Don't Play DFS...at least not with more than a couple of bucks. I've continued to play and I've discovered two reasons why I should stop (I've taken all my money out but $20).

1. The amount payed to the house is way to high at 20%
and new for 2016
2. It is nearly impossible to find actual players on the sites anymore. You are nearly always facing a computer.

Between the Legal Issue and the Playability issue, there is no room for the casual player. It's no longer a sucker bet, it's simply throwing your money away.

9.23.2015

LOL literally LOL on Draft Kings.

I signed up today for the free roll from a new DFS concept being trotted out by DraftKings.
And it maybe the craziest thing I have ever heard of...
And it maybe the craziest thing you've ever heard of...
But, there's something about it that piques my interest.


Draft Kings is allowing DFS bets on Esports.  The same type of competition that got Colin Cowherd in hot water talking about its stupidity, which led to his departure from ESPN.  It's a real competition with real money awarded for playing video games well.  It's crazy to be sure.  But, it's so serious they have even had a performance enhancing drug problem.  The drugs in question were Ritalin and Adderall.  And there's a million bucks on the line in the League of Legends World Championships.

The nuttiness didn't stop me from entering a tournament.  Any Free Roll, I'll toss a lineup out for, but a new sport means lots of players who don't know what they are doing.  And I'm not precluding myself from possibly being int that category.  I just understand the basic concepts of DFS Strategy as well or better than most and that gives me what I believe to be an a advantage.  But then again, what's the quote from Rounders, "If you can't spot the sucker at the table within the first half hour, then you're the sucker."  Well, we'll find out where I stand on the First of November.

The strategy for my lineup is the basic thing you take in any DFS contest: Pick the  players get you the most points for the money.  It turns out I'm leaning heavily on the 2nd Ranked team in Europe: H2K.  It's also a stacking concept consistent with baseball strategy.

Why do I think this is interesting?

It's not the nature of the game played that I care about.  The long term takeaway from this is the professionalization of an electronic hobby.  Draft Kings partnering with ESports is the first step public step toward the professionalizing of DFS.  DFS, if it is a skill game, should be treated with the same respect as Counter Strike, Halo, or Super Smash Brothers.  This is a bigger step than most anybody realizes.

The DFS Tournament doesn't let anyone know whether or not you a good at this hobby of ours.  Most of the winners are either really lucky or have played so many rosters they beat the odds.  Whatever skill must be demonstrated by playing League of Legends really well has to equally demonstrable in DFS Football or Baseball.  They just aren't doing it right, yet.

If this partnership with ESports goes the way I think it will, the way I hope it will, the way that does the most for the future of Daily Fantasy Sports, somewhere down the line you'll see a league of leagues with separate payouts governed by ESports.  In Poker, the winner of the tournament is the good player who gets the better cards.  The greatest players don't come in 1st in every tournament; but they place in the money with such regularity you know they know what they are doing. Win one DFS tournament, you're lucky, but place in 4 consecutive DFS tournaments with one roster per outing,then you know what you are doing. Maybe with a Day 3 cut like they have in the PGA.

DFS should figure out that this is what it needs for legitimacy.  This is what it needs for the long term success of the industry.  Draft Kings did something awfully right today in a manner that looks like a total joke.  It is no joke; it's tremendous visionary strategy.

Here is the LOL scoring on Draft Kings.  Make your jokes, Have your fun.

1 comment:

  1. Well, to be honest, why not include it? I mean, consider how huge the tournaments in Korea and as a whole in Asia are. This is at the moment their most popular sport. I am even wondering why they still don't have lineups/stats on popular websites like e.g. https://www.dailylineups.com/, but I think they should start including it soon, because there is a huge hype going on and a lot of potential fans.

    ReplyDelete

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