Rise & Grind: Thursday, February 26th

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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.

In Case You Missed It

Survive the Madness Returns – March Madness begins exactly three weeks from today. Whether you are a regular CBB Grinder, or just someone who dabbles, FanDuel has an exciting announcement. FanDuel’s “Survive the Madness” tournament will return this year with $250K in prizes. including $40K to first. The tournament is a survivor series that will run each day during the opening two rounds. It begins with 2870 entrants on March 19th. Of those entrants, 1200 will advance to the second round on March 20th. For the prize structure and full details, visit pcfriarsfan’s forum thread and let him know if you have any questions. Also, there is a special Grinders only freeroll at that link, which will be awarding three tickets.

DraftKings Big Announcement – Speaking of big announcements, a few days ago DraftKings teased something big coming today. This of course lead to some speculation what it could possibly be. I’m told by people who know that the announcement will be made shortly, and we will have full coverage here at RotoGrinders. I will update this column with a link once the announcement is made.

Sam Hinkie Would be Proud – In recent years, Sam Hinkie, the 76ers General Manager, has become notorious for employing a strategy known as tanking. Hinkie’s strategy involves the idea of trading away players for future picks or assets, while also fielding a less than competitive team. The idea is that the 76ers can gain a high draft pick, and hopefully draft an impact player. Here at the Rise and Grind, we have always wondered when this tactic would spread to college and high school basketball. Imagine my surprise when I read this article about two girls’ basketball teams who both tried to lose in order to avoid an unfavorable playoff matchup. You have to read the article. At one point, the ref had to stop the game when one of the girls tried to score on purpose, for the other team. Now that is what I call tanking. Your move, 76ers.

Big Winners – While he isn’t a Grinder, I thought I would mention anyways that Niko Bellic (Nikobellic99) took down the FanDuel Slam last night. I know what you are thinking. Niko Bellic sounds familiar. Where do I know that name from? No need to Google it, I got you. Niko Bellic was the main character in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV. It is good to see that guy finally doing something worthwhile, instead of running around stealing cars and getting in police chases. Several other Grinders had nice finishes as well, but none of them have their own video game. Among them was mattness taking second in the Super Baller, while pmsimkins and bcalicore took third and fourth respectively. Over on DraftKings, Ganondorf continued his incredible NBA run by punching his ticket to Vegas in the $1000 qualifier. Ganondorf has now qualified for every live final offered in NBA. He has to be the clear frontrunner for 2015 Tourney Player of the Year. For the rest of last night’s tournament links, check the forum thread.

On the Menu

NBA Tonight – It’s Thursday! You know what that means right? Short slate NBA is here. Tonight our options will be limited to only players from Golden State versus Cleveland and Oklahoma City versus Phoenix. Notorious has his First Look posted already. You may want to take a look and then look elsewhere. Unless some value opens up, making a team will be very difficult in NBA tonight. With only two games, there will not be an NBA GrindersLive show, but the usual written offerings will be available. Check back later for the NBA Starting Five and the NBA Grind Down. If it is narratives you seek, I apologize, since there are none. Steve Blake has a birthday, but he doesn’t play tonight. On the revenge front, there are also no obvious candidates. This clearly means we should focus our efforts on CBB and NHL.

CBB Tonight – With nine games on the schedule, CBB offers a right-sized slate for the CBB newb. There are enough games to differentiate our teams without becoming overwhelming. FanDuel has over $30K in guaranteed prizes in the lobby as well as some Survive the Madness qualifiers. DraftKings also has $30K+ in guaranteed prizes as well as two March Mania qualifiers ($200 and $5) which are nearly full. Go ahead and reserve your entries now and check back later for Varncass’ CBB Grind Down and Expert Picks for incentives members.

NHL Tonight – The NHL also offers a right-sized slate with nine games on the schedule. If you haven’t tried DFS NHL, shame on you. It’s pretty easy to dive right in, and today will be a perfect opportunity. TheTonyM will be bringing you NHL Daily Plays and Pepsi7 will have GPP Plays and The Frozen Five. At 5:30 PM EST, Pepsi7 will also join dooger1234 on GrindersLive for the Daily Fantasy Faceoff. You will definitely want to use all this amazing content to win a GPP or qualifier tonight. DraftKings is running a WFHC qualifier and has an additional $50K in guaranteed tournaments available. FanDuel does not have a qualifier but is running over $70K on guaranteed tournaments. Don’t get frozen out of the action. Take your slapshot today.

With that Grinders, I bid you adieu for today. Be sure to check back all throughout the day for NBA, CBB, and NHL content as well as a special announcement. See you tomorrow!

About the Author

sethayates
Seth Yates (sethayates)

Seth Yates hails from Dayton, Ohio. Seth started playing DFS during the NBA Playoffs in 2012. Seth rose to stardom in 2014 when he won the NFL Preseason Bomb using picks he blogged about. When he isn’t playing DFS, Seth is a Financial Analyst for the Air Force. Even though paying taxes on DFS isn’t fun, Seth re-invests your taxes back into DFS for you.