Interview With DB730 As He Wins Super Joust for Over $11,000

by Cameron MacMillan (Cameron) Last Updated 2015-03-12 17:34:55

Dan Back interviews an FFFC finalist for the RotoGrinders.com Daily Fantasy Fix Podcast live from Las Vegas" alt="Dan Back interviews an FFFC finalist for the RotoGrinders.com Daily Fantasy Fix Podcast live from Las Vegas" />

If you are a regular RotoGrinder reader, then you’ve likely already heard about Dan ‘DB730’ Back’s dominant finish in the 2011 DJ Super Joust finals during Week 16. Dan finished in four of the top six spots for $6,400 and two tickets to the Super Bowl (an est. $5,000 value)! Outside of the FFFC and DFBC, Dan’s Super Joust scores combined to be one of, if not the biggest single event scores in Daily Fantasy.

In case you didn’t already know, Dan has over 5 years of professional radio experience and is the host of the RotoGrinders Daily Fantasy Fix podcast. Prior to the event, he said he was going to bring whoever won onto the show for an interview. Well since that wound up being Dan we had co-founder of Daily Joust, Mike Matthys, guest host the podcast this morning to interview DB. You can catch the interview HERE (Note: Make sure to subscribe via iTunes and leave a review if you like the show.)

Once Dan’s lineups looked locked and loaded to take down the Super Joust, we thought it would be fun to interview him as he literally won the Super Joust. During the 2nd half of Monday Night Football I interviewed Dan on Skype and we discussed his strategy, and Dan gave us some commentary in the heat of the moment as he sweat the final two quarters of the event. Here’s what DB had to say:

Interview With Super Joust Winner Dan ‘db730’ Back

Me: Getting excited?

Dan: oh yeah. ready for it to be over

Me: So, you called that you would finish in the Top 5 on the podcast. You did that. Four times over. How confident were you heading in with your lineups this week?

Dan: I felt pretty good, but I definitely was switching them up even at the very last second. My strategy was to go with 5 different QB’s and mix and match a bunch of RB’s and WR’s that I liked.

Me: You had the maximum of 5 potential lineups. How hard was it to get the max number of entries? Did you have your sights set on getting 5 entries from the beginning of the promotion?

Dan: Definitely thought I had a good shot at getting 5 entries. I knew I had the top 50 badge entry as guarantee, and played a ton of college football games to try and get the monthly head to head entries. Then got lucky along the way to have a couple of tournament victories and high scores. Having the 5 entries was a huge advantage and gave me a lot of options when putting teams together.

Me: [During 3rd Quarter of MNF] What are you doing right now? As Monday Night Football winds down? Has this been a stressful contest to sweat?

Dan: I really felt good about winning 1st place but really want to win 2nd too because the money differential from 2nd to 3rd is pretty significant ($1000). I’m at my parents house in Alabama this week so it’s been fun to watch the games with them around.

Me: Speaking of the prize amounts, as we speak, you are in 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th place – If that stands, you’d wind up with $6,500 (of a total $10,000 awarded) PLUS 2 tickets to the Superbowl…I think they’ll need to call this the DB-Joust for next year…that’s insane. What’s the game plan for the trip to Indianapolis on February 5th? Any plans for the money?

Dan: I’m not sure about the Super Bowl. My wife will be 7 months pregnant so I’m doubting that she would be able to go. The money I could get in lieu of the tickets could go a long way to helping my family and the new baby out. It’s a tough decision because going to the Super Bowl is really a once in a lifetime opportunity, but maybe I’ll be lucky enough to go next year if Daily Joust runs this promotion again next year.

Me: I think you’re one of the more well-rounded grinders, but I might label you as a ‘college guy’ if I had to pick a specialty. Do you think that’s fair? How does this win change your outlook on playing NFL games vs. College?

Dan: To be honest, I’ve been pretty average at NFL throughout this season, but if there is a site I’ve done well on this year it’s Daily Joust. I’ve really felt pretty “locked in” with their salaries the past few weeks and feel like I’m one of the better players on their site, so I’m not totally shocked I had a good showing this week (hence the bold top 5 prediction on the podcast).

Me: Speaking of the Joust, the community loves you. The chat box is littered with congratulatory comments, and the Joust founders are going to be on [Today’s] podcast interviewing you. What’s the secret!? I think everyone is wonder if since they sponsor the podcast, do they give you a list of the best picks or something? Or are there aspects to DJoust that just help you show a better ROI on your DF games? Also, is there anything you want to say to the several dozen Joust users I’ve seen rooting you on in the chat box?

Dan: I can’t say thank you enough to Daily Joust for one……putting on a such a great promotion. They are still a pretty young site and to put together such a terrific incentive based tournament with an incredible prize pool is really impressive. This was probably the 2nd or 3rd biggest promotion in Daily Fantasy in 2011 and it speaks volumes about them as a company to pull the trigger and guarantee a great payout.

Also, their loyalty as podcast sponsor means so much to me and the Rotogrinders community. For them to see the value of Daily Podcast focusing on daily fantasy sports is awesome and I’m really glad such a first class operation was willing to take a chance on something that nobody had done up to that point in time.

As for the other other “jousters”. This tournament was filled with some of the toughest players in the industry and I have so much respect and admiration for a lot of the guys who I happened to beat on this particular weekend. Finishing 1st might take some skill, but no question I got a little luck to have 4 out of the top 5.

Me: Back to strategy. Jared Cook was huge for you. What’s was your read on him heading into Week 16?

Dan: Cook for the minimum was a no-brainer and this is two straight nice weeks for him. If he’s at 90K I’m not going to touch him, but for 36K like he was last week….sure. No problem

Me: Well, congrats again on the big win! Way to take one home for Team RG, and best of luck with the new baby on the way. Before you take-off, what can we expect in 2012 on the podcast, and should we expect to see ‘db730’ at the top of more daily fantasy leaderboards in the near future?

Dan: Still shocked I took this thing down. It was a great tournament, and congrats on everyone who cashed and congrats to Daily Joust for pulling off such a terrific promotion. Can’t wait to hopefully reapeat in 2013.

The one exciting thing about having such a good finish is that I’ll have a little bigger bankroll to play with this next year. Don’t expect me to playing in $250 head to heads vs. Beermakersfan, but I’ll definitely be able to play more than I did this past year and hopefully have an even better year. As for the podcast, I’m sure you can expect a lot of great interviews this next year and maybe people will start listening to some the picks and value plays a little more since I’ve got a big win under my belt.

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Congrats again DB on the big weekend! Way to make Team RG proud. Here were the final standings of the event, and you can see a list of all RG members who qualified for the Super Joust here.

Super Joust Final Standings

DB730’s Winning Super Joust Lineup