Grinder Blog: Tales of a RotoGrinder
Tales of a RotoGrinder
Grinder Blog by Mike T.
So here I am on Christmas, writing my first blog ever. I just got finished watching the Knicks dispose of Derrick Rose and the Bulls. I don’t know much about basketball, but Rose certainly looks like one of the most dynamic players in the league. I also don’t know much about blogging…So if this is boring, verbose, or filled with erroneuos information, I apologize in advance. Oh, and if I use too many big words, I apologize for that as well. I sometimes like to use big words that make me seem more intelligent than I really am!
In any case, “Tales of a RotoGriner” will be dedicated to keeping you updated on what I am doing in daily fantasy leagues, the games I play, the picks I make, my wins and losses, and other fantasy related information. I may even include some strategic advice (although I am not sure if anyone wants that). I have been playing fantasy sports for years, but just recently discovered daily fantasy. Needless to say, I am addicted. I absolutely love the ability to have a new team every night, and with some luck, make a little money. Speaking of money, why did I take Nate Robinson as my X-mas day point guard?! He is killing me right now! Further proves my point that I know nothing about the NBA. But I am learning. Just this week I finished 4th in the NBA Slam contest. And that placing was needed badly, as my bankroll was diminishing by the day.
My “area of expertise” is baseball, but have had a fairly successful NFL season to date. With a fantasy junkie friend of mine, we put a system into place that as helped us make some NFL player selections. While it is far from full proof, it has produced a pretty decent profit. Similar to poker, daily fantasy combines luck, with knowledge. The knowledge comes from watching games, and doing the research. Like anything else, if you want to be good at it, you have to practice.
Speaking of practice, I just started playing daily NBA on Fanduel (my site of choice). There are some strong players, and I have donated some money early on, but it is the learning process that I feel I need to go through if I want to compete with the big boys. If you are thinking about playing the NBA leagues, I highly recommend it. It has been an enjoyable process introducing myself to the NBA players and the strategies that produce a winning team.
After a rough week in the NFL, my bankroll was down to about $40 bucks. I put all my eggs into the basket of Run DMC, and watched two if his potential scores get vultured by Michael Bush. I ended up losing just about every match for a total of roughly $500. It was that terrible week that led me into the world of the NBA. I lost a bit of confidence and thought I needed to take a step back from the NFL. With that, I entered my first NBA match. Now when I tell you that I knew nothing about the NBA, that is no hyperbole (exaggeration). I knew LeBron was on the Heat. I knew Amare was a Knick ( I live in NY). But that was the extent of it. I lost every match until that NBA Slam. And when I woke up in the morning to go work, I was shocked to see I finished 4th. I knew I had a shot because I had Blake Griffin and Kevin Love left to go with about 210 points. They ended up combining for 90 points and vaulted me to a 4th place finish. I was just happy to beat basketball experts ohmsy, hatorade, and rudzilla, but ended up cashing for $220. With that, my confidence in NBA was rising, and more importantly, my bankroll was back.
The bankroll as of this writing stands at $14. I dumped all of it back into the NFL this week (even though I was supposed to take a break) and have $30 of it locked up into the Xmas Day NBA special event. I started off strong with Rose, Amare, and Boozer (terribly undervalued) but am currently watching my team go down the drain with every Nate Robinson missed shot. I thought I made nice value picks with Kenyon Martin and Nate, but so far am missing badly. It seems that you need to find a value guy or two who perform well to compete in the NBA. The grinders with the NBA knowledge are surely enjoying a profitable holiday.
In order to build my bankroll back up, I went with a lot of low risk/high reward matches this week. I am in numerous $10 (5) player and (10) player leagues and am hoping to hit big with Drew Brees and Arian Foster. I went back and forth between Vick and Brees all week, and have both of them slotted as my QB. In the early games I went with Vick against a demoralized Vikings secondary…In the later games I went with Brees who is playing a huge game, in a dome, on national television, against a beatable secondary. Arian Foster was a no-brainer, facing the most porous run defense in the league (Broncos). I feel pretty confident with the research I did this week, although at this time of year, you never know. As long as I can stay out of leagues that GeneralV is in, I will be happy.
Ding-Dong…That is the sound of the doorbell, which means the in-laws are here. Time to turn off the laptop, turn off Nate Robinson, and turn on the charm. Future blogs will be focused on the games I play/played, strategies used, and the results.