The DFS Report - August 22nd
On the first Monday of each month, beginning October 2nd, JMToWin will bring you a brief report on the world of DFS – with an update on our Consensus Value Rankings accuracy standings, a player interview, and assorted thoughts about the DFS action coming your way. This special, early edition of the DFS Report kicks off this series – with NFL action “just around the corner.”
A Total Eclipse Of Preparation
They were eclipse chasers. His words, not mine. He had everything mapped out already – including a complete understanding of where they would be able to catch the best view of this “amazing experience.”
This was in February. In Paris. When he heard I lived in Portland, Oregon, he launched into a five-minute oral essay on the wonder and beauty of the eclipse. His plane tickets were purchased; his hotel room was booked. Six months in advance, he knew exactly what he would be doing on August 21st.
I forgot all about this until a week and a half ago – when my wife asked me what we should do for the eclipse.
“The eclipse?”
“Yeah,” she said. “Remember? It’s passing right below Portland.”
For about an hour, we entertained the idea of driving to where the moon would block the sun completely. But after looking up information about traffic and realizing, Hey, I have a lot of work to do with NFL around the corner, we decided to instead just catch the 99% version of this celestial miracle from the roof of our apartment building.
On Thursday, I drove by Hollywood Vintage – a sprawling pink building in Northeast Portland that sells everything you probably don’t care to buy – and the sign on their marquee said, “WE HAVE ECLIPSE GLASSES!”
I chuckled. “Eclipse glasses.” Ha!
The next day, my brother-in-law texted to say he had called about 12 different stores, and every place was sold out of eclipse glasses already.
“Wait, what?” I said to my wife. “Eclipse glasses? This is really a thing?”
“Yeah. You’ll fry your eyes if you try to look at the eclipse without special glasses.”
“Oh.”
“We need special glasses.”
Need them or not, there was nothing we could do. It was too late for Amazon to deliver before the eclipse, and every place in the city was wiped clean. On Monday morning we went up to the roof and watched the world darken and turn cold. Weird shadows shimmered over the walls of the building. And while everyone else on the roof stared up at the sun with their silly-looking glasses, my wife and sister and brother-and-law and I stole quick glances at the sun, and felt our eyes burning, and whispered to one another that it was sort of lame that the sun didn’t really look covered at all.
Then, a woman took pity on us and asked if we wanted to borrow her eclipse glasses. We each took turns wearing the glasses and looking at the sun – and we each understood. The eclipse was not lame at all. We had just come entirely unprepared.
Getting Ready For NFL
“NFL is just around the corner!”
Given the 24-hour news cycle…and the National Football League’s desire to remain in some portion of our consciousness for all 24 of these hours, it seems that we start hearing that “NFL is just around the corner” way back in February. It’s funny, at that time. People aren’t really gearing up for a new football season already, are they?
And time passes – and we focus on other things; and that is perfectly okay. But today, you are driving past a sprawling pink building with a sign that says, WE HAVE ECLIPSE GLASSES! And it’s time for you to stop, and to find out exactly what those glasses are for – and to pick up a pair so you’ll be ready for the eclipse when it comes.
The NFL season kicks off in 16 days.
The first full Sunday of games is in 19 days.
This is the time to start getting ready for the NFL season – and to make sure you are ready to dominate when Week 1 rolls around.
Start reading Rotoworld every day – making sure you don’t miss a single blurb.
Start catching up on what beat writers are saying – for every team around the country.
Start digging into RotoAcademy courses and gearing up for the season.
And lock down your Premium subscription, in order to have access to all the incredible tools and content we are bringing you this season!
A Peek At The CVR Leaderboard
As subscribers are already well aware, one of the coolest things we bring you in RotoGrinders Premium is our Consensus Value Rankings – which enables us to get an immediate snapshot of what some of the top minds in the industry are thinking on each slate.
While we still have a month and a half to go in the MLB season, Dean78904 (if you want to get all technical) has made a mad dash to the top of the standings over the last few weeks. After topping the Consensus Value Rankings leaderboard last MLB season, he’ll be looking to hold off some stiff competition to stay at the top once again.
On the FanDuel side of things, BigT44 is barely behind Dean, while MLB mastermind CheeseIsGood rounds out the top three.
On DraftKings, CheeseIsGood sits in third place as well, while GPP Master STLCardinals84 sits about two centimeters behind Dean in second place.
We have a month and a half remaining to see how things play out – and you can keep an eye on the CVR leaderboards along the way.
5 Questions With BobbyFi
BobbyFi has had a legendary MLB season. This next weekend, he’ll be in Denver competing at the DraftKings live final, but before he took off for his shot at glory, I caught up with him to ask five questions – about MLB, NFL, and life as a DFS pro.
What was your most exciting moment (so far!) this baseball season?
Winning 100k was the most exciting moment, I guess. I had seven top three finishes this season in tournaments with 100k for first – usually playing two to four entries in those tournaments. So winning that one felt especially nice.
What NFL players are catching your eye as you gear up for the season?
I’m just getting into my research, but some players I really love who aren’t being drafted high enough in season-long or talked about enough for DFS are Michael Thomas, C.J. Prosise, Jameis Winston, Andrew Luck, Devante Parker, and Jack Doyle – just to name a few. On the other side of things, I feel people are too high on Rob Gronkowski and Jordy Nelson.
What does a day in the life of BobbyFi look like?
I get up early, do some research, then listen to the Morning Grind and Daily Fantasy Fix podcasts at the gym. After that I research for another half hour or so and build some shell lineups. I then do a video or write an article for RotoGrinders, and head to breakfast at around 10:30 or coach one of my students for an hour. Usually, I have at least one RG show in the early afternoon. Then it’s time for scripting and editing lineups until lock. After lock I usually have one more hour of coaching. I try to watch baseball at least two days a week (though I prefer watching basketball and football). If I’m not watching games, I usually go out with friends, go on a date – something like that. I also play basketball and baseball, but mostly on the weekends these days.
What is the most overlooked aspect of DFS preparation?
This will not be a popular take. But I think the most overlooked aspect for players who don’t max enter (most of us) is watching the sports and understanding them and the trends with your eyes, not just by the numbers. This is especially true for basketball and football. Top pros, even, don’t seem to spot many of these trends because they don’t realize watching the sports and paying attention to local broadcasts is extremely valuable in spotting things that the numbers may not give you.
What is the single best piece of advice you can pass along to DFS players looking to improve their game?
This is a tough one! I would say do your research and trust the RG team, but more importantly trust your instincts. We are here to help, but you have to filter in all of our opinions and make the best decision you can. Someone told me when I first started playing poker years ago to play my personality. It was life-changing at the moment for me, and I feel the same applies to DFS. If you are conservative, play cash games or small-field tournaments. If you are a risk taker (like myself) who embraces variance, play large-field tournaments and take your shots.
Thanks to BobbyFi for stepping in with this! You can catch Bobby’s NFL GPP course in RotoAcademy, and can hang out with Bobby, GNeiffer07, and myself each week this NFL season on The Absolutely Epic Early-Week Podcast!
In the meantime, get your eclipse glasses ready. NFL is almost here.