RotoGrinders Member GSOTW Wins PGA Championship DraftKings Millionaire Maker
With Tiger Woods once again lurking on Sunday at a major, last weekend’s PGA Championship at Bellerive Country Club was thrilling for all golf fans. Ultimately, Brooks Koepka outlasted the field and lifted the Wanamaker Trophy.
With all of this unfolding on live TV, RotoGrinders member Justin Eshbaugh (GSOTW) was in the midst of a Million Dollar sweat in DraftKings’ Millionare Maker tournament. When the dust settled, he managed to hold onto first place with his ONE AND ONLY LINEUP and was kind enough to discuss the whole experience with us.
RotoGrinders: First off, congrats on the life-changing win! Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? Where are you from? What do you do for a living?
Justin Eshbaugh: I’m from a small town in Western Pennsylvania. I’m currently in retail management but I don’t think I will be for long now that I have some options to explore.
RotoGrinders: How long have you been playing DFS and what got you into it?
Justin Eshbaugh: I believe I started sometime in 2015, but I definitely have not been a steady player. I think I got sucked in by a commercial during NFL season seeing a chance to win a million dollars.
RotoGrinders: How were your DFS results prior to last week’s huge win?
Justin Eshbaugh: There was a time that I was a profitable grinder, but never had the means to play anything more than $20-30 per night. There was a stretch where I turned a $50 deposit into $3500 in about a month but then got sucked into some big time tournaments and lost out on the rest of the season to break even.
RotoGrinders: You’re a RotoGrinders member – can you tell us how you use RG to help you with DFS? Did anything in particular help you last weekend?
Justin Eshbaugh: I am a member, however I hadn’t been playing much this year, just here and there. I mostly like playing smaller slates for MLB and play a heavier volume during NFL and NBA season.
RotoGrinders: What does your typical DFS week look like (i.e. game selection, level of volume, etc.)?
Justin Eshbaugh: Up until this point, I basically only entered the smaller buy in tourneys that had a chance to win a big prize, or small double ups. This year in particular I had barely played any MLB and only some NBA. I usually only play PGA during the majors.
RotoGrinders: Tell us about your lineup. How many lineups did you enter? Do you make a point to be over/underweight on any particular players?
Justin Eshbaugh: This is the part that might upset some of the sharks… I entered one lineup. I read a blurb from the official DraftkKngs account on twitter that this course would be good for bombers. I knew three players that were going to be in my lineup no matter what. Finau, Koepka, and Tiger. Then Pieters, Berger, and Woodland were just the three guys that can crush the ball that happened to fit in price wise as well. I made the lineup in about 10 minutes and almost didn’t enter it because I’ve never even cashed PGA before.
RotoGrinders: When did you realize you had a shot at the million? Tell us a bit about that Sunday sweat!
Justin Eshbaugh: I knew I had a chance when I was in first place on round 3. I had been jokingly saying since Friday night that if Finau made the cut I was going to win a million. However on Sunday night, I actually had to work. I had a cousin that was watching and keeping me updated on who was making moves. He’s a bit of a Justin Thomas fan, and told me as he made the turn I wasn’t going to win because JT was going to win the tournament. Then I had time to check my phone just as Scott and Koepka were getting to 18. I texted him that I needed a bogey from Scott, didn’t tell him what was on the line. I went back to work for a bit and decided I had to know… first thing I see on my phone in my office is a text that says “bogey buddy”. I checked my DK app, and sure enough, I had $1,000,000 in my live winnings.
RotoGrinders: When you realized you had won, what were your initial thoughts? Where were you and who did you celebrate with?
Justin Eshbaugh: I had a coworker who knew what I was sweating, and he knew I was going to check my phone, and when I came back out all I could do was sheepishly grin, and give him a thumbs up. I took my break and called my dad, girlfriend and sister to let them know what had happened.
RotoGrinders: So you’re a millionaire now. Any extravagant purchases in the near future?
Justin Eshbaugh: Nothing yet. I bought a new laptop to try to take my DFS play up a notch. But no big splurges planned. I guess I’m boring.
RotoGrinders: What does your family think about DFS?
Justin Eshbaugh: They have a fundamental misunderstanding other than the cousins that play fantasy football. A lot of them have seemed to think I won a bet, and I don’t really have the patience to try to correct and explain the differences.
What an amazing story and an awesome ending for one of our members. Congrats, Justin!