From $60 to $60,000: A Hick On a Heater

If you play on DraftStreet, or follow the RotoGrinders Rankings, then you are well aware of the name HixvilleHunk. Around April 10th, 2011, Ryan H. made a $60 deposit on DraftStreet after playing his first Daily Fantasy Sports freeroll, and he hasn’t looked back since. Not only has the Elon college student not ever had to make another deposit, he has reeled in over $20,000 in profits on over $77,000 in winnings in just two months! If that weren’t enough, he’s set his goal at a $60,000 profit by the end of the MLB season; some of us set our sites on that for our annual salary. At that rate, he could probably forget about finishing college if he wanted to, but then again his job with the Burlington Royals, a Minor League ball club in North Carolina, might frown on that. The kid seems to have a really strong track record; he holds his High School’s record in baseball for career hits, he’s set to graduate with a dual major…early, and now he’s one of the biggest winners of 2011 in Daily Fantasy (Check our DraftStreet Review for top money winners on the site). In just 2 months, he’s rocketed to #8 in the RotoGrinders rankings, and he currently has twice as many points in the Monthly GLB than 2nd place. To put that in perspective, the remaining members of the Top 10 have 7-12 months of results counting towards their ranking and most are receiving a rankings bonus for their play on multiple sites and/or sports – HixvilleHunk plays 1 site, 1 sport, and has only been playing 2 months. Look out. I recently had the chance to speak with Ryan about his ridiculous run during MLB season. Here’s our conversation:

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First, tell our readers some more about you; you’ve only been around for a few months! Where are you from? What’s your involvement with sports? Who is the Hixville Hunk?

I’m a 21 year old student at Elon University. I played baseball and basketball in high school breaking the school records for hits in career, and for a season in baseball. I played as a four year starter for both sports and scored over 1,000 points in basketball. We lost in state championship in baseball my junior year. I decided not to play baseball in college, instead focused on finding a career with the hope of finally having time to relax for first time.

I’m a Mets, Jets, and Hornets fan, but in reality I’m a fan of whoever is going to make me some money. I just finished my Junior year at Elon (in North Carolina) and will be graduating in 3 and 1/2 years in December 2011. I’m majoring in both Sport and Event Management and Business Administration.

That’s it? I’m not impressed at all. OK, so what’s the story behind the name ‘Hixville Hunk’?

Haha, I grew up in Northern New Jersey, kind of out in the middle of nowhere but then went to school in more of an ‘urban’ environment, and so I was always dubbed a “hick” or something similar when playing sports with all my buddies. It was either Hixville Hunk or Mighty Mouse.

I didn’t know the Jersery Shore and Hicks could go in the same sentence. Interesting. So, you’ve only been playing since April, and you’re already in the Top 10 of the Rankings…wow. How did you get started playing and what’s your background in fantasy sports?

I had never heard of the daily fantasy sports concept until I saw the promo on Barstool one day and ended up doing a freeroll with one of my buddies on DraftStreet. I didn’t win, but I did end up being pretty close to the top the entire time and figured I should give it a try. So I put $60 bucks in an account and haven’t had to deposit again since. I’ve played fantasy sports since I was maybe 13-14, but I am completely new to daily fantasy sports. I think I’ve relied more on gambling, picking games background for the daily aspect than on the fantasy sports aspect.

Do you have a background in online poker or sports betting? What was your involvement?

As I said, I’m only 21 so it’s only been “legal” to gamble on sports for a few months. However, sports betting has played a large part in my life and I’ve also had my fair share of games in the online poker world. For now though, it’s simply sports. I’ve always been very good at making predictions and thinking ahead. I think it was 8th grade when Red Sox were down 3-0 and no joke told my friends and older brother to take them to win the series. My futures plays this year that aren’t looking too bad right now are D-Backs to win the World Series at 200-1 and Mariners to win the West at 30-1. You can track those throughout the season.

HixvilleHunks Winnings Profile on RotoGrinders.com

Word is, you’re killing it. Tell us about the tear you have been on. How much are you up?*

Close to $20,000.

Oh, that’s it? Yea, I’m still not impressed. I guess that’s decent for less than three months though. What type of contests do you prefer playing?

I prefer the 3-man games the best. I think they’re the most fun and you typically can rely on your whole team instead of having some of your guys cancel out.

Can you give our readers one basic strategy they may be overlooking?

PvB stats. If you don’t look at them, you’re just being lazy.

So, you’re calling me lazy? Fair enough. What is the most important thing you’ve learned about being a Daily Fantasy ‘grinder’ in the last three months?

The fact that daily fantasy sports really is an actual grind. As a player, you can’t get frustrated with one or two bad days and need to just stick with your strategy or whatever you think may work. I’ve been lucky to put together some solid days, weeks and hopefully can continue to be successful by relying on my strategy which is mostly instincts, gut and overall knowledge of sports.

You are registered for three sites, but it looks like you only play on DraftStreet. Give us your DraftStreet Review – What are your favorite aspects of the site?

I’ve tried out FD and DailyJoust for a freeroll but I think that Draftstreet is clearly the cream of the crop when it comes to these daily fantasy sites. They have great customer service and continue to try and find innovative ways to get players on the site and advance the overall product. I enjoy the option of being able to do the snake live drafts as well as the online poker style format that makes it easy to join games. Overall, the guys at Draftstreet seem to be down to earth, intelligent guys who are willing to make quick changes on the fly that some other sites don’t offer. They’re focused towards enhancing their product and aren’t going to be content until the site becomes very big. I hope as one of the “higher stakes” player to help them grow. On some sites, it seems like the big hogs take up all the games and my goal is just to get enough action but to let enough players play without having to beat me to win. The bigger the site gets, the easier this will be. DS has done everything necessary to keep me on their site and I don’t see myself having a reason to leave.

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Have you tried the new HR Derby contests? What do you think about them?

This is one of the innovative ideas I think DS offers and a lot of different options. The HR Derby contests seem like they will be a big hit but definitely going to need to figure out a strategy and formula before I begin to play these games for big money. They might be more for fun than for profit.

Well, if you ever blow your fantasy fortunes at the craps table, I think DraftStreet may hire you after reading this interview. All of your results are from one sport and one site, what can we expect once MLB season is over? Are you going to be the one to finally dethrone Kaiseroll13 from the top spot?

I’m not too familiar with Kaiser, nor too concerned about rankings but he knows where to find me if he wants a game: HixvilleHunk on Draftstreet. I guess to be the best you need to beat the best. Or something cliché like that. I’m a huge sports fan, not just MLB although I believe that’s where I’ll be most successful. Tough to top what I’ve been able to do in MLB I think no matter how much I think I know about NFL or NBA. I’ll be coming for him, that’s for sure.

You work for a Minor League ball club, that’s awesome! Give us some more details on your job. What team? What do you do that would make us jealous?

I work for the Burlington Royals, a minor league baseball team in North Carolina. To find out more about what I do, you’ll have to come check out a game. We start June 27th. As a college student, it’s just a stepping stone and I hope to be able to move up the rankings as quickly, in terms of minor league baseball and major league baseball, as I have on the daily fantasy scene.

Does your job help you out in Daily Fantasy at all?

Not particularly. In minor league baseball, we don’t have much control over what a team does from a personnel standpoint but rather a business prospective. The Royals farm system is great right now, and getting even better by just drafting Bubba Starling. If I’m able to make it on the major league baseball scene, I would probably have to end ties with daily fantasy sports…I don’t want to be the front office Pete Rose.

You may have seen our interview with a fellow-Grinder who also works for the Minors, SClement21. I’m putting you on the spot: Who is the better combined Daily Fantasy Grinder + Minor League Baseball employee, you or SClement21?

I’m not too familiar with SClement either but I’d have to give him the nod. He probably owns a better position for a team higher up than I do and I bet he’s been a grinder for a long time. As a grinder though, I think I might give him a run for his money.

Thanks for your time! Let’s leave off with some quick-hitting questions. Give us your…

Top fantasy SP, rest of 2011: Jon Lester

Top SP to target for your hitters, 2011: Nick Blackburn has always been a favorite of mine

Top minor leaguer to keep an eye on for value: For 2011, Dustin Ackley. For 2011 and beyond, Mike Trout is going to be a stud.

Top MLB draft pick: Jed Bradley at #15 will be the one everybody remembers in a loaded draft. Former Burlington Royal Wil Myers is going to excel as well with his move to the outfield.

How many HRs will Jose Bautista wind up with?: 43

What will your total $ winnings wind up at after MLB season?: Total winnings? 500k. Profit? 60k. We can dream… 60 bucks to 60k has been my goal this whole time. Don’t want to get greedy though just keeping hitting each target that I set.

Hixvillehunk's RotoGrinders.com Profile for Winnings to date

World Series: D-Backs over Tigers
NL East: Phils
NL Central: Brewers
NL West: D-Backs
WC: Marlins

AL East: Red Sox
AL Central: Tigers
AL West: Mariners
WC: Rays

Well, someone (<— This Guy) just placed 10 new futures bets…thanks for the time Ryan! Charlie Sheen would be proud of you. Keep it up.

Article Image Cameron MacMillan
RotoGrinders.com Fantasy Content Manager

About the Author

Cameron
Cameron MacMillan (Cameron)

Cameron MacMillan is an entrepreneur and angel investor, who co-founded RotoGrinders in 2010, alongside Cal Spears and Riley Bryant. Cameron operated as the COO, creating & implementing a multitude of business & content systems for the company over the course of 11 years, before Better Collective completed its acquisition of RG in 2021. In 2022, Cameron stepped back into an Advisory Role.