Interview With 'Buffalo66' aka John Sullivan
Where the Buffalo Roam
Interview With ‘Buffalo66’ aka John Sullivan
To start things off at RotoGrinders, we decided: ‘What better than to interview someone that has been Grinding (in the most accurate meaning of the word) since the start of Daily Fantasy Sports?” That man is John ‘Buffalo66’ Sullivan.
John has been Grinding Daily Fantasy since 2006 when daily contests first surfaced online, making him one of the Godfathers of this young and emerging industry. John started playing full-time on sites that you’ve probably never heard of, because they no longer exist. More recently, you’ve probably seen his alias Buffalo66 constantly amidst the top of the FanDuel and Fantasy Sports Live leaderboards. Almost a year ago, John launched Daily Fantasy Projections , a subscription-based service site where he provides daily player rankings and private mentoring for all of his clients. We recently got a chance to chat with John. The bi-product was a must-read interview for any Daily Fantasy Grinder. Enjoy!
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You have been a full-time Daily Fantasy Player since 2006, which makes you a veteran, especially in such a new industry. How did you get started?
I originally started online gaming through full season fantasy games. Eventually I got into both online poker and blogging. I poked around the Internet and discovered Game Day Draft [operations now closed]. Some of my poker blogger friends were also involved in launching Fantasy Sports Live. So those two sites got me started in daily fantasy in late 2006 to mid 2007.
How has the industry evolved over the last few years?
The market has gotten crowded and I consider that a good thing. The web sites are much slicker looking and the interfaces are more user friendly. However, most sites are marketed specifically to newbies and the games are often formulated too simplistically. [Most of the sites utilize] little or no negative scoring, very soft salary caps, etc.
With the explosion of traditional fantasy games, there is also a bounty of informational resources online that didn’t exist 3 or more years ago.
What do you have envisioned for the future of Daily Fantasy?
The daily fantasy market has huge potential. It is the closest thing to legalized online sports betting we have in the United States. There are so many traditional fantasy players that have no idea the daily option even exists, and they will come around eventually.
What changes would you like to, or you think need to be implemented, either on a site-by-site level, or an industry standard level?
I would like to see sites develop a better variety of games and stakes. It would be nice to see players rewarded for their volume of play, similar to the Poker Stars VIP program or the Bet America Rebate Program .
You run a site called Daily Fantasy Projections, which is a subscription service tailored to ranking Daily Fantasy Sports Players. The rankings are created utilizing a computer model that simulates lineup performance several times, and then applies those results to the different scoring systems for each site. Is this a service you started out doing yourself, and then realized the market value for? How did Daily Fantasy Projections come about?
When I started playing contests on multiple sites, I soon realized that the different scoring systems really affected roster choice. Some sites place tremendous value on unique stats. I decided to come up with a formula to rank (project) players, so I could apply it to each site’s scoring system. My model uses at least three sources of data for each sport projected. Which stats are used and how they are weighted is basically the “secret recipe”. I’ve used this model with success in each sport projected. I decided to offer the projections on a subscription basis with the intention of supplementing my daily fantasy bankroll. I do want to say that there are daily players out there, specifically Kaiseroll13 & Headchopper, who have claimed my site was simply a copy & paste of Accuscore projections. Nothing could be further from the truth.
How can Daily Fantasy Projections help the average player? Do you have any success stories you’d like to share from any of your clients?
Daily Fantasy Projections will make any newbie instantly competitive. It will help the novice player identify the roster choices most likely to perform well TODAY. In addition I also provide 1-on-1 consulting to all subscribers via email. I’m moving the site to a new “a la carte” model shortly, which will allow players to buy the projections for specific sites, sports or seasons.
“Dr.” Pauly McGuire of Tao of Poker has given the site several positive endorsements over the last football season. Another one of my subscribers fared very well in the FSL Sunday football series. I think the fact that FSL launched their own projections shortly after I started my site speaks volumes. Imitation is a sincere form of flattery.
You also run, what is in my opinion, a highly entertaining blog called Buffalo Hold ‘EM. The blog draws its name from Texas Hold ‘Em poker. Can you discuss the blog’s name and your background in poker?
I started my first blog back in 2003 to chronicle my online poker exploits. I thought it was such an original idea. Little did I know there were HUNDREDS of other poker bloggers already going strong. I started out playing small entry Hold ‘Em tournaments, with some success, so I wanted to identify my blog with Hold ‘Em as well as my hometown of Buffalo, NY. Hence, Buffalo Hold ‘Em.
Over the years I have changed my poker habits towards the less popular games, mostly Stud 8 (Hi/Lo) and Omaha 8 (Hi/Lo). I just find the split pot games more entertaining. I’m still not sure where poker fits into my life right now. While I still enjoy playing, I have much more success with daily fantasy. As for the blog, I really consider it a personal blog, where I can write about whatever is on my mind.
What strategic similarities and differences have you noticed between the game of Poker and Daily Fantasy Sports?
Well, there is no bluffing in daily fantasy! In my experience, I’ve found ways to combat variance in fantasy that I still haven’t figured out in poker. Poker will always be more of a roller coaster ride for me.
On Buffalo Hold ‘Em you speak your mind on a variety of subjects. Recently there has been commotion surrounding your post which discussed Kaiseroll13 and his potential involvement with another account on FanDuel called ‘julielover’. Do you think multi-accounting is a current problem in Daily Fantasy?
[laughs] Oh man… you guys really want some page hits, don’t you? For the record, I never accused anyone of multi-accounting. I had a subscriber on Daily Fantasy Projections who played both users simultaneously on multiple occasions. On those occasions both [Kaiseroll13 and julielover] had the exact same rosters [competing in separate contests against my subscriber]. To put this in perspective, I have played over 13,000 real money daily fantasy contests, and have had a duplicate roster with an opponent exactly 5 times. So, this shouldn’t happen that often. With that being said, there has to be a motive to multi-account in the first place. Maybe nobody is giving you action. Maybe it is a way to double up your action on the weakest players.
How do you think this potential problem could or should be solved in the future?
You can solve it yourself by spreading your action out versus different opponents. But I think the leaderboards and the affiliate marketing programs are the biggest temptations for users to attempt multi-accounting.
In March of 2010, you described Kaiseroll13 as your: “nemesis-slash-frenemy.” Have you spoken with Kaiseroll since your latest post? Can you describe your relationship with him in more detail? And what are your thoughts on him as a Daily Fantasy Player?
We don’t really have any type of relationship and if I said anything mean or spiteful towards him, I need to apologize for it. We have never spoken in person. We used to play each other quite a bit on FSL back in the early days. It seems like we hardly ever matchup any more. He is a huge hoops player and I am a huge hockey player, so we miss each other often when those seasons run together. In the sports I know he plays regularly, baseball, football and hoops, he is as good as anyone out there in the daily format. Which is why it puzzles me he doesn’t play on more of the sites. I think Kaiseroll13 likes to have fun with the fantasy games and it seems like he is a good guy to have in the chat room. I really wish him the best.
You have an ongoing challenge that is open to anyone wanting to challenge you in Daily Fantasy. Can you tell us some more about the challenge and why you did it? Have you still received no challengers?
In poker, you can play something called mixed games. You sit down at the table and the games changes every orbit to a different variation. In fantasy, I became very frustrated that I couldn’t spread my action over the higher stakes because you had no guarantee of getting a repeat matchup. So I decided to offer the ‘Buffalo66 Challenge’: A series of daily fantasy contests spread out over several sports. It’s a mixed games version of daily fantasy. The original challenge was 10 contests each, in 5 different sports. Generally, I would rate my skills in the different sports from strongest to weakest as follows:
1. Hockey
2. Nascar
3. Football
4. Baseball
5. Basketball
6. Golf
However, playing an equal amount of contests in each sport, I think I’m as good as anyone out there. I figured that if anyone truly thought I was ‘easy-money’, a challenge would have rolled in by now. However, I have had zero takers in 2 years. I have posted the challenge twice on my blog , a poker forum, and a sports forum. Remember, I have offered this challenge at ANY stakes up to $213 per contest. So even a $5 version is on the table.
On Buffalo Hold ‘Em you regularly discuss your bankroll management. Why have you decided to currently avoid the highest stake contests? You also discuss that you would like to play as many opponents as possible, as opposed to playing all of your games against just one or two opponents. Can you tell our readers your reasoning behind this, and are there any situations where you would want to play all of your games in one day against just one opponent?
OK, here’s the free strategy lesson for today! You can thank me later for making everyone a better opponent…
To win Heads-Up contests long term, I think it’s best to use one roster, no variations. Your best guess to score points that day. If your best guess scores well, you will probably win most (if not all) of your contests, regardless of your opponent. However, if your roster scores poorly, you have probably put yourself in an all or nothing scenario by playing the same opponent, with a heavy emphasis on the nothing half of that situation. By playing all different opponents, there is a possibility your crappy score will still pull out [the win in] a few contests. I have actually won Heads Up contests on FSL with a negative total score! Simply stated, playing ten different opponents makes it difficult to win all 10 contests, but it also makes it difficult to lose all 10 contests. Basically, it’s a hedge against risk.
Regarding playing many games against the same opponent, I have not met an opponent so horrible I would risk hundreds of dollars against him in one day. Too many things could go wrong, such as ejection, injury, and game cancellation. It’s going to take an increase in player traffic in order for me to employ this strategy at the higher stakes.
While some ‘Grinders’ stick to only one site to play on, you seem to make an effort to play all of the sites out there. What is your favorite site to play on and or what is a feature that some of your favorite sites are utilizing that you think should be adapted industry-wide?
I like to “window shop” every site to see what they have to offer. Without question, FanDuel is leading the pack right now. I think their autodraft game has unique strategy elements and I would like to see that offered across all of the sites. While FanDuel is my current favorite, I’ll definitely play other sites just for hockey action, plus whatever else looks attractive.
What aspect of Daily Fantasy Sports do you think sites should focus on improving?
I don’t understand why everyone has an aversion to negative scoring in daily fantasy. A –1 for personal fouls in hoops is at the top of my list. What I like about negative scoring is that it gives you a chance to come back in a contest when you’re behind. Also, the more variables in the scoring, the more I feel my projections give me an edge.
Finally, we got wind that you are a Chicken Wing connoisseur. What restaurant has the best chicken wings and why?
I can’t eat nearly as many as I used to, but I still love a good chicken wing. A good wing doesn’t have to be jumbo, but it has to be both crispy and meaty – and not too hot so you can’t taste the chicken. If you ever come to Buffalo, The best places to eat out for wings are Duff’s (multiple locations) and Gabriel’s Gate (downtown). La Nova Pizzeria will also FedEx you very good wings anywhere in the country!
Now I’m hungry!