YoungKaiser740 Scores $50,000 in MidSummer Classic (Interview)
DraftKings recently completed one of the biggest one-day fantasy contests of all time in the $500,000 MidSummer Classic. After the dust settled, almost all of the talk was about Naapstermaan winning $125,000 and the controversy of him having 100 entries. Lost in the ruckus, was that another RotoGrinders member took home more than the average annual American salary for 2nd place ($50,000).
YoungKaiser740 rated himself just a “4 out of 10” prior to his score Friday, on a Grinder scale. Then his 2nd place finish catapulted him to 20th in the TPOY. ‘Kaiser’, not to be confused with the legendary Kaiseroll13, was kind enough to talk with us about the big win, and what it means for him moving forward. Here’s what he had to say:
YoungKaiser740 Discusses $50,000 2nd Place Score
Congrats! I know 2nd stings a little bit, especially when you were within 1 fantasy point, but $50,000 is a massive score! Is this your largest score to date?
Yes, it is by a long shot. Now I just hope to keep it up with more of the big tournaments coming up.
Have you told your friends or family about the big score yet? What did they say?
Yes I told them, but at first they didn’t believe me until I sent them the pictures. After they saw the pictures, everyone told me to keep up the good work and keep on winning.
You had 3 entries in the Midsummer Classic. Did you buy-in each entry or qualify for a ticket via a satellite?
I qualified for one and I bought in for the other 2. My total investment was 750 dollars. I would like to thank my little brother (bigjeffery32) for joining in with me and spotting me $200, because the entry he helped out with was the entry that got me second place.
What was your strategy heading into the event? How did you diversify your lineups?
I knew I had to be unique, because I knew every team was going to be stacked. I went with a 3 team strategy. I liked all of the left hand bats from Seattle and Philly, and I knew I had to find a punt position so I went with Brad Miller for 3100 and Johnny Gomes for 3200. After I did that I was able to put my lineup together the way I wanted it with Seattle, Philly, and Boston.
Is there anything with your lineups that you wish you did differently?
Yes, I wish I would have taken out Mike Napoli for Matt Wieters. I wish I would have also replaced [Anibal] Sanchez with [Chad] Gaudin. But other than that I loved the rest of my lineup and I felt good about it all day.
What was your research process for this event? How has RotoGrinders Daily Research section helped you out with your Daily Fantasy research?
The research was a week-long process. I did about 2 hours a day of research from Monday through Friday. I did not want to over think things so I just stuck with my gut instinct. I basically used RotoGrinders for everything. I used the Grind Down article every day. That helped me with 80 percent of my lineups. Also, Hitter Breakdown, MLB Daily Plays, the Pitcher Breakdown, the Podcast, MLB Lineups page, and my incentives page. RotoGrinders is my daily newspaper…without the cup of coffee.
How long have you been grinding Daily Fantasy, and what level player would you call yourself prior to this win?
I have been grinding for around 15 months now, and I think I’m a decent player trying to become a great player. This won’t happen overnight, so I’m just trying to take it one day at a time. Prior to that game I would rank myself 4 out of 10. After that night I would rank myself 5 out of 10, but I’m trying to move forward to become the best DFS player out there.
How do you expect your involvement in Daily Fantasy to change moving forward? Will we see you trying to qualify for more of the big live final events like FFFC or the Playboy Mansion events?
I will play in a little bit more of the bigger tournaments. I will be grinding out a lot of satellites to make it to the qualifiers. The FFFC, Playboy Mansion, and King Of The Diamond are the main ones I’m pushing for. I just heard Naap’s interview and he said he was putting a hundred lineups in the FFFC in the first week, so by all means I will be doing the same thing, lol.
I think that covers it! Is there anything else you’d like to say before we go?
I would like to give a shout out to everyone at RotoGrinders for putting their blood, sweat, and tears into research for all of the grinders. And I would also like to thank Beermakersfan, FantasyNomad, SocrDave, Al_Smizzle, and DB730 for giving us your picks and knowledge every day on The Happy Hour and Grinders Live. Thanks again for letting me have this interview.