the RayRay did better. Loved the kid (he’s 30), and everyone he brought with him. They were all really cool throughout the event, but it was tough to have fun with his lineup taking the beating it did. He’ll be back on the scene in full force for 2012, I’m sure.
Week 8 winner: Jesper Madsen – Jesper made my trip. Guy was pure entertainment. He called his friends with him his “Euro Posse”, and they would regularly perform chants I’ve never heard before. Jesper was really charismatic, dominated the Tao dance floor, and he also has one of the best statistical fantasy minds on the planet. The guy knows how to analyze fantasy via stats.
Week 9 winner: Kyle Koch – Speaking of a great fantasy mind, watch out for JackAndSoda! This guy understands how to win GPPs on a high-level. Not only was he drinking Jack and Soda the whole time, but I had some great strategy convos with JnS. He’ll be in another final event (already made DFBC and FFFC)…Maker’s Mark my words.
Week 10 winner: Charles Bell – Oh Spawns65. If only you knew the pain you caused me during Week 10 of the FFFC this season! I received a slew of text messages after the 1st half of Monday Night Football with the Packers vs. the Vikings. Most said “you’re going to Vegas!”, “You’re the favorite!”, or “hollllllddddd…” – After meeting Charles Bell, I couldn’t have missed out to a better guy! Man, it was a pleasure watching the final games with Charles. He and his brother were so genuine and respectable throughout, whether they were in 1st place, or losing. I hung out with Charles for most of the 2nd half of the 4:00 EST games, and documented a lot of what he had to say in the 2011 FFFC Coverage.
Week 11 winner: Maura Wilder – Maura is a great story. Not only is she the first female finalist in Daily Fantasy history, but she finished 3rd for $15,000! Her husband doesn’t play that seriously, and only one of her four sons does. This lady showed the guys what was up!
Week 12 winner: Chris Prince – Drumroll please….
- 2010 FFFC Finalist
- 2011 FFFC Finalist
- #5 Ranked: Overall Grinder
- Almost $200,000 in Winnings
Is anyone surprised!? CONGRATS Beermakers fan, and Papa Beer! You guys deserved the win, and as Charles “Spawns65” Bell said: “He’s a pro.”
Congrats on the baby girl arriving Tuesday afternoon! And congrats on being the 2011 FFFC Champ, and taking home $75,000!
FanDuel Live Events – 2012
OK, so, who wants to go next year? Yea, we’re in too. There is no confirmation yet, but all signs are pointing to two awesome events for 2012:
1) A live DFBC Final
2) Am estimated minimum of $500k gtd. for the FFFC Prizepool in 2012….yes, there is a chance it could be larger, but nothing is confirmed.
THANK YOU FanDuel, for an awesome weekend, and for putting on an awesome event!
If you’d like to know how the parlay went, let us know in the comments below! And click here for a recap of the 2011 FFFC Live Coverage
Cameron MacMillan
RotoGrinders.com Fantasy Content Manager