Surviving & Thriving: Interview With dpc374 Following $100K FanDuel DFS Win
From New York to Florida, Daniel Carroll (a.k.a. dpc374), had quite the journey while playing daily fantasy sports.
Carroll, a RotoGrinders member and seasoned DFS player, took home $100,000 in a FanDuel DFS tournament on Feb. 16.
Let’s find out more about dpc, his process and the sweat he had earlier this month.
Who is dpc374?
“I grew up in a small town that is 90 miles north of New York City called Pine Bush. My family’s roots are in Brooklyn. My father is a retired lieutenant from FDNY – Bronx. As a child, he visited Pine Bush for a summer with his family. After starting his own family, he decided to relocate the family from Brooklyn to Pine Bush, to give us a better quality of life.
My mother is a retired case worker for the Department of Social Services. My oldest brother is a retired Chief of Police in upstate New York, and my middle brother is an anesthetist in North Carolina. As for me, I graduated from Pine Bush High School. I continued on with my education and received a computer networking degree. I struggled to break through into the field. The degree ended up being a waste of time and money.
I originally wanted to get into carpentry, but my parents discouraged me, and were not very supportive of me to follow my dream. At this stage of my life, I would probably own my own construction business by now. I have tried different jobs over the years. I have worked retail, in law enforcement as a corrections officer, and as a manager. After working for 22 years, my body could not handle the physicality that I put it through. Oftentimes, doing the work of three people and not being compensated accordingly.”
Enter: Daily Fantasy Sports.
“I was in so much pain that I felt that I could not keep working. I felt that my life was going nowhere. I went to the doctor and they took scans and x-rays. The results came back that I had stenosis of the neck, and back, arthritis of the neck, back, hands, and knees as well as degenerative disc disease, Achilles’ tendonitis, and plantar fasciitis.
Also, I’m a cancer survivor. How am I supposed to survive financially? I am now physically disabled. Disability does not want to approve me and they do not pay enough to live on. The answer? DFS! That would be my way of making a living and surviving.
No boss, no interviews, nobody to tell you that you are not qualified enough or do not have enough experience. No more getting paid below what you’re worth. No longer being judged or discriminated against. No one being able to decide my destiny or hold me back.”
That’s an incredible story and journey. When did you start playing DFS?
“I got into DFS in 2015. I was playing season-long fantasy football for 4 years before that for free. I was winning 1st place year after year.
After seeing commercials for FanDuel and DraftKings, I decided to give it a try.
My love and knowledge for the NFL, NBA, and MLB made me feel that I was meant to do this. I tried hand building lineups based on projections, before I knew what an optimizer was. It was very time consuming. I am thankful that optimizers were built. Haha!”
Fun fact!
“My classmate that I graduated with, if you are familiar with MLB players, was closer Joe Nathan. He started out with the Giants and played with the Twins and Rangers. Thought I would share that little nugget.”
Tell us about your DFS path – the struggles or successes that you’ve had!
“My DFS path was not an easy one. When I started playing DFS, I lived in NY. The state wanted their cut of the money, so they halted DFS. This was giving me an income to help my family survive.
We made the decision to uproot the family and relocate to FL, and it does not hurt to have gorgeous weather.
DFS requires a lot of time and patience. The struggle is real. It is a learning process that never ends. Constant learning and evolving. When you think that you find a process that wins, you get on a winning streak and then the process stops working. You start second guessing yourself and try to change your process. I am always trying to tweak my process.
Looking for that consistency. The success that I have is due to the burning desire, drive, and determination. I used to steer away from the sharks in contests, and forgo playing them. However, I have been playing against them for the last two years.
The journey that catapulted me to this level happened in January 2020. I invested $114 into a $100k to 1st GPP contest on FanDuel. I was in 1st place, but Coby White had some turnovers at the end of the game, which dropped me into a second place finish of $20K.”
How long have you been a RotoGrinders premium member?
“I have been a member on and off over the years. Reading articles, using the tools available, listening to podcasts, and watching the live shows. It helps to confirm the players that I am on for my player pool.”
Tell us about your daily life, routines you take and approaches you utilize in terms of DFS.
“I generally spend about 6 hours a day from my start of research until the last game lineups are confirmed. I am routine oriented and detailed in all that I do. So, that translates well to DFS.”
Do you look/listen to others’ advice? If so, whose names are at the top of your list?
“When I am not feeling confident or trusting myself, I will look/listen to GrindersLive with Dean and the gang. Also, I listen to Carty during football season.
How many lineups/contests did you play during the night of your big win?
“I play all of the slates and I enter all of the major contests. I always max enter, because I feel that I am increasing my odds. Keeping other sharks or players from entering that possible lineup that could beat me in the contest.
Plus, I am diversifying myself by having more lineups that could be the winning lineup. For the big W, I entered 150 lineups with a $15 entry fee. I kind of groaned when I saw the entry fee because I tend to stay away from anything more than a $9 entry fee. I should play them more often!”
What did you think about your lineup builds heading into slate lock?
“I was actually unsure of how I felt. When I get a player that is chalk and I have a lot of exposure to him, it makes me uneasy. My instinct is to start tinkering with exposure. I never like to fully fade anybody because you just never know if a player crushes or has a career game. I think to take down a large GPP, you have to feel uncomfortable.”
Did you make any late swaps, or consider it? Is late swapping something you typically consider?
“Yes, I did make late swaps that night as starting lineups were confirmed. I do consider it often, but I do not like to overthink things.”
You had a low-owned play that paid off in a big way!
“Morant was questionable. The news came in that he was going to play. I cannot recall how much exposure I had to him. I think it was anywhere from 5% to 10% exposure. When his game locked, I was surprised to see that he was only 4.9% owned. Maybe people were worried about how well he would perform or that he would aggravate his injury further. He is such a stud.”
What was the sweat like toward the end of the night?
“This sweat was like no other that I have ever experienced before. Usually I am high up in winnings, to only get chased down and drop out of winning big money. This happened to me on February 3rd, when I was up big, winning 1st place ($100k) and 2nd place ($25k) with one game left to be played. I had no late-night hammers.
This time, I had a hammer in Nikola Jokic. I started to look at each DFS player’s lineup that was above me. A lot of people were finished with their games and nobody had Jokic ahead of me! We all know too well that Jokic is a beast and can put up monster games. I added the lineup with what I thought he would get and that he would help push me to the top. When the Nuggets Warriors game started, I had my eyes glued to the television.”
Once the final game ended, and you officially won, how did it feel?
“I felt elation and numbness. I could not believe it … I finally reached the pinnacle that every DFS player dreams of achieving. Like I stated, I have been doing DFS for 7 years. It has been a full time job. I have had my failures and my successes, but nothing tops this victory. For once in my life, I am a winner and nobody can ever take that away from me! The song Winner came into my head. I started playing it and singing. They sing, “You know, you’re looking at a winner!”
Any plans for the winnings?
“I took the family to see the Daytona 500. I have never been to a race. I wanted all of us to experience it at least once. I have had plenty of thoughts about the winnings. I have had the time to calm down and not be impulsive. Thinking about replacing my vehicles. I am going to wait things out and see how this year evolves. Try to increase my bankroll. ;)”
Congrats to Daniel, and thank you for sharing your incredible story!