Rise & Grind: Thursday, April 16th
Welcome to the RotoGrinders cup o’morning joe. Start your day off right here, as we sort through yesterday’s happenings and take a peek at the upcoming DFS day.
Just For Kicks – With the NBA and NHL seasons now in the books, MLB DFS was looking forward to dominating the next few months as the only game in town. While that will continue to be the case on FanDuel, a forward-thinking site like DraftKings will have none of that. Having already added MMA and EPL/UCL Soccer, DraftKings went a step further by adding MLS Soccer. Things kickoff this Saturday with a $15,000 GPP. If you like the idea of more options, show your support by tossing an entry or two in. If this is successful, DK will add other sports like WNBA and Nascar. You never know.
More Championships – Haven’t had any luck qualifying for the PFBC on FanDuel? Can’t seem to get in the DFBCDTX either? Does the DFBCLV seem out of reach? Maybe you can qualify for the newly announced DFBCNYC. I may be making up the acronyms, but the events they represent are real. In addition to the Playboy Fantasy Championship and the Dallas regional final, FanDuel is now running a New York City final. The event will take place in New York City on May 30th. It boasts a $150,000 prize pool with $50,000 to first and every finalist claiming at least $4000. There are more details at this link. Based on past complaints, I’m guessing some are looking for a reason to complain about this event. Sure you could try the rake or prize pool angle but those complaints are pretty played out. Try this out instead. From the article, “Finalists receive a luxurious trip package to New York City – including premium tickets to the Mets-Marlins home game on May 29th with other finalists, courtesy of FanDuel – and a seat in the live final on May 30th.” Really? Not only must I attend the final in NYC, but now I have to go to a Mets/Marlins game? That’s just crossing the line FanDuel. See that wasn’t a bad complaint, but I’m sure someone else can do better.
All Good Things Must Come to an End – The journey known as regular season NBA, which we embarked on last November, has come to an end. It couldn’t have ended in a more fitting way last night. Just prior to lock, the “Injury Hokey Pokey” began. First you’re, then you’re out, then you’re back in again. In the game no one wanted to win, Miami squared off against Philadelphia. Coach Spolestra wouldn’t give us an injury report, but told us to “read between the lines.” Some DFSers were able to do that and derive Michael Beasley would become a top play. He didn’t disappoint, scoring 67.75 DraftKings points for only $3000 in salary. That’s 22x value fellas!
DraftKings Playoff Showcase – If you enjoyed value hunting last night, I apologize but it is over. NBA DFS will continue through the playoffs but teams generally try to win these games. That usually eliminates the late scratches and huge mismatches. If that sounds like something you are interested in, DraftKings has a huge contest for you. The Playoff Showcase Qualifier kicked off yesterday. You can compete for a seat in the final to compete against 29 other players for a top prize of $100,000. More details are available here. Also, congratulations to KaiBang and Makisupa, who punched their tickets last night in the first two qualifiers.
Winner! Winner! Chicken Dinner – Besides taking down the showcase qualifier above, Kaibang also took down the SharpShooter with a single bullet. Makisupa also used his same qualifier team to take down the Crossover. It seems like maybe those two had a deal, you take the low dollar GPPs I will get the higher ones. Makisupa also won the 3-Ball and All-Star. Other DK NBA winners included Tarhokie3 taking down the Turbo Crossover and tmschmelzer taking down the turbo Sharpshooter. In NHL fewfew also took down the DK Face-Off.
In DK MLB, GrindersLive host louiescards kicked the day off with a first and third finish in the early Payoff Pitch. Jumpahoo took down the early Perfect Game while bw5126 won the late Perfect Game and Gold Glove.
Over on FanDuel, it was an ehafner kind of night in NBA and mrhaha kind of night in MLB. Ehafner won 1-7 in the Slam, shared 1-26 in the Shot with bosskev622 (who also had a huge night), won the Monster, and took 1-2 in the rebound. Basically, almost every NBA GPP was won by ehafner, bosskev622 or scout326. In MLB, the aforementioned mrhaha went laughing all the way to the bank. He claimed 1-5 in the Slam, 1-2 in the Monster, 1st in the Slugger and 2-3 in the Line Drive. In the two live final qualifiers, mrtuttle05 won the Dallas seat, and massimo09 punched his ticket to the Playboy Mansion. For the rest of yesterday’s links, click here.
Dong Report – With plenty of high scores, you already know dongs were not in short supply yesterday. There were a total of 30 dongs hit yesterday which I believe is our new season high. Lucas Duda had the longest dong at 436 feet, while Luis Valbuena hit the shortest at 340 feet. The most generous pitchers were Williams, Buehrle, Haren, and Pomeranz, who each allowed two.
On the Menu
NHL Tonight – NBA playoffs do not start until Saturday, so today our choices are NHL or MLB. Since neither sport is known for last minute scratches, you definitely have time to play both. The NHL contests include four playoff games between PIT/NYR, DET/TB, MIN/STL, and WPG/ANH.
MLB Today – With apologies to NHL, today is all about that base, bout that base, that base-ball. Also, I apologize for that stupid joke and getting a Meghan Trainor song stuck in your head this early in the morning. If you are about to click out of this article, I recommend heading to the MLB Grind Down next. Notorious’ pop culture references are much better than mine and the actual DFS advice is second to none. Once you soak up all the advice in the Grind Down, be sure to jump in these huge GPPs across the industry on both the early slate and late slate.
Be sure to check back throughout the rest of the day for even more MLB DFS advice. Once you’ve had your fill of advice, tune into GrindersLive starting at 3:30 PM EST for some light hearted laughs as our experts discuss tonight’s slate. You won’t be disappointed, and even if you are, it could be worse. You could win a trip to NYC to watch the Mets/Marlins. Who would want that?