Results Containment Post

Posting will continue to be light to non-existent this week, then I'm on vacation and without a computer. Until then, some results:

Tuesday results: 1 contest entered (10 player); 0 cashes (bubble); amount risked: $1.00; amount won: $0.00; net: ($1.00); ROI -100.0%

Monday results: 1 contest entered (10 player); 1 cash; amount risked: $1.00; amount won: $3.00; net: +$2.00; ROI +200.0%

I see that kaiseroll13 has increased his win total to over 3,000 and Randy has gone over 1,000. I've moved up to 29th on the leader board, but many or most of the players ahead of me are pretty active so I may not move up much more. The leader board doesn't mean much anyway, as it only tracks cashes, not net results.

Madness (Updated)

Still slacking in the posting department.

Sunday results: 1 contest entered (10 player); 0 cashes; amount risked: $1.00; amount won: $0.00; net: ($1.00); ROI -100.0%

Saturday results: 1 contest entered (10 player); 1 cash; amount risked: $1.00; amount won: $2.00; net: +$1.00; ROI +100.0%

Friday results: 1 contest entered (10 player); 1 cash; amount risked: $1.00; amount won: $5.00; net: +$4.00; ROI +400.0%

Thursday results: 1 contest entered (10 player); 0 cashes; amount risked: $1.00; amount won: $0.00; net: ($1.00); ROI -100.0%

***

I was idly curious this morning as to whether any sites out there were offering daily contests involving the NCAA basketball tournament, so I did a quick search and came across 365fantasysports.com. They appear to have a pretty broad selection of contests for this weekend's games and some traffic to fill them. I don't know anything about the site otherwise, so no recommendation either way.

***

You can add NASCAR to the list of things I've not been paying attention to lately - I checked in this morning for basketball and noticed that there were no NASCAR contests. It looks like qualifying was rained out, plus there is no Nationwide race this weekend, meaning that it's a wipeout for fantasy racing fans.

Whiffs

Just some (lousy) results. A couple more weeks and things should get back to normal.

Wednesday results: 2 contests entered (1 - 10 player, 1 - 6 player), 0 cashes; amount risked: $2.00; amount won: $0.00; net: ($2.00); ROI -100.0%

Tuesday results: 1 contest entered (10 player); 0 cashes; amount risked: $1.00; amount won: $0.00; net: ($1.00); ROI -100.0%

Monday results: 1 contest entered (10 player); 0 cashes; amount risked: $1.00; amount won: $0.00; net: ($1.00); ROI -100.0%

More Slacking

Update: Sunday results: DNP.

Saturday results: 1 contest entered (10 player); 1 cash; amount risked: $1.00; amount won: $2.00; net: +$1.00; ROI +100.0%

Sorry. Still very busy.

Dead last in both contests Thursday, but bounced back with a nice day yesterday when no dollar contest could be located.

Friday results: 2 contests entered (1 - 10 player, 0 - 6 player, 1 HU); 2 cashes; amount risked: $6.80; amount won: $12.00; net: +$5.20; ROI +76.5%

Thursday results: 2 contests entered (10 player); 0 cashes; amount risked: $2.00; amount won: $0.00; net: ($2.00); ROI -100.0%

Slacking

Busy busy busy. I've been taking a minute to enter a dollar contest or two, but no more.

Wednesday results: 1 contest entered (10 player); 1 cash; amount risked: $1.00; amount won: $3.00; net: +$2.00; ROI +200.0%

Tuesday results: 2 contests entered (1 - 10 player, 1 - 6 player, 0 HU); 0 cashes; amount risked: $2.00; amount won: $0.00; net: ($2.00); ROI -100.0%

Monday results: 2 contests entered (1 - 10 player, 1 - 6 player, 0 HU); 0 cashes; amount risked: $2.00; amount won: $0.00; net: ($2.00); ROI - 100.0%

Another Generic Results Post Etc

I probably wasn't going to cash on Sunday anyway, but the unexpected return of Beno Udrih (I'm weird, I kinda just like saying "Beno Udrih"), Devin Harris getting hurt and Stephen Jackson's ejection from the Woyas-Suns game pretty much ensured failure. Oh well. I will take solace in the fact that I didn't finish last.

Sunday results: 1 contest entered (10 player); 0 cashes; amount risked: $1.00; amount won: $0.00; net: ($1.00); ROI - 100.0%

Saturday results: 3 contests entered (10 player); 1 cash; amount risked: $3.00; amount won: $2.00; net: ($1.00); ROI -33.3%

I also suffered a narrow loss in my Saturday draftbug contest. I should mention that they have a $100 baseball freeroll up, so if you're not already playing there that might be a reason to sign up. You could also parlay your 4000 free points into a stake, I guess.

An Answer To An Unasked Why

Online daily fantasy sports contests >> online poker.

There, I said it. Judging from the amount of time I've been spending on each*, I came to that realization quite a while ago.

What it really boils down to is time. To play a poker tournament or sit n go requires an investment of time. If you're going to play a cash game, for optimal results you want to take the time to learn your opponents. Time is precious.

If you follow your game of choice, you can enter a contest at Fantasy Sports Live and pick your roster in about two minutes. Maybe less. If you want to spend prep time studying, you can, and then you can leverage what you've learned across multiple contests with almost no additional time required.

You can get hours of enjoyment as well if you wish - just follow along with live scoring or have a game on in the background or something. Unlike poker, though, you aren't required to pay attention.

It's all about time.

***

Speaking of time, I've spent even less than usual paying attention to the NBA. Despite that fact, it's been a pretty decent week. Considering the stakes anyway.

Friday results: 1 contest entered (10 player); 1 cash; amount risked: $1.00; amount won: $2.00; net: $1.00; ROI +100.0%

No NASCAR contests this weekend, the Cup returns next weekend.

***

I haven't played a contest at DraftBug for a while, so I signed up for one using the last of my frequent player points. Last time around I won a contest involving only 3 point shots, so I'm 2 for 3 so far and I have a couple dollars to use to keep playing.

***

One more thing while I'm thinking of it.

I'm not sure this is directly on point, but I enjoyed this two part post titled: Comparative Modeling: Hockey as a Poisson Process over at the Advanced NFL Stats site. Like the author notes, this isn't groundbreaking stuff, but if you're unfamiliar with the application of statistical analysis to handicapping it won't make your head asplode.

Some day when I live a life of leisure I will get back to working on my software for modeling individual player performance. No idea when that will be, though.


* Of course I only play online poker for play chips.

Generic Title

Results.

Thursday results: 1 contest entered (10 player), 1 cash; amount risked: $1.00; amount won: $2.00; net: $1.00; ROI +100.0%

Wednesday results: 2 contests entered (1 - 10 player, 1 - 6 player, 0 HU); 1 cash (0, 1, 0); amount risked: $2.00; amount won: $4.00; net: $2.00; ROI +100.0%

Tuesday results: 2 contests entered (1 - 10 player, 1 - 6 player, 0 HU); 1 cash (0, 1, 0); amount risked: $2.00; amount won: $2.00; net: $0.00; ROI +0.0%

Monday results: 1 contest entered (10 player); 0 cashes; amount risked $1.00; amount won: $0.00; net: ($1.00); ROI -100.0%

I received a request to review another site. I hope to get to that this weekend - suddenly there are a bunch of hopefuls in the daily fantasy sports space.

Busy Season

Things are picking up at work, so there will be less time for fantasy sports (and blogging and everything else) for a while. We'll see if this lasts beyond tax refund season.

It was a pretty uneventful weekend. I bombed out in the NASCAR contest after leading in qualifying. Bubbled my 10 player basketball contest yesterday. Overall, a net loser.

Sunday results (NASCAR): 1 contest entered (10 player); 0 cashes; amount risked: $1.00; amount won: $0.00; net: ($1.00); ROI -100.0%

Sunday results (Basketball): 2 contests entered (1 - 10 player, 1 - 6 player, 0 HU); 1 cash (0, 1, 0); amount risked: $2.00; amount won: $2.00; net: $0.00; ROI 0.0%

Saturday results: 2 contests entered (2 - 10 player); 0 cashes; amount risked: $2.00; amount won: $0.00; net: ($2.00); ROI -100.0%

Wait, What

Two outright wins in a row? Since when?

Basketball remains fluky.

Friday results: 1 contest entered (10 player); 1 cash; amount risked: $1.00; amount won: $5.00; net: +$4.00; ROI: +400.0%

Also got off to a good start in NASCAR qualifying. Violated principles and selected Mark Martin. Good choice.

Spring Fever

It's supposed to be well up into the 50s here today. Spring fever is raging out of control. This of course has nothing to do with fantasy sports. But it does remind me that baseball season is only a couple short weeks away and it's time to start paying attention to spring training.

Only two NBA contests on the schedule last night, so no heavy play. It's a shame, I guess, because a lot of people (i.e. everybody else in my contest) missed the boat on J.R. Smith.

Thursday results: 1 contest entered (10 player); 1 cash; amount risked: $1.00; amount won: $5.00; net: +$4.00; ROI: +400.0%

Entries for this weekend's Kobalt Tools 500 NASCAR contests close this evening, so I need to get in gear and make some selections. It looks like fantasy NASCAR traffic is picking up, which is good to see. A full slate of basketball games and hockey are also on tap. What a great time to be a fantasy player. Good luck with your picks.

Confused

All I can do is laugh, really.

I got home late again last night, and when I finally loaded up the NBA scoreboard, the blurb on the Kincks game made it clear that Nate Robinson hadn't played. I knew I had Nate in at least two of my contests, so I didn't even bother loading up Fantasy Sports Live to check the live scoring.

I log on this morning and discover that despite the ZEROs, it was actually a winning day. Two cashes, two bubbles (1st slot out of the money). One of those cashes was a Nate team.

Basketball is so random.

Wednesday results: 4 contests entered (2 - 10 player, 2 - 6 player, 0 HU); 2 cashes (1, 1, 0); amount risked: $4.00; amount won: $5.00; net: +$1.00; ROI: +25.0%

A Goodbye To Cheeseburgers, Etc.

Another loser. I'm so fortunate that the contests I'm playing are at Happy Meal (tm) stakes. Playing the multis I expect to have more losers than winners, but I'm definitely ready to have a big day.

No major clunkers yesterday, just mediocre results. There was a lot of player overlap considering the number of games, and I got average performances instead of monsters out of my "sleepers" of the day. (Can you really call a guy who puts up 25-30 points on a regular basis a "sleeper"?)

Tuesday results: 5 contests entered (3 - 10 player, 2 - 6 player, 0 HU); 1 cash (0, 1, 0); amount risked: $5.00; amount won: $2.00; net: ($3.00); ROI -60.0%

***

Contest additions have been a little wonky this week. I've been very pleased to see $1 basketball contests available in both 10 and 6 player flavors. More options down here in dollar menu-land are always appreciated.

A spring training baseball contest popped up yesterday. Since I am easily amused (and because it was $1), I entered. I see that it's gone this morning, I assume that it was added by mistake. I am definitely looking forward to baseball season.

***

In non-Fantasy Sports Live related news, if you're thinking about checking out another site, Draftbug is giving new players $4 (in the form of 4000 player points) through the end of March. Since free is good, why not check it out?

Stupid Discipline

There is a downside to exercising discipline with regard to your picks. When you try and maintain roster consistency across multiple contests, a screwup in one typically means a screwup in all.

Argh.

Jeff Green missed last night's Thunder-Mavs game with back spasms. I was busy doing something else instead of watching the wires for last minute injury news. (I have no idea if I would have known this anyway, but given that just about nobody else had him, I'm assuming so). I had Green in all of my contests.

All my other picks were gold. With a big fat zero from Green's slot, I finished 4th, 5th and 5th. Any reasonable production from that slot and it's a good day.

Again, argh.

Monday results: 3 contests entered (10 player); 0 cashes; amount risked: $3.00; amount won: $0.00; net ($3.00); ROI -100.0%

Great Success

Well, it feels like it anyway. Thank you for not sucking Greg Biffle.

I have to give a lot of credit to the person that runs the future Angels site - I'd only had my mini-review of Matt McCarthy's book up for a couple hours before he linked it. I guess that means I should give credit to some search engine too. Regardless, the speed was impressive.

Sunday results (basketball): 3 contests entered (2 - 10 player, 1 - 6 player, 0 HU); 1 cash (1, 0, 0); amount risked: $3.00; amount won: $3.00; net: $0.00; ROI 0.0%

Sunday results (NASCAR): 2 contests entered (10 player); 1 cash; amount risked: $2.00; amount won: $3.00; net: $1.00; ROI: +50.0%

Nothing much else to say today.

February Fail

Month end wrap up time.

February was forgettable. Full of FAIL. Despite playing regularly and watching a ton of games, I did not find consistent success with the basketball contests. 16 losing days, only 7 winners. That's not as bad as it looks given that there were quite a few days where I only played one or two 10 player multis, but it's still not good enough. The five day losing streak to end the month brought me down from just under break even to an ROI of -17.6%.

There was also a minimal investment in NASCAR, which produced a meaningless ROI of -66.7% thanks to some bubble finishes.

Chart:
Looking ahead to March, I probably won't play quite as frequently - I don't think I missed a day in February (other than the all star break obviously), and basketball play will definitely be of the recreational variety. I am getting very close to acknowledging that I'm a basketball fish and that I don't see a way to beat the contests long term.

[O/T] Book Recommendation

If you're looking for a little light spring reading and you're a baseball fan, allow me to recommend "Odd Man Out: A Year on the Mound with a Minor League Misfit" by Matt McCarthy.

McCarthy's not your usual misfit - he's a Yale graduate. The book chronicles his short journey through the minors after being drafted in 2002. It's well written and a very easy read. It's also honest and will have you LOLing and occasionally cringing.

Last Day

I should really stop playing on the last day of the month. I seem to have this need to play a couple extra contests, things go wrong and I end up with a dud.

Not really sure about yesterday. I had good scores. Missed out on Artest, who had a 40 point day, but otherwise picked who I needed to pick. Only managed three third places. Sad.

Saturday results: 7 contests entered (4 - 10 player, 1 - 6 player, 2 HU); 3 cashes (2, 1, 0); amount risked: $18.70; amount won: $10.00; net: ($8.70); ROI -46.5%