2022 FanDuel WFBC Pre-Event Interview Series: John Breslin
This September, some of the best MLB DFS players will gather in Chicago to battle it out for their share of $2,000,000 in the 2022 edition of the FanDuel World Fantasy Baseball Championship.
The events take place September 8-11. Image credit: FanDuel
Ahead of what could be a life-changing day, we caught up with the three RotoGrinders analysts that have managed to qualify for the live final.
Last up is one of the most dominant DFS players in the industry: John Breslin, also known as squirrelpatrol.
Congrats on qualifying! For those that aren’t familiar with you, introduce yourself. Where are you from? Do you have a job outside of DFS?
Thank you! My “real” name is John Breslin, I currently live in Fairfax County, Virginia, and that’s where I was born too. I spent most of my career in software consulting, but left that career about 3.5 years ago when I started having major success in DFS. I’m actually starting my first full-time job since then in a couple of weeks with Better Collective, the parent company of RotoGrinders, and I’m thrilled to be working in the fantasy sports / sports betting industry full-time.
Outline what a typical day looks like for you.
In terms of DFS, unless I have content to deliver for that day, I usually start preparing for the slate pretty late, around 4pm ET. Before then I’m mostly just looking at previous day’s results, working on general data prep, and figuring out contest selection. Around 5pm I really start getting locked in for the slate, listening to GrindersLive if I’m in the car, reading the articles on RotoGrinders, and getting my lineups set.
Few DFS players have as much live final pedigree as squirrelpatrol
What first drew you to daily fantasy sports?
I always loved sports as a kid but being a fan of DC-area pro sports teams, I realized that if I wanted to experience any kind of winning, I’d have to take matters into my own hands. In some ways I probably owe the Washington Wizards a lot of credit for motivating my fantasy sports career.
When and how did you first start experiencing success in DFS?
I started playing DFS regularly in 2015, after a few years of winning money playing paid fantasy sports season-long “pro” leagues. It took me about six months of losing to realize that DFS was very different from season-long, and I started making my own basic projections for each sport which helped a lot. I qualified for my first live final in 2018 and ended up winning first place, and I haven’t looked back since.
How would you describe your approach to building lineups? Are you a single, multi or max entry player? Why?
I’ve generally specialized in max entering contests, even playing briefly during the time when you could enter up to 500 lineups in a single contest. I’m trying to focus more on single-entry and limited entry contests right now though (while continuing to max enter the biggest tournaments) as I think that’s an area of my DFS game where I can improve.
Go into more detail about your general DFS process. Do you rely on any content and/or tools?
I consume all of the RotoGrinders content that I can, but I’m also studying the contests themselves to see how ownership is trending in different kinds of contests and what lineup constructions are winning recent tournaments.
Qualifying for a live final is on the bucket list for many DFS players. Just how excited are you?
There have been some incredible experiences – FanDuel has had some top-notch musical guests and locations like Busta Rhymes and Flo-Rida on a yacht in Miami in different years, Ludacris in Puerto Rico at a beach resort, and Third Eye Blind at a small venue in New Orleans earlier this year. DraftKings had a baseball final where we took batting practice at Wrigley Field, and a basketball final where we went wine tasting north of San Francisco.
John pictured with his daughter at a previous event
Who are you taking with you to Chicago? Any special plans?
My wife has some family in Chicago, so I’ll be taking her and my daughter. My daughter is only six, so I really appreciate that FanDuel lets kids into their events. It’s actually great that we’ve got a bunch of RotoGrinders folks either attending the event or in the area, so we’ll all get together and it should be a good time.
How does your strategy change, if at all, in a live final?
There is no dramatic change, although I’ll generally take a look through each qualifying contest before the live final to get a sense of ownership and lineup construction for the winning lineup.
How have you approached having multiple seats in the past, and will your strategy change at all for this event?
I do enjoy having multiple seats for the live finals, particularly for baseball. I’ll probably spread out my ownership, especially for my hitters.
Are you able to actually enjoy the events or do nerves take over at all?
That’s a great question – in all honesty I get pretty nervous and have a hard time eating during the live final itself, which is always a shame because there will typically be a fantastic food selection.
What is the first thing you’d spend money on if you won the live final?
Qualifiers for the upcoming football live finals.
Which live final has been your favorite and why?
I have to go with my first live final, the 2018 FanDuel baseball final in San Diego, because I finished in first place. It was wild, I really thought I was just taking a baseball-themed vacation with a few of my friends and that it would be my only live final appearance ever, and I ended the night walking down the streets of San Diego with a giant check just trying to get back to the hotel.
John hauling around a giant winner’s check in downtown San Diego
What advice would you give to someone hoping to qualify one day?
Target the qualifiers I’m not playing in. No in all seriousness, it’s just a question of patience and balance with how much money you want to put into it. It took me over three years of playing DFS regularly and over a year past my first six-figure win before I won my first live final qualifier.
Sticking to the same theme, what tips would you give a newer player looking to improve their DFS game?
I think finding or making good projections, knowing enough about the sport to override those projections in an intelligent way, and knowing the appropriate way to let ownership impact your lineup selections for the contest you are entering are the best tips I can give. Also, be very good at Excel or some similar software.
What accomplishment(s) are you most proud of within the DFS space?
My biggest accomplishment was winning both first and second place at the FanDuel Basketball live final in 2021. I had never even imagined taking the top two spots of a live final with different lineups, and it will take a lot to top that night.
What do you love most about DFS?
It’s just an irresistible blend of sports, math, gambling, and competition, with the occasional live final party mixed in.
How do you handle the downswings and overall mental aspects of DFS?
That can be really draining, but I think having a supportive family helps a lot, and of course having a history of success is really important both mentally and financially.
What in particular do you enjoy about being an analyst?
I just love talking about and writing about sports, and my 12-year-old self would be very thrilled that I get paid money to do this.
Is there anything specifically you think could be done by operators to improve the overall DFS experience?
Just on the theme of live finals, I’m shocked that there is no place on the FanDuel or DraftKings sites (or any other site) where I can find the history of live final winners. These are aspirational contests that act partially as marketing events for the operators, I’m surprised there isn’t a “Hall of Fame” type page on their site that lists the previous winners.
How do you see the DFS ecosystem changing with the continued expansion of legalized sports betting?
It’s difficult to say what the future holds, but I think FanDuel and DraftKings have a major advantage over the other sports betting operators, particularly if they can use their marketing around DFS to their advantage. Most casual sports fans – the customers these sites want to target – don’t understand the differences between DFS and sports betting, but they would be more likely to give sports betting a solid try if they see some consistent winners promoted by the sites and fun sports-themed events they can attend, something they’re much less likely to see from the sports betting side of the house. The different tax rates are also something to pay attention to. In some jurisdictions I think DFS revenue is taxed at 15% but sports betting revenue is taxed at 50%. I firmly believe that if sports betting was legalized first, and then DFS came along years later as an idea that one of the sports betting operators had that they were able to negotiate a much lower tax on, the sites would be pumping all of their marketing dollars into promoting their new lower-taxed DFS game instead of infinite same-game parlay commercials.
Will John be able to win another FanDuel final?
What future goals do you have in DFS? Is there a specific target you haven’t fulfilled yet?
Three specific goals I have that I haven’t accomplished yet – I’d like to win a football live final, I’d like to win a DraftKings live final, and I’d like to win a solo million dollar prize. Just a few tiny aspirations I have for myself.
The floor is all yours. Any last tips, thank yous or shoutouts?
Just a thank you to my wife for all of her support through the years – it’s probably not easy being married to a DFS player, and also a thank you to RotoGrinders and Better Collective for letting me get more involved with DFS and sports in general – it’s been a great ride so far!
Thanks to John for taking the time to answer some questions. Best of luck in Chicago!
2022 FanDuel WFBC Interview Series: Kristi Metzger
2022 FanDuel WFBC Interview Series: TJ Zwarych