Winning At Fantasy Sports Live

Football 2011

2011-09-13T16:39:00.000-04:00

Wheeeee fantasy football season, a/k/a the most wonderful time of the year, is back!

Fantasy Sports Live continues to run amazing promotions, this year giving away more than $1000 in bonus cash. Game offerings continue to expand and the rake is low.

I only played one contest in week 1, a ten player $11 Sundays With contest. I finished 3rd, losing out on a tie for second when Plaxico Burress caught a meaningless 2 yard out. Actually, if Jason Witten hadn't been run down at about the 2 yard line I had a shot at winning outright. Oh well, that's the game and I'm always happy with a CASH.

Playing regular fantasy again and won my week 1 contest. Solid across the board except I'm thin at RB.

Love

2011-02-14T22:33:00.000-05:00

Kevin Love. Sadly, not active in tomorrow's player pool. The T-wolves have the night off.

So I'm still around. Not playing much. In fact, I think I just entered my first contest of the month, a $1 25 player basketball gig. I might as well light the dollar on fire. Haven't been paying any attention to the NBA.

I see that there have been some more great changes at Fantasy Sports Live. Most notably, lower rake. The formerly $11, $22 and $33 contests all appear to be cheaper. Over the long haul this means a lot more money in your pocket.

I'm giving serious thought to making a run at baseball this year. I used to be a big baseball guy but got away from it in recent years. Still love the game, don't know if I'll have the time to do prep the right way.

See you in the contests!

The Rest of The Season

2011-01-03T13:17:00.000-05:00

I've been remiss in posting for a number of weeks, and for a simple reason: I've taken the rest of the football season off. It was a very disappointing year and after I determined that I was pretty well out of the running for any SWDP cash it was an easy call to shut it down.

There are still a couple of weeks of playoff action, and of course there is NBA, NHL and baseball season is coming. I'm totally undecided as to what I'm going to do in 2011. Once I get it figured out, it'll be posted here.

Good luck and win at Fantasy Sports Live!

Week 11 Results Are In Line With Expectations Of Suck

2010-11-22T10:19:00.001-05:00

I don't know about you but I didn't find too many matchups that I liked this week. And some of those that I did like - say Frank Gore against the 31st rated Tampa Bay run defense - didn't work out so well.

And still.

I did my homework. I found some guys that I liked, such as Greg Jennings and Santonio Holmes. But when it came time to actually fill out the rosters I mostly just winged it. Which is dumb.

Really, I had a hard time fielding a lineup that I liked that fit under the point cap. If there was ever a week where I should have adopted the no kicker strategy this was it.

Anyhow, it wasn't a total wash. I did have two 2nds and a 4th place in a 50 player contest. We just won't talk about that dead last finish in my SWDP contest which pretty much takes me out of the running for anything. It's been that kind of year.

Won $10, Entries $16, net ($6).

On the regular fantasy front I had a good week, putting up over 100 points, but I only have a six point lead and my opponent has both Rivers and Orton going tonight. Uh, yeah, that's going to be a loss. I would probably need to win the last three weeks in a row to have a chance at the playoffs and with my receivers of suck that isn't going to happen. Sigh.

Week 10 Results Taste Like Rubber Chicken

2010-11-14T23:04:00.001-05:00

Yeah, the game's not over yet but the results are in. Whiff.

5 contests entered, no cashes. Best finish was a lone 4th. Nearly all of the fail can be attributed to picking Peyton Manning. Yeesh.

Loss: ($19.50)

Edit: Small consolation but thanks entirely to Michael Vick I sucked out a highly improbable win in my regular fantasy league. I think that was the highest individual player score in the last ten years and it was enough to beat out a good week from my opponent. Barely. I'm now in a four way tie for last at 4-6 but only 1 game out of the playoffs.

Week 9 Results Are A Headscratcher

2010-11-08T09:58:00.000-05:00

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

I made the mistake of checking in to see how my teams were doing after halftime of the Dallas-Green Bay game. I found that I was in first place by slimmest of margins with three guys closing fast with Aaron Rodgers having a monster game.

Rodgers got one more series but no touchdown, went to the bench and right up to the end of the game it looked like I might hold on by the very skin of my teeth.

But no. Jason Witten picked up just enough meaningless yards deep in garbage time to move kaiseroll13 ahead of me. Nuts. Still managed to eke out a 2nd place which was enough to turn a whitewash into a winning week. I will most definitely take it.

In my regular fantasy league I'm down by 10 points with 3 Stillers (Ben, Mendenhall and Ward) against the Bungles' kicker. I have a pretty decent chance at a win which would get me to 3-6 and into a 3 way tie for last. One thing I have noticed - I have by far the highest points against total in the league. My opponents run good. I'm only slightly below average on offense despite having train wreckage for a roster.

Also: Favre finally has a decent game and he's on my bench. Sigh.

Results: 5 contests (1 - 50 player, 4 - 10 player), 1 cash, winnings $30, risked $17.40, net +$12.60

Week 8 Results Back the **** Up

2010-11-01T20:31:00.000-04:00

Another week, another assortment of subpar selections. I finished third in my 6 player SWDP contest and picked up a 4th in one of my 10 player contests. Bubble finishes suck.

The only cash of the week was a 2nd in a dollar late games contest. FAIl.

My regular fantasy team rolled over again and fell to 2-6. It's been a long season and it's not even half over. MEGA FAIL.

4 contests (3 - 10 player, 1 - 6 player), wins: $3, net ($13.40).

Week 7 Results Are Filled With Unexpected Success

2010-10-26T14:25:00.000-04:00

Yay.

I really shouldn't check and see how I'm doing before watching the Sunday night game. It only results in frustration.

I did it anyway this week and figured that I was in OK position but not great. I had Peterson and Jennings left and middle of the pack standing after the afternoon. Watching the game, I figured they hadn't done enough. Um, yeah, wrong. 2nd in my SWDP contest and a first and a second out of three $1 multis. So .... not GREAT SUCCESS! but still pretty good.

Most of the frustration was losing in my regular fantasy league. I had a slim lead with Crosby and Vikings D up against Harvin. Harvin was good, my guys not so much. FAIL. I drop to 2-5 despite a pretty good week pointwise.

Week 7 results: 4 contests entered (10 player), 3 cashes, entries $14.00, winnings $38.00, net +$22.00

Week 6 Results Go Down By TKO

2010-10-18T09:57:00.002-04:00

Bleah. Another poor showing.

I had to wait around quite a while on Sunday for a SwDP contest to show up. I started checking some time between 7 and 8 and one finally showed up some time after 10. I really should enter earlier in the week but I rarely do anything fantasy related before Sunday morning ... which is probably why I haven't been having a good season.

Finished 5th in my SwDP contest due to complete receiver fail. Other positions were OK to good but I continue to struggle to find productions from the wideouts.

In my regular fantasy league I actually have a 17 point lead with my opponent having David Garrard tonight. Please either hand the ball off to MoJo 100 times or throw some stupid picks kthx. Not that being 2-4 is all that much better than 1-5 given how terrible my roster is, but it (ahem) is what it is.

Week 6 results: 3 contests entered, no cash, ($15.40). Fail: 100%

Week 5 Results Are On The Side That Doesn't Involve Turkey And Stuffing

2010-10-11T11:50:00.003-04:00

When you don't play many contests and the ones you do play are all multi-players, the results tend to be feast or famine. Week 5 was all famine.

Things looked fantastic early. I had Lee Evans as a value pick against a dreadful Jacksonville secondary and he delivered with a quick TD catch. I had Hakeem Nicks in one of my contests and he went off. And then things went not so good. Peyton did bupkus against an improved Chiefs defense - and he looked terrible throughout. I took Wayne instead of Nicks in my SWDP contest. Jacksonville scored a bunch but MoJoDrew didn't get it done. I flipped a coin between the Bears D and the Saints D ... and took the wrong one. LOL Saints.

Sigh.

I did come within 2 points of cashing in one contest but that's it. Tough week.

And I'm toast in my regular fantasy league as well. After the afternoon games I had 19 points with Favre, the Vikings D and Gore yet to play. Nineteen ****ing points. Eleven of which were from Mason Crosby. So pathetic. I picked up Mark Clayton this week and he didn't make it through the first quarter before being lost for the season.

Eesh. So much fail.

Week 5 results: 3 contests entered (2 - 10 player, 1 - 6 player), $0 cash, net ($15.40)

Week 4 Results Captured By Automatic Spam Filter

2010-10-04T09:44:00.002-04:00

How about that, another winning week. I could get used to this.

Solid picks this week. One last minute change from Colston to Megatron made all the difference. I whiffed by taking Chris Johnson but so did a lot of people.

2nd in my SWDP contest, 2nd in a late games multi and 10th (boo) out of 50 in a mega multi. I think I'm at 3 weeks in a row beating Pauly's score so I need one more week to get into the tournament of champeens.

Over in regular fantasyland my hopes for the week were torpedoed early by Vick's injury. My roster is terrible and I can only turn it over so much. A convincing loss drops me to 1-3 and well down in the points standings.

Week 4 results: 3 contests entered, $13 risked, $33 won, net +$20.

Week 3 Results Are Better Liked

2010-09-27T14:16:00.004-04:00

That's more like it. Took 2nd in my 6 man SWDP contest to rack up my first cash of the season. Mostly solid picks except at receiver where Austin and Andre Johnson did little. I swapped Johnson in for Randy Moss since I had the points to do so under the cap. As it turns out it made no difference since the 1st place team had the high score for the week. I would have needed to play Austin Collie for Austin to have beat him and while I did consider playing Collie it wasn't going to happen unless I'd been really strapped budget-wise.

I'm also on track for my first winning week in regular fantasy, up 19 points with 3 Packers versus Aaron Rodgers. Huge days from Vick and Boldin get all the credit.

Week 3 results: 1 contest entered (6 player), 1 cash, net win: $9.00. Woo.

Week 2 Results Bring The Pain

2010-09-20T10:37:00.003-04:00

Ouch.

I only entered one contest this week, a Sundays w/ Dr. Pauly contest. I wasn't terribly fired up about joining, seeing that there was some seriously stiff competition already entered, but you can't be too picky when you wait until Sunday morning to lock down your spot.

I made better picks this week but there were still not good enough. I finished 4th, less than two points out of 2nd. Argh. I actually watched some games this week so I'm starting to get a better feel for what's happening in the league. A brutally short roll is going to keep my play way down though.

Results: 1 contest entered (10 player), no cash, minus $11.

Over in my regular fantasy league the process of retooling the worst team ever is underway. I dumped my injured players (Stafford, Maroney) and picked up Vick (who I'll get rid of in Week 6 if he doesn't keep starting) and Brandon Jackson. Thanks mostly to Vick my ragtag band of underachievers put up 60 points this week with Gore still to play but I'm certain to be 0-2 with the lowest point total in the league. I'll be in better shape QB-wise when Big Ben returns. For now I need to work on fixing the absolute black hole that is my receiver corps. Man are they bad. I should not be allowed to draft.

Week 1 Results 2010

2010-09-13T10:54:00.003-04:00

FAIL.

This could become a recurring theme.

The primary problem was QB selection. Decided that Kolb offered the best point to projected production value, freeing up some extra points for other spots.

Oops.

While you can't predict concussions, the fact of the matter is that Kolb sucked before he got hurt. If he'd continued and put up roughly what Vick did I would have been competitive anyway.

Receiver selection wasn't good either and I passed on Arian Foster in favor of Gore. Oh well, it's week 1. Hopefully it will get better. I obviously did not beat Dr. Pauly's score.

In my regular fantasy league I may have the worst team yet. I'm extremely unhappy with my roster. I did take a late flier on Stafford and of course he gets hurt in the first game. Sigh. I'm down by like 60 points going into tonight's games so that's a definite L.

Next week. It must be better.

Week 1 Results: 3 contests entered (2 - 10 player, 1 - 6 player), entry fees $15.40, winnings $0, net loss ($15.40), ROI -100%, FAIL FAIL FAIL

Again With The It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

2010-09-10T10:54:00.000-04:00

Football season. Yes. You know what that means: Fantasy Sports Live and their fantastic Sundays with Dr. Pauly promotion. Ripped straight from the FSL blog:

For 2010 we thought we would step things up a bit with our Sundays with Dr. Pauly promotion and increase the free bonus cash up to $1000. For qualified sports or gaming bloggers this year, all you need to do is play in our regular SWDP leagues, and we will double any bonus cash you win for up to an extra free $1000. That increases the potential amount of bonus cash added up to $2000. Not bad for just playing some fantasy football. The details are below and week 1 leagues are already forming.
FantasySportsLive.com announces the new and improved Sundays with Dr. Pauly promotion for 2010 with at least $1000 in free bonus cash added. In Sundays with Dr. Pauly you get to compete against one of the top gaming bloggers in the world, Dr. Pauly himself, as well as against the other participants in the challenge. Sundays with Dr. Pauly will run throughout the 2010 NFL football season and offer multiple ways to earn free bonus cash. Simply enter the weekly fantasy football leagues called “Sundays w/Dr. Pauly” to qualify for your share of the free bonus cash. Bonus cash will be distributed as follows:

$150/$75/$25 will be distributed to the top three individual weekly fantasy football scores obtained during any week that Sunday’s with Dr. Pauly runs.

The series will be broken out into three 5 week mini-series with the winner of each series receiving $75 and entry into the week 16 Tournament of Champions

$250 will be added to the Week 16 Tournament of Champions. To gain entry into the Week 16 tournament, you need to either win a 5 week mini-series or beat Dr. Pauly’s fantasy football score over four consecutive weeks during weeks 1-15. Anyone beating Dr. Pauly’s score in the TOC will receive a pro-rated share of the $250 added based on the amount they beat Dr. Pauly’s score by. If Dr. Pauly scores highest in the TOC, he wins the entire amount.

$150/$75/$50 will be awarded to the top three cumulative scores over the entire 17 week NFL season. Only the top 15 scores will be counted for each entry, so you can miss a week or two if you have to and still earn the bonus cash.

As an additional bonus, if you are a sports or gaming blogger and participate in the challenge we will double any bonus cash you receive. To be eligible for a doubling of the bonus cash prizes you must have an active sports or gaming blog that has existed for at least one year prior to September 1st 2010, and must post the Sundays with Dr. Pauly image, with a link to www.fantasysportslive.com. Approved blogs will have links to them shown in the Sunday’s with Dr. Pauly standings that will be updated on the FSL blog.

Sunday’s with Dr. Pauly leagues will have an $11 entry fee and payout 91% of the fees in regular cash prizes not counting the added bonus cash. We will offer a choice of either a 25 player league paying the top five or 10 player leagues paying the top 3 each week. We will try to keep SWDP leagues available until the league start-time, but we can’t guarantee this, so please enter the leagues early to reserve your seat.

I've taken out most of my FSL bankroll since the end of last season but I definitely will be in for this.

On Semi-Hiatus

2010-02-17T14:07:00.003-05:00

With the end of football season, I'm taking a bit of a break from daily fantasy sports. I haven't paid nearly enough attention to the NBA, NHL or NASCAR to make any kind of educated plays.

Ordinarily that wouldn't stop me from entering dollar contests and the like, but there have also been life things going on that have kept me away. I've also been spending a lot more time on poker.

I hope to return to action some time in the next couple months, probably playing NBA contests. Or maybe NASCAR. Baseball season isn't that far away. There is always something coming up.

I'll be back.

Week 17 Results

2010-01-04T19:45:00.002-05:00

DNP. Still feeling lousy.

I haven't gone through and added up the numbers, but I think I was a modest loser on football this year. It's pretty simple - I put in about as much time over the course of the season as I should have per week. No time spent equaled no clue.

But: When you factor in the bonus dollars won for having one monster week, I'm solidly in the black. Thanks FSL for the save!

Anyhow, there will probably be some playoff contests but I'm basically done for the year. I may or may not start playing basketball again, I've actually been spending more time playing poker lately. We'll see.

On a related note, I lucksacked the last week in my regular fantasy league and won my entry fee back. I'm pretty pumped about that considering my sad sack roster.

Week 16 Results

2009-12-28T11:10:00.004-05:00

Incomplete. I have some fuzzy recollection of logging on and picking rosters for the Sundays w/ Dr. Pauly and Blogger Battle TOCs. It looks like I also entered a $1 multi.

I beat Pauly's score in the SWDP TOC, so I'm guessing I'll end up with four or five bucks for that which would be enough to make it a winning week. We'll see.

Edit: It looks like the payout method was different this year and since I was the lowest score to beat Dr. Pauly I won ... $0.96. LOL.

Otherwise, this was a gentle reminder not to play when all wacked out on NyQuil.

Week 16 results: 3 contests entered (10 player), 1 "cash"; amount risked: $3.00; amount "won" $0.96; net: ($2.04); ROI who cares

Snapdraft FAIL

2009-12-23T10:05:00.003-05:00

I got a marketing email from Snapdraft on Tuesday. If you believe the subject line, it was addressed to players who own Chris Johnson of the Titans in leagues that Fanball handles. My regular fantasy league uses Fanball and I own Chris Johnson. I'm special!

But I digress.

The email was touting a special opportunity:

This week all SnapDraft customers have the opportunity to win a Chris Johnson signed Tennessee Titans mini-helmet, a $150 value, by entering the "NFL - Chris Johnson Autographed Mini-Helmet" 15-team league posted in the list of SnapDraft contests for only $10.

That would be a pretty nice little bonus, wouldn't it?

Oh wait: It's not a bonus. Instead of paying out cash, these contests pay out a mini helmet:

There is no cash prize awarded for the "NFL - Chris Johnson Autographed Mini-Helmet" contests.

I wonder if the megacorp that controls Snapdraft has a sponsorship or other tie-in with Chris Johnson - maybe they got a box of these at a discount. More likely the 'sponsors' - Players Ink and Buzzer Sports - kicked them in. Or maybe they just bought some off of eBay ... hey this one is only $107 or less with buy it now and there are auctions going for less yet.

Company gotta get paid yo.

Upon further reflection I was going to change the title of this post to "You might be an idiot to play on Snapdraft if ..." but then I took one more look at the marketing email. As it turns out, in order to win your Chris Johnson NFL superstar mini-helmet you might have to be good at picking hockey?

To play SnapDraft NHL, pick a team of 9 players using a $27 million salary. Compete using only this weekend's NFL games.

So much FAIL. Yes, I'm sure it's just a typo. It's still a joke.

For additional entertainment, go to the Players Ink website. Players Ink has a few dozen autographed mini helmets available. I didn't see any Chris Johnson helmets. Quite a few from other players are available for under $100, while a number of others are listed at $9,999.99. Including a REAL GENUINE signed mini helmet from the legendary Donnie Avery of the St. Louis Rams. Whoa.

Must. CONSUME.

What do you mean my credit card was declined?

Anyhow. I haven't played on Snapdraft lately and really don't have much motivation to do so. There's plenty of traffic on Fantasy Sports Live, a better variety of contests, lower rake and no retarded email spam marketing.

Play FSL for less FAIL.

Week 15 Results

2009-12-23T10:01:00.003-05:00

Delayed post for a simple reason: DNP, coach's decision. I determined that I was too far back in the Sundays w/ Dr Pauly series and I didn't really spend any time checking the schedule. I'll be back in action this weekend for the SwDP tournament of champeens.

I also got bounced in the semi-finals of my regular league. Down going into Sunday night, I needed to have Favre come up big. Instead he laid an egg. GG season.

Week 14 Results

2009-12-14T09:43:00.002-05:00

These posts are getting shorter every week.

Even though I don't really have much reason to play out the string, I decided to sign up for a Sundays w/ Dr Pauly contest at about 12:45. My computer chose that time to get problematic. It finally started cooperating at 12:57, so I had 3 minutes to pick. Totally winging it.

If I'd stayed with my original lineup, which had Chris Johnson and no kicker, I would have won my contest. Instead I quickly revised those two slots, scored more than 20 points worse and bubbled. Arrgh.

On the bright side my regular fantasy team will win unless Alex Smith puts up the performance of the decade and I'll be in the playoffs at 8-6. Not much separation in that league this year, so anything can happen.

Sunday results: 2 contests entered (1 - 10 player, 1 - 6 player); 0 cashes; amount risked: $12.00; amount won: $0.00; net: ($12.00); ROI -100.0%

Week 13 Results

2009-12-07T10:24:00.002-05:00

That's a little more like it. Finally got a win in a Sundays w/ Dr Pauly contest.

Also hung on - barely - to win in my regular fantasy league. I'm at 7-6, currently in good shape for the playoffs but need a win next week to lock it up.

Sunday results: 5 contests entered (1 - 25 player, 3 - 10 player, 1 HU); 2 cashes (0, 2, 0); amount risked: $17.40; amount won: $53.00; net: +$35.60; ROI whatever, right around +200%

Week 12 Results

2009-11-30T13:41:00.003-05:00

Too much screwing around. Another week where I logged on, jumped in some contests, picked guys almost at random and lost. Need to stop that.

Also: FFFUUUUUUU Matt Schaub.

Sunday results: 5 contests entered (1 - 10 player, 1 - 6 player, 3 HU); 1 cash (1, 0, 0); amount risked: $22.20; amount won: $3.00; net: ($19.20); ROI who cares

Turkey'd

2009-11-28T06:12:00.003-05:00

One contest for kicks on Thursday. As previously expressed in this space, I'm not a huge fan of playing on days with a limited number of contests. Rosters are too similar.

I finished fifth, less than 2 points out of the money and less than 8 out of first. It didn't exactly help to see the Lions lose Brandon Pettigrew - who amazingly was picked by only one other guy in the contest (who finished 8th) - on the first drive.

Yeah, I like to think that at least a couple of the 12 targets the other LOLion TEs received would have come Pettigrew's way, but those are the breaks.

With a blah weather forecast on for tomorrow, I might actually get to see a little football.

Thursday results: 1 contest entered (10 player); 0 cashes; amount risked: $1; amount won: $0; net: ($1); ROI -100%

Thanksgiving For Football

2009-11-23T09:03:00.002-05:00

A reminder:

Don't forget that daily fantasy football contests should be available on Thanksgiving Day since there are multiple games on the schedule. I would expect the contests to start showing up in the lobby some time today.

If that's not enough action for you, there is always hockey and basketball too.

Week 11 Results

2009-11-23T08:52:00.002-05:00

Another modest loser. I don't like to make excuses, but I'm going to - I missed out on a winning week because I absent-mindedly selected Neil Rackers instead of Nate Kaeding - who I intended to take - for my kicker in my SwDP contest. I don't know why I get those guys confused. But I do and I did.

I got it right in my other contests, so the week wasn't a complete washout, but still, what a dumb move. I guess these things happen when you have no time.

Also lost an autodraft contest for the first time.

Sunday results: 4 contests entered (3 - 10 player, 1 HU); 2 cashes (2, 0); amount risked: $16.40; amount won: $7.00; net: ($9.40); ROI -54.0%

Week 10 Results

2009-11-16T07:25:00.002-05:00

Rushed. I only managed to enter three contests this week and it felt like I spent a total of about five minutes on selections. Really, the only guy I was locked on was Chris Johnson against the woeful Bills. Results would have been better if defensive TDs counted.

Thanks to a bubble finish (again) in my Sundays w/ Dr. Pauly contest, it was a losing week. I took first in my early games dollar multi and won a heads up autodraft contest.

Sunday results: 3 contests entered (2 - 10 player, 1 HU); 2 cashes (1, 1); amount risked: $15.40; amount won: $11.00; net: ($4.40); ROI -28.6%

Week 9 Results

2009-11-09T08:43:00.002-05:00

As expected, the final tally wasn't good. I needed Donovan McNabb to play better to pull out my late game contests and it just didn't happen. My primary weakness continues to be receiver selection and hopefully I'll have a little time this week to look at injuries and schemes to come up with better picks down the road.

I think this might be the most last place finishes I've ever had in 10 player multis in a single week, including a dreadful number in Sundays w/ Dr. Pauly which pretty much eliminates me from Super TOC contention for the second 5 week series.

The only contests that went well were the autodrafts, where I went 2 for 2.

It could be worse ... I could be a Packers fan. LOL Packers. And my regular fantasy team is going to win again, bring me back to 4-5 and just one game out of playoff contention.

Sunday results: 13 contests entered (1 - 25 player, 7 - 10 player, 5 HU); 3 cashes (0, 1, 2); amount risked: $39.50; amount won: $15.00; net: ($24.50); ROI -62.0%

Week 9 In Process Update

2009-11-08T22:42:00.003-05:00

Yuck. This is fairly ugly.

I still have a shot to pull out a couple heads up contests, but the multis are going to be brutal. I might as well just admit that I have been terrible this season at picking receivers. Back to the drawing board.

Let's go selected Eagles!

Also: I'll have more on this later but autodraft is pretty sweet.

Oooh, Autodraft

2009-11-08T07:38:00.002-05:00

Fantasy Sports Live has a shiny new toy for daily fantasy football players: AUTODRAFT

Instead of trying to fit your picks into a point cap or a salary cap (or no cap), you simply rank your top picks at each position and the system will fill out your roster for you. I presume that it'll alternate between you and your opponent(s).

This option will produce rosters that look a lot more like a traditional fantasy football contest as there will be zero player overlap between rosters.

I signed up for two autodraft contests this week - I'm in ten total contests I think so far - and am definitely looking forward to seeing how it goes.

More choices for daily fantasy players, you have to love that.

The System

2009-11-06T15:07:00.002-05:00

Week 9 has some interesting matchups and I'd like nothing better to sit around and watch the games. That, however, will not be happening with a beautiful day in the forecast.

If I'm lucky, I'll have both time and a decent internet connection - neither of which are guaranteed - on Sunday morning to clean up my selections. Because of the uncertainty, I've kind of adopted a really dumb system of selection:

1. Find open contests
2. Sign up
3. Slap in some guys that look good
4. Hope to clean up later.

Not exactly optimal. Oh well. I think I'm in like 5 contests so far - Sundays w/ Dr. Pauly and every dollar multi I could find. I believe the kids refer to this as 'ballin out of control'.

Week 8 Results

2009-11-01T21:30:00.003-05:00

Loser.

I didn't have time this morning to log back on and standardize my rosters, so I had a lot of variation. Unfortunately, most of them contained Steve Slaton who put up a stellar minus 0.9 points and was benched after one carry in favor of Ryan Moats who went over 100 yards with 3 TDs. Dammit. I also struggled with receiver selection.

Two bubbles and a fifth make this worse than it could have been.

I put up a decent but not great score in Sundays w/ Dr. Pauly (didn't have Slaton in that one thankfully), we'll see if I beat the Doc and got into the TOC.

Edit: I did beat Pauly and so I'm in the Tournament of Champions ... along with a lot of other people. I think the count is like 17 or something. My 'regular' fantasy team also won and I'm out of the cellar at 3-5. I guess those count for something.

Sunday results: 8 contests entered (1 - 25 player, 5 - 10 player, 1 - 6 player, 1 HU); 2 cashes (0, 1, 0, 1); amount risked: $24.90; amount won: $9.00; net: ($15.90); ROI -63.9%

Fantasy NBA Action Take One

2009-10-29T09:36:00.002-04:00

Mostly as a way to get up to speed on who's-playing-for-who I've entered a couple $1 basketball contests this week. I ended up 9th on Tuesday but came back with a 2nd yesterday. The early part of the season is kind of goofy but entertaining as you try and figure out how guys are going to fit in.

The NBA is offering their broadband League Pass for free through November 3rd. The Pistons - GriZZZlies game was blacked out so I watched some of the Thunder-Kings game instead. The picture quality is really really good and if I had a slightly more robust internet connection - and money to fritter away - I'd definitely sign up for this. I watched some of the LOLakers - Clippahs game on Tuesday via the TNT website and that wasn't bad either.

No action tonight as I think there are only two games on the schedule and I'm not a fan of small player pool days.

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

How To Go Crazy With Daily Fantasy Sports

2009-10-26T10:53:00.004-04:00

We interrupt this stream of football results posts to bring you the following special announcement:

The NBA tips off tomorrow. You know what that means: Basketball contests at Fantasy Sports Live. Play daily fantasy basketball. Win monies.

I'm going big for the first night (uhh, yeah) - I'm in a $1 contest. I spent more time saying "he's on what team now what?" than actually picking my roster. Let's just say that I couldn't tell you anything about off season player movement unless it involved guys going to or from the Pistons.

Baseball contests have finally concluded. That means you're left with football, basketball, hockey and NASCAR. If you can't find something to play you might want to see if your fan card has been revoked. Seriously, this is the best time of the year for a fantasy sports buff. It's like a tailgate where everybody brought something extra.

Visit Fantasy Sports Live to learn all about the fun of daily fantasy sports and start dominating today. Go crazy. Play fantasy football. Play fantasy basketball. Play fantasy hockey. Play fantasy NASCAR.

Week 7 Results

2009-10-26T08:56:00.003-04:00

I got a pleasant surprise when I checked results this morning. I thought I was set to finish 3rd in one of my 10 player contests but didn't look real carefully - the fourish additional points Steve Smith picked up late in the Sunday night game actually bumped me to first.

The theme of the week was receiver FAIL. Bad picks there. The rest of the rosters were fine, but if it involved a player catching the ball then UGH.

First in a Speaker Special, first in a late games multi, everything else was a bust. I did manage to beat Dr. Pauly's score so I have a 2 week streak there.

My regular fantasy team is getting squashed, so I'll be 2-5. So bad.

Games watched: Parts of the late games, mostly LOLBears-Cincinnati, half of the Giants-Cardinalzzz.

Sunday results: 5 contests entered (4 - 10 player, 1 - 3 player); 2 cashes (2, 0); amount risked: $21.90; amount won: $30.00; net: +$8.10; ROI: +37.0%

Week 6 Results

2009-10-19T09:43:00.003-04:00

Well that's a little more like it.

I certainly didn't expect a 59-0 beat down, but I liked the Pats against the Titans' pathetic pass defense. Right call. Brady + Moss = a whole lot of win. Taking Jones-Drew and DeAngelo Williams didn't hurt either. I actually went over 200 points in one contest which is crazy.

If only I'd entered more contests. If only.

Yeah right.

I was so 'with it' when making my picks that I entered an uncapped contest on accident. Smooth.

Anyway, as usual I didn't get to watch a whole lot yesterday - I saw exactly one play in the early games: Greg Jennings (who I had on my rosters) dropping a TD pass. Thanks, Greg. I watched a few minutes of the Pats/Titans game before CBS switched over the morass of suck that was the Jets/Bills game. Also caught the first half of the Bears/Falcons night game.

I didn't get around to answering Zeem's question about strategy in the 25 player contests (sorry), haven't given it much thought. SwDP was back to smaller contests this week, don't know what'll happen going forward.

Sunday results: 4 contests entered (2 - 10 player, 2 HU), 4 cashes (2, 2); amount risked: $18.80; amount won: $47.00; net: $28.20; ROI +150.0%

Edit: As part of my ongoing effort to find a dark lining in every silver cloud, I finished with the 2nd best SwDP score of the week and of course the guy with the best score was in my contest costing me $20. Blah blah blah. (No, I'm not serious). On the other hand, my scores put me right back into contention for two of the prizes - best single weekly score (2nd, duh) and best single weekly blogger score (1st).

Week 5 Results

2009-10-12T10:25:00.003-04:00

Not paying attention is not doing me any favors. Another terrible week.

I got home well into the second half of the late games and just about the first thing I saw on the stats crawl was Miles Austin's huge game for Dallas. Dammit. When I saw that Roy Williams was out I noted Austin as a good option and even had him selected at one point, but then I talked myself out of it figuring Dallas wouldn't have too much trouble with the LOLChiefs. Too much thinking.

Then again, never in a million years would I have guessed that Roddy White would torch the 49ers, so it's not like I have a crystal ball or anything.

On a more positive note, my regular fantasy team won this week and 2-3 puts me back into the thick of things. My roster still sucks, though.

Sunday results: 6 contests entered (2 - 25 player, 3 - 10 player, 1 HU), 1 cash (0, 1, 0), amount risked: $22.90; amount won: $2.00; net: ($20.90); ROI -91.3%

Week 4 Results

2009-10-05T11:26:00.005-04:00

Blah blah blah. I put in three minutes of preparation this week, I read through the schedule of games. I watched about five minutes of the Dallas-Denver game. There are just way too many life distractions right now.

Four contests. SwDP and three dollar multis. Finished 10th in the 25 player SwDP, won the early games multi and was a non-factor in the other two. I did beat Dr. Pauly's score for the week so I have a one week streak (you need 3 straight to get into the tournament of champeens).

In my regular FFB league I'm 26 points down with Favre and Driver going tonight. I'm pretty much resigned to being 0-4.

Week 4 Results: 4 contests entered (1-25 player, 3- 10 player), 1 cash, amount risked: $14.00; amount won: $5.00; net: ($9.00); ROI -64.3%

Week 3 Results

2009-09-28T09:08:00.002-04:00

DNP.

Dammit. Internet service flaked out Saturday morning and never came back. Couldn't get a connection at work either, so I gave up. It wasn't worth it to try and find another option.

This puts me way down in the Sundays w/ Dr. Pauly and Blogger Battle competitions.

Week 2 Results

2009-09-20T22:43:00.001-04:00

Ugh. It's going to be a total whitewash.

FAIL.

Edit: Yep. Total fail. Bad picks, headed by taking Brady. My regular FF team also dropped to 0-2 and is nicked up.

Week 2 results: 7 contests entered (3 - 10 player, 3 - 6 player, 1 HU); 0 cashes (0, 0, 0); amount risked: $28.70; amount won: $0.00; net: ($28.70); ROI -100.0%

Week 2 Pregame

2009-09-20T10:57:00.002-04:00

It looks like seven contests for this week. I'm trying to spread out my action, playing a bunch of different types of contests.

As for picks, UGGGH. Lots of lousy matchups. Since I have no idea who's going to perform this week I have a ton of roster variance. Hopefully one or two of my rosters will come through, otherwise this could be a complete whitewash. I just don't know this week.

Week 1 Results

2009-09-14T08:44:00.002-04:00

I have to say it feels kind of weird to make football picks and then not watch the games. I caught the first couple minutes of the Lions-Saints game on the radio, watched a little of the end of the Giants-Redskins and 49ers-Cardinals games and a decent chunk of Packers-Bears. Not all that much.

I'll take the results, though. I made what seemed to me to be the obvious picks of Brees and Adrian Peterson and my fillers were good enough to get me to the cash in every contest. Too many third place finishes but still a very good opening week.

I didn't beat Pauly's monster score in Sundays With Dr. Pauly, so I'll have to take another shot at getting a streak started in Week 2. Because of all of the great scores I'm also in the middle of the pack in the Blogger Battle.

Sunday results: 7 contests entered (4 - 10 player, 2 - 6 player, 1 3-player, 0 HU); 7 cashes (4, 2, 1, 0); total risked: $23.90; total won: $52.50; net: + $28.60; ROI +119.7%

I picked up fifty cents that I can't account for in my quick review of results, but since I'm 100% sure it appeared in my account when the contests closed yesterday I'm counting it.

Reminder: Monday Football Contests Available

2009-09-13T23:56:00.001-04:00

Because there are two Monday Night Football games this week, FSL has Monday football contests.

I've never been a big advocate of playing contests with super small player pools, but if you need an additional fix after today's action, go for it. I may throw in a buck or three, we'll see.

Waiting on results, looks like today was a pretty good day.

Week 1 NFL Action Is Here!

2009-09-13T09:50:00.004-04:00

It's here, it's here, it's finally here! Week 1 of regular season NFL contests kicks off TODAY over at Fantasy Sports Live.

I'm in a total of 7 contests and it'll probably stay at that number. I made sure to get into a Sundays With Dr. Pauly contest and I'm trying out the Triple Play (3 player, winner take all contest) that's a new option in football this year. I would probably get into a Joe Speaker Special if one pops up in the next few minutes, but that's probably not going to happen.

All I really don't have are real solid picks. I made a cursory pass through the games and I'm completely winging it at this point. I'll focus more once the season gets rolling and golf season winds down. Until then, get in there and TAKE MY MONEY.

It was a great day of watching college games yesterday, and I can't wait to see what will unfold today. Daily fantasy sports at Fantasy Sports Live just adds to the fun.

Sundays With Dr. Pauly Returns!

2009-09-04T11:19:00.003-04:00

RIPPED FROM THE FANTASY SPORTS LIVE BLOG:

FantasySportsLive.com is proud to announce our annual Sundays With Dr. Pauly promotion with $750 in free bonus cash added. Compete at fantasy football against one of the top gaming bloggers in the country, Dr. Pauly, and earn some free cash for your efforts.

Last year Dr. Pauly had a rough time and it was pretty easy to get bonus cash with about 25 different winners. This year we expect him to snap back, and make it a bit more profitable for those out there who can consistently beat his score. Simply enter weekly $11 fantasy football leagues named "Sundays w/Dr Pauly" and compete for all of the free bonus cash shown below in addition to our normal 91% and higher cash prize payouts.

$500 in Free Bonus Cash Available to all FSL Users

1) Beat Dr. Pauly's fantasy football score for three straight weeks at any point in weeks 1-15 and gain entry into a season ending tournament of champions in week 16. $125 in bonus cash will be added to the TOC and anyone who beats Dr. Pauly's score in the TOC will get a prorated share based on the number of points above Dr. Pauly's score.

2) Win a 5 week mini-series (W1-W5, W6-W10, W11-W15) and get $25 in bonus cash and entry into the Super TOC with $125 in bonus cash added. Highest cumulative fantasy points over any 5 week series gets the immediate $25 bonus and entry into the Super TOC with Dr. Pauly (automatic entry). $125 in bonus cash will be added to the 4 player Super TOC and anyone who beats Dr. Pauly's score in the TOC will get a prorated share based on the number of points above Dr. Pauly's score.

3) Score a top three highest individual fantasy football score at any point in the series and win free bonus cash. The top three scores will earn a free bonus of $100/$50/$25.

$250 in Bonus Cash Available to FSL Users with a Sports or Gaming Blog for 1 Year

Eligible bloggers can compete for all of the prizes shown above and are also eligible for the for $250 in additional bonus cash.

1) Score a top three highest blogger individual fantasy football score at any point in the series and win free bonus cash. The top three scores will earn a free bonus of $75/$50/$25.

2) Gain entry into the Blogger Battle TOC and compete for $100 in added cash with $75 for first place and $25 for second place. Beating Dr. Pauly's score for three straight weeks, having the highest blogger score in a five week series, having the top individual blogger weekly score over the entire series, or ending in the top 5 in blogger points overall for the 15 weeks gets you in the the Blogger Battle TOC.

Bonus Cash Summary

All Users
TOC - $125 Added Cash
Super TOC $125 Added Cash
Highest weekly score $100 Added Cash
2nd highest weekly score $50 Added Cash
3rd highest weekly score $25 Added Cash
Week 1 Series Winner $25 Added Cash
Week 2 Series Winner $25 Added Cash
Week 3 Series Winner $25 Added Cash
$500 in total added cash

Bloggers
Blogger Battle TOC $100 Added Cash
Highest weekly blogger score $75 Added Cash
2nd highest weekly blogger score $50 Added Cash
3rd highest weekly blogger score $25 Added Cash
$250 in total added cash

Results and standings will be updated weekly here at the FSL blog. OK, now that I have explained all this, go out and get yourself some free cash already.

{END RIP}

Seriously. This series is awesome. Serious bragging rights are available and there is a bunch of FREE MONEY added. Have I mentioned lately that I cleaned up big time last year? Didn't think so. But I did. If you don't have a FSL account, sign up today.

It looks like the Blogger Battle is being folded into SwDP, which makes some sense. It's still a nice little incentive.

THANKS FANTASY SPORTS LIVE and get picking people.

A Site Worth Visiting

2009-09-04T11:11:00.002-04:00

I've been remiss in not mentioning this, but FSL regular (and winnar) Buffalo66 has launched a new site, directly aimed at the daily fantasy sports player. Check it out: www.dailyfantasyprojections.com. Content is free for a couple more days (I think) and then it'll be subscription based.

Get inside the mind of a steady winner. Get the benefit of his computer savvy and player insight. EZ game.

Good To Be Back

2009-09-04T11:08:00.001-04:00

I just logged in and entered three Week 1 NFL contests. Granted that they're $1 contests - my favorite guilty pleasure - but still ... it's been too long. Way too long. I think I only entered 2 or 3 baseball contests and no NASCAR contests this summer. I see that I've dropped to 42nd on the FSL leaderboard.

Need to do work.

It's hard to believe that football season is finally here. I watched some of the college games last night and will probably spend a zillion hours this weekend watching the rest of the openers. Somewhere in there I have to get up to speed on the NFL, since I haven't devoted any time at all to the preseason.

Which reminds me: Note to self - update rosters in dollar contests.

An ongoing theme this season is going to be bankroll management. Due to life ~~FAIL~~ chaos, what I have in my FSL account is all I'm going to have available, so I need to make sure I can get through the season. I know that I can play the weekly Sundays w/ Dr. Pauly contests and a fistful of dollar contests. Beyond that, however many contests I play on a weekly basis will depend on results to date almost as much as how confident I am in my picks for the week. It's dumb, but that's life.

It's football season. Let's do this.

Fantasy NASCAR Returns!

2009-09-04T10:16:00.000-04:00

According to an email I received from Fantasy Sports Live, NASCAR contests return September 15. Good news for race fans as the Chase for the Cup heats up!

NASCAR Contests Suspended

2009-07-09T14:31:00.003-04:00

According to the FSL blog, FSL has suspended for now the running of fantasy NASCAR contests. They may return later in the season or not at all - that's to be determined later.

As for myself, I'm still on summer hiatus, spending my time at the golf course instead of thinking about fantasy sports. Football season is just around the corner, though, and I can't wait for that.

Good luck with your baseball picks!

Placeholder

2009-05-20T10:56:00.003-04:00

Just a quick update to report that there's nothing to report. No play.

As much as I enjoy baseball, I haven't been paying attention beyond reading AP stories relating to the Tigers. I'm not able to watch games unless I muck around with finding one online. It's golf season. There are house projects to be done. Etc. Etc.

So, in other words, any posting here will be random and occasional until football season approaches.

Weather Fail

2009-05-07T08:59:00.003-04:00

Note to self: Check the weather next time. Just because it's nice where you are doesn't mean that a baseball game a hundred miles away will be played. All those zeros hurt.

12th place out of 13. I may have lost a few points (but not many) by swapping my initial pick of Jon Garland for Derek Lowe - both got wins, Garland only struck out a couple batters. Otherwise, too many Tigazzz and White Sox. Oops.

Interesting how insignificant the relief pitcher spot was. IIRC only one person got more than 3 points - Chad Qualls' inning and save was worth 7.

Draftbug Blogger Contest

2009-05-06T16:31:00.003-04:00

It looks like a baker's (dirty) dozen in the Draftbug blogger baseball challenge, running this evening:

Alex Zelvin, ‘waiver wire’, The Waiver Wire, http://waiverwire.blogspot.com

Kyle Huberman, ‘icehube’, Draftbug Millionaire, http://draftbugmillionaire.blogspot.com

Dave Hall, ‘Roto Guru’, Roto Guru, http://www.rotoguru2.com

Troy Patterson, ‘TroyPatterson’, Rotosavants, http://www.rotosavants.com

Sean, ‘scojo’, 27 Pitches, http://www.27pitches.com

Nick Cichielo, ‘Junkballers’, junkballers, http://www.junkballers.com

Mark Perry, ‘PokerBankrollBlog’, Poker Bankroll Blog, http://www.pokerbankrollblog.com

Josh Culp, ‘Future of Fantasy’, Future of Fantasy, http://www.futureoffantasy.com

Dan Williams, ‘TheInsidePitch’, The Inside Pitch, http://www.theinsidepitch.com

Justin Hulsey, ‘JayHulsey’, Fandemonium Sports, http://fandemoniumsports.blogspot.com

Paul Bourdett, ‘The Pick-up Artist’, Rotoexperts, http://www.rotoexperts.com

Mike, ‘bonds’, Winning at Fantasy Sports Live, http://winatfantasysportslive.com

Steve Schroeder, ‘stv1313’, Steve’s Gambling Sketchbook, http://stevesketchbook.blogspot.com

I have made my picks, unfortunately it was based on my usual casual level of "research". At least I'm pretty sure that I picked a guy that's going tonight for my starting pitcher and I don't think any of my position players are on the DL. How's that for focus?

More thoughts later - most likely tomorrow - on picks, results etc.

Coming Back Around

2009-05-05T10:59:00.002-04:00

It's been slow here as of late. Too many things to do, not enough hours in the day. I'm way behind on getting up to speed with baseball and I haven't been paying any attention whatsoever to the NBA playoffs or NASCAR.

For years I counted myself as a hardcore baseball junkie. I played in multiple rotisserie leagues, followed the box scores religiously and knew every organization's top prospects. That's no longer the case - the leagues have died off and I no longer have a subscription to a major newspaper.

Part of getting back into the game - and I do think that baseball is going to be where it's at - involves finding some regular online reads. Ideally, I'm hoping to find the equivalent of Aaron Gleeman for a variety of teams, backed up by some local beat writers. If I'm really really lucky, I can use RSS feeds and an aggregator to create a "virtual newspaper" so that keeping on top of things won't suck up all of my precious free time. It's a work in process.

Anyway, I'm signed up for a blogger bragging rights freeroll at Draftbug tomorrow. I'll be posting later about the entrants and just how poorly my selections fare.

Considering Retirement

2009-04-23T09:20:00.001-04:00

Maybe I should just quit. It doesn't get any better than this - first baseball contest of the season, zero prep time, etc etc ...

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

Thank you Carl Crawford.

Still Here

2009-04-22T10:22:00.003-04:00

I have been lax in updating, but that's mostly because there is little to update. Since the beginning of the month I've been on vacation, buried in deadline work and then out taking advantage of the beginning of golf season. Fantasy sports have temporarily been placed on the back burner.

It's about time for a comeback, though. This is prime time - baseball season is underway. NASCAR is in full swing. Basketball and hockey playoff contests are up. Every sports but football is available for play.

On the agenda:

1. Play some baseball contests at Fantasy Sports Live. I want to see how the scoring changes made for this season work in action.

2. Play some baseball freerolls at Snapdraft.

3. Check out the traffic at Draftbug. From what I've heard it sounds like it's building nicely.

Results to come.

April Underway

2009-04-02T11:26:00.002-04:00

Wednesday results: 1 contest entered (10 player); 1 cash; amount risked: $1.00; amount won: $1.00; net: $0.00; ROI 0.0%

At some point I'll take the time to recap my March results, but if my quick math was right, I was actually up about a cheeseburger.

Results Containment Post

2009-03-31T13:57:00.003-04:00

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)

2009-03-28T11:30:00.005-04:00

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

2009-03-26T09:52:00.003-04:00

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

2009-03-21T16:56:00.003-04:00

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

2009-03-19T10:35:00.002-04:00

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

2009-03-15T12:32:00.002-04:00

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

2009-03-14T10:17:00.004-04:00

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

2009-03-11T09:18:00.003-04:00

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

2009-03-09T13:32:00.002-04:00

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

2009-03-07T06:42:00.002-05:00

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

2009-03-06T09:06:00.004-05:00

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

2009-03-05T08:49:00.002-05:00

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.

2009-03-04T08:55:00.003-05:00

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

2009-03-03T11:05:00.003-05:00

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

2009-03-02T08:36:00.004-05:00

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

2009-03-01T10:34:00.004-05:00

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

2009-03-01T10:13:00.003-05:00

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

2009-03-01T10:05:00.002-05:00

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%

Medic

2009-02-28T11:26:00.004-05:00

One of these days there is going to be a breakthrough. I'm so very close to having a monster day - it seems to be one little thing each time that's killing my results. Yesterday was Kevin Durant going down in the first quarter with an ankle. Out for the game. As a result, I lost my heads up contests to guys who didn't pick Durant by 1 point and 4 points. Was close in the multis too.

Don't mind me. Just venting. And no, I'm not paying you a dollar for the bad beat story.

Friday results: 6 contests entered (3 - 10 player, 1 - 6 player, 2 HU); 1 cash (0, 1, 0); amount risked: $15.30; amount won: $10.00; net: ($5.30); ROI -34.6%

I watched the Phoenix-Toronto game and bits and pieces of some others. It was a blast from the past watching Shaq just absolutely destroy the Raptors. They could not stop him. Bosh, Bargniani and Voskuhl all picked up five fouls on hacks and Shaq still shot about 95% from the field.

The end of the New Orleans-Milwaukee game was pretty intense too. NO had it on cruise control, up about 20 points with three or four minutes left when the Bucks when nuts. Ridnour and Charlie Bell drained a whole bunch of threes, coming all the way back to lead by one. NO wins with a tip in at the buzzer.

Edit: Oh, and I lost my contest at DraftBug as well. Durant again.

Two Game Lottery

2009-02-27T08:49:00.002-05:00

Playing when there are only two games on the schedule is just pointless.

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

Also, note that the cutoff for this weekend's NASCAR contests is tonight at 6:40 ET.

DraftBug Trip Report

2009-02-26T20:33:00.005-05:00

As an avid player of daily fantasy sports contests, I'm always on the lookout for new places to play. A while back I was contacted by Alex from DraftBug.com, asking if I would check out his site. So I did.

Draftbug is a new site and is apparently part of a network of sites - "skins" in poker lingo. The idea is to have a common set of contests with multiple partners out there promoting their own front ends. This isn't a new idea but it is something different in daily fantasy sports - Fantasy Sports Live, Snapdraft and the other active sites I'm familiar with all run closed proprietary sites.

Getting an account set up is a snap, nothing different that any other site you may have joined.

When I signed up, I was given 4000 frequent player points, which can be used just like cash to enter selected contests. 1000 points = $1, so I used 1000 to enter a $1 or points heads up basketball contest. Play money contests are also available if you're into that sort of thing. Scoring, for basketball contests, is the same that's used at FSL.

There aren't a ton of contests available yet - I have to assume they're just getting going on building traffic:

Each contest has a point cap and each player has a point value. In an neat twist, different contests have different roster sizes. You might pick 5 players with a 750 point cap, or pick a whole bunch of players with a 1400 point cap.

The selection process is pretty much a no-brainer and is very user friendly. I didn't take any screenshots, but really, it's straightforward.

I won my first contest the other night and I'm signed up for another one tomorrow. I'll probably play a few more while my bankroll lasts. I may even deposit if I get on a roll - one thing I noticed is that while the front page says you can deposit by Paypal, I couldn't figure out how to do it. Credit card, no problem, but I couldn't figure out Paypal which is what I use.

In short, my take on the things that matter most to me:

1. Ease of use: Very good.

2. Easy, fast cash in and cash out: Incomplete. Paypal nit noted above & I haven't tried cashing out yet obviously.

3. Rake: Good. The rake is actually lower than FSL in one category - the $3.30 heads up pays $6, the same as the $3.40 heads up contests on FSL. Otherwise, it's no worse than Snapdraft.

4. Game selection: TBD. Too soon to tell - building a user base is what will make or break this site.

If you're looking for another place to play, you might want to give DraftBug a try.

NOTE: If you click one of my links, please note that you'll be coded as coming from my site. Assuming that I continue to like the site, I'll be acting as an affiliate and encouraging new signups.

One Win

2009-02-26T10:15:00.002-05:00

One win was not enough to salvage a positive day. A narrow loss in a heads up contest sealed another loser. Basketball is a funny game.

Wednesday results: 4 contests entered (3 - 10 player, 0 - 6 player, 1 HU); 1 cash (1, 0, 0); amount risked: $8.80; amount won: $5.00; net: ($3.80); ROI -43.2%

Only two games on the schedule tonight (I think), which means light play for me.

***

NASCAR contests are up for this weekend's Shelby 427 at Las Vegas.

I'm still resolved to not pick Mark Martin.

Knee'd

2009-02-25T10:15:00.003-05:00

I learned that Tim Duncan was out about half an hour after the games started. No Duncan = holes in lineup = no chance. Finished 9th and 10th - there were other issues as well. Ugh.

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

Basketball Above All

2009-02-24T08:22:00.004-05:00

A good day. Close to a very good day. If I'd taken Nate Robinson in all my contests instead of only most of them, it could have been a clean sweep. Lost two very winnable headsup matches, including one to etoppsfan. I guess I shouldn't have taken that backup Clippers center. Oops. It was nice to win the six player multi - I wanted to enter more multis yesterday, but there weren't any available other than a $22 six player contest.

Monday results: 8 contests entered (3 - 10 player, 1 - 6 player, 4 HU); 5 cashes (2, 1, 2); amount risked: $24.20; amount won: $36.00; net: +$11.80; ROI +48.8%

I was able to watch most of the Knicks-Pacers game, which was sloppy all around. I didn't know that TJ Ford and Marquis Daniels had the flu, but lucky for me Daniels was able to play through it and I didn't have Ford. I also ended up watching most of the Jazz-Hawks game (stupid insomnia). The Jazz are tough at home, the Hawks looked horrible. Mike Bibby may have the slowest feet of any starting guard in the NBA.

***

On a semi-related subject, Schaubs asked in comments whether I'd tried Draftbug yet. I hadn't, but got on the ball yesterday and signed up (although I see that I screwed that up. Oops). I'll probably write up a trip report and some thoughts tonight, but I'll mention that I won my contest against kaiseroll13.

NASCAR Is Rigged

2009-02-23T10:28:00.002-05:00

Note to self: STOP picking Mark Martin.

I've developed a real talent for finishing fourth in ten player contests. That of course will get you nothing. And we won't mention the last place finish in my other NASCAR contest.

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

Have I mentioned the thing about finishing fourth? I managed to do it again in basketball - this time by two points, thanks a bunch Allen Iverson - costing me a nicely profitable day.

Sunday results (basketball): 3 contests entered (2 - 10 player, 1 HU); 1 cash (HU); amount risked: $7.80; amount won: $6.00; net: ($1.80); ROI -23.1%

I'm in five contests so far today - depending on when I get home this may end up being my busiest basketball day so far. I've been watching a ton of games lately, so I'm up to speed on who's who and what's what. The FSL results haven't been great, but that's at least partially due to the way that basketball contests are scored and also part due to the fact that there are several tough regulars who play a lot more NBA contests than I do. The one thing that I haven't been doing that I really need to do is to be more disciplined in my picks - when entering dollar contests, I tend to wing it.

Tidal Wave?

2009-02-22T10:42:00.002-05:00

This is turning into nothing more than an avalanche of results posts. Time to get on the ball.

Speaking of results, a basically break even day yesterday. Middle of the pack in both multis. I didn't have enough Woyas or Thundererers. What a crazy game that was. I know that OKC has a reputation for not being good at defense, but Golden State could not miss no matter what. It doesn't matter that you're getting killed on the glass when you shoot better than 56%.

Saturday results: 3 contests entered (2 - 10 player, 0 - 6 player, 1 HU); 1 cash (0, 0, 1); amount risked: $5.40; amount won: $6.00; net: +$0.60; ROI: +11.1%

I didn't play as much as planned yesterday, given the small number of games on the schedule. We'll see about today.

Dollar Up

2009-02-21T10:03:00.002-05:00

Finally put together a (slightly) winning night. Basketball is frustrating. The ROI would have been a lot better if I'd stayed away from the temptation to enter a heads up later-start contest.

Friday results: 3 contests entered (2 - 10 player, 0 - 6 player, 1 HU); 2 cashes (2, 0, 0); amount risked: $5.40; amount won: $7.00; net: +$1.60; ROI: +29.6%

It's snowing like crazy at the moment, so I may spend a little time today entering some more NASCAR contests as well as basketball contests.

Ugly Ball

2009-02-20T08:55:00.002-05:00

Well that wasn't good. Dead last in my contest last night and I subjected myself to both the Spurs-Pistons game and about half of the Jazz-Celtics game. The Pistons had no functional offense other than Iverson running around and chucking up shots - I always forget what a lousy shooter he is. The Spurs were pretty terrible. The Jazz shot 19% in the first quarter. Yuck yuck yuck.

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

User Tips: Watch For Fresh Contest Batches

2009-02-19T09:15:00.004-05:00

(part of a series where I offer random tips to improve your Fantasy Sports Live experience)

It's easy when you're a regular player at Fantasy Sports Live to get into the habit of thinking "oh, it's 7:00, the games have started, it's too late to enter any contests." Before you do, stop.

On busy nights, there may be contests available with different start times. Last night, for example, there were the usual 7:00 ET NBA contests covering all the games, but in addition there was a batch of contests featuring the 8:00 ET and later starts and yet another batch with the 10:00 ET and later games - perfect for you folks on the left coast. Three different "batches" of contests. This sort of thing also happens during football season, when you'll find "Late Games" contests which start around 4:15 ET. Hockey too from the looks of it.

Another time to watch for fresh batches of contests is on holidays and weekends where there might be one early game - probably on TV - during the day and then more games at night. There are frequently later-starting contests on those days.

The bottom line: Don't just assume that there are no contests available and you're too late if the games have started, log on and have a look you might just be surprised!

Kevin Love Love

2009-02-19T09:04:00.003-05:00

The game of the night last night was Minnesota-Miami. It was a close game all the way. I'd stayed away from picking T'Wolves since I had the idea that Miami was a pretty good defensive team. There weren't many signs of that actually being the case, though. And they sure couldn't rebound.

The only other takeaway: Kevin Love is wider than I remember him being in college. This is not a bad thing and no wonder he's such a force on the glass.

As for FSL, another frustrating night. Two bubbles (first slot out of the cash) in four contests, needed five more points in each. I did win a 6 player contest on the late games, so it wasn't a complete wipeout, but still another down day.

Wednesday results: 4 contests entered (2 - 10 player, 2 - 6 player); 1 cash (0, 1); amount risked: $8.50; amount won: $4.00; net: ($4.50); ROI -52.9%

There are only two games on the NBA schedule tonight, so no serious play. I'll be in at least one $1 contest for kicks, but otherwise will be taking the day off.

Tony Parker, Bricklayer - Coming This Fall to ABC

2009-02-18T09:26:00.003-05:00

I watched the Knicks-Spurs game last night. I loaded up my rosters with Tim Duncan and Tony Parker given that (1) Ginobli was out and (2) the Kincks aren't exactly known for defense.

Ugh. Duncan was okay - he was quiet most of the game but asserted himself in the fourth quarter. For a guy with a reputation as a mediocre defender, I thought David Lee played him well.

The rest of the Spurs offense was painful to watch. Parker in particular. He hit a couple shots in the first quarter and then clanged shot after shot after shot off the front iron. 5 for 20 shooting. Nice going, Tony, I'm not picking you for a while. Unless you're up against some team with lead footed guards at least.

Otherwise, the evening was kind of a clunker. I took a flyer in a couple contests on Mareese Speights, who'd played very well lately. He got 2 minutes and put up a big fat zero. I had Okur in a contest, another zero. Oops. Still, if I hadn't bubbled the 6 player, I would have had a profitable night.

Tuesday results: 4 contests entered (2 - 10 player, 1 - 6 player, 1 HU); 1 cash (HU); amount risked: $10.90; amount won: $6.00; net: ($4.90); ROI -45.0%

Monday results: DNP, bankroll given presidential pardon for the day

More Fantasy NASCAR Contests Are Up

2009-02-18T06:50:00.000-05:00

It looks like this weekend's racing contests have been posted at Fantasy Sports Live.

There are two flavors to choose from - the first is titled "Auto Club 500", which covers qualifying and the race, the other is "California Races" which covers the Nationwide race (Statler Brothers 300) and the AC500. The usual assortment of heads up and multi-player contests with buy ins from $1 to $100+ are available.

I'm in one contest for each so far. Good luck with your picks.

Racing Racing Racing

2009-02-16T16:31:00.004-05:00

Query: If you won a lot playing fantasy NASCAR last weekend, are you referring to it as DaytOWNa?

Purely a hypothetical question in my case. I had mediocre selections and broke even.

Sunday results: 2 contests entered (NASCAR); 1 cash; amount risked: $2.00; amount won: $2.00; net: $0.00; ROI 0.0%

Saturday results: DNP, mesmerized by NBA skills competition

Friday results: DNP, entranced by prospect of NBA skills competition

[Semi O/T] Moneyball NBA-Style

2009-02-16T11:45:00.002-05:00

If you have some time to kill and are looking for an interesting read, check out this story in the NY Times by Michael Lewis (of Moneyball fame) on Shane Battier and the application of statistical analysis to the NBA.

Buried somewhere toward the end are a few numbers which explain, I think, in part why betting on NBA games and playing fantasy NBA contests can be so frustrating.

Passed On The Last Lap

2009-02-13T08:54:00.002-05:00

Ouch. Bubbled in both my NASCAR contests that went final after Daytona qualifying yesterday. 4th in the 10 player, 3rd in the 6 player. Nuts.

Thursday results (NASCAR): 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%)

Also continued the basketball losing streak. Didn't risk anything with the 3 game schedule, though. Time for the All Star break and no basketball contests until Tuesday.

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

It's been nice to see some new contestants, especially in the NASCAR games.

Break Time

2009-02-12T08:51:00.002-05:00

Only three games on tap tonight, followed by the All Star break. After watching a lot of basketball the last couple nights, I'm ready for a break myself.

Middle of the pack finishes yesterday. I jumped into the 6 player very late, thinking it might not fill up. It did, and with a bunch of names from the top of the FSL leader board. Tough competition.

Wednesday results: 2 contests entered (1 - 10 player, 1 - 6 player); 0 cashes; amount risked: $6.50; amount won: $0.00; net: ($6.50); ROI (100.0%)

Not Cavalier

2009-02-11T10:46:00.002-05:00

Ugh. Best finish last night was 8th. Too many players in the Indy-Cleveland game and only LeBron put up decent numbers.

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

How To Play Daily Fantasy NASCAR Contests

2009-02-10T18:58:00.010-05:00

Looking to cash in on your NASCAR knowledge? Fantasy Sports Live just might be the right place for you to do just that.

Here's how, in just a few easy steps:

Step 1. To get started, you need an account at Fantasy Sports Live. You can sign up by going to the site and hitting the "open an account" button. You'll be asked for your name, address, email address, a nickname to be used on the site, and a couple other easy questions. If you decide to fund your account - which you can do with Paypal or a credit card - be sure to fill in the "bonus code" box (may I humbly suggest bonus code BONDS) in order to get the best signup bonus available. Free money, which you can use to check the site out.

Step 2. Once you have an account, it's time to check out the available contests. On the main page of Fantasy Sports Live, you'll see a Contest Lobby with a list of all contests. Forget that, we're talking NASCAR.

To filter out basketball and hockey, click on the "RACING" tab at the top:

That should give you a list of JUST the NASCAR contests.

Step 3. Next, decide what you're interested in playing. As you can see, you can choose from heads up, 6 player and 10 player contests, at stakes ranging from $1 to $107:

(If you want more information on how the contests are scored, click the "RULES" tab near the top of the page).

(Also, if you want to play something that's not offered, I'd suggest emailing support).

Step 4. Okay, you've made your decision as to what you want to play. Click on the underlined contest name (or the view button) for the contest of your choice to open the "Contest Details" lobby. As you can see, I'm being bold and playing a $1 contest with 10 players. You can also see that prizes are $5 for first, $3 for second and $2 for third, that there is a "ranking cap" of 1000 points, and that the Nationwide Camping World 300 and the Daytona 500 are the races involved.

In order to sign up for the contest, I just had to check the two "I agree" boxes and click on the "REGISTER" button, which gets me to ...

Step 5. Now it's time to select my lineup. I have to pick up to 4 drivers in the Nationwide race and 5 from Daytona using my 1000 points. Each driver has a point value, based on his historical performance.

You can see I have already made a selection of Carl Edwards in the Nationwide. All I did was click the button next to his name on the player list. You can move back and forth between the 2 races by clicking the underlined title, and if you need to remove a guy you've selected, just click the red "X" next to his name to open up the slot.

Step 6. Once you've made your selections, you can name your team if you wish, then hit the "Play" button. I'm not giving you a screen cap here because you don't need to know my super secret NASCAR strategery (lol). You'll go back to the Contest Details lobby. You're playing!

If you get buyer's remorse and want to change your lineup, from the Contest Details lobby just click on one of your picks to re-open the team selection process.

So there you have it - playing daily Fantasy NASCAR contests as Fantasy Sports Live is super easy, fun and (if you know your stuff) profitable. Check it out this season!

[Mostly O/T] Pirate TV Nerd Networks?

2009-02-10T08:56:00.003-05:00

While doing mostly nothing last evening, I found myself pondering some unanswerable questions. First, why is it that technology allows me to watch Chinese TV in acceptable quality and yet I can't even get a signal from my local CBS or NBC affiliates? Second, how on earth do you read a scroll of Chinese-language characters? I would think that trying to do so would make your head hurt.

One of the other questions I was pondering was just how many private pirated TV networks are out there. I personally don't know of any, but I would think that there must be some. Organize a group of people around a common interest, say sports or movies. Let's say, since it's basketball season, the NBA. You'd need the local feeds from each NBA market, plus ESPN and NBA TV. Figure around 30 sources. You set up shop in China or some other country that has little respect for intellectual property and stream the feeds. If your local feed suppliers are fans and would otherwise subscribe, your costs there could be very low. The question is how many subscribers you could get while still keeping your site below the radar. I would think that it would be enough - worldwide - that you could make a decent little profit. So I bet there are already networks out there.

This is all conjecture, of course, and I don't condone that sort of thing. Besides, my internet connection is barely stable enough to use espn.com's NBA scoreboard.

On to the results. I managed to win my contest last night, avoiding lousy performances by Steve Nash and Al Thornton as well as David West's suspension. Good times.

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

Yeah, that will look good on the monthly ROI chart.

[Semi-O/T] NBA Injury Wave

2009-02-09T19:16:00.005-05:00

I just surfed over to espn.com and saw this:

MINNEAPOLIS -- All the progress the Minnesota Timberwolves have made in the new year came to a crashing halt Monday.
Star center Al Jefferson, the cornerstone of the franchise's rebuilding plan who has emerged as one of the best post players in the league, will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL in his right knee.

Argh. His stellar fantasy production aside, Jefferson is one of my favorite players.

Also on the NBA page: "Sasha Pavlovic may miss 6 weeks" ... "Jason Terry out with broken bone in hand". Injuries, injuries and more injuries.

You'd almost think they were playing football.

Anyway, light schedule tonight with only 4 games. Lots of Fantasy Sports Live roster overlap. I'm in one $1 contest as has been the norm of late. Since I don't feel much like doing anything, I may just settle in and watch some hoops.

And Another

2009-02-09T09:37:00.004-05:00

Bud Shootout/Daytona Qualification NASCAR contests haven't gone final yet, so just some basketball results. You'll note that I haven't been playing in volume - since I haven't had time lately to pay enough attention to really be comfortable, I've just been playing a cheap multi or two to keep in the game.

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

I might have a chance in one of the NASCAR contests I'm in, but probably not. We'll see. More NASCAR stuff later.

Some Results, I Guess

2009-02-08T00:24:00.003-05:00

Quick results post so I stay on top of it.

Saturday results: 2 contests entered (2 - 10 player); 2 cashes; amount risked: $2.00; amount won: $7.00; net: $5.00; ROI: +250.0%

Got a zero from Mike Bibby in one contest. Oops.

Also in two Bud Shootout NASCAR contests, which will count as Sunday results, since they don't end until tomorrow. Early results are meh - had big negatives from two guys so I'm middle of the pack.

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

Had two dud point guards. If one of them has a decent game, I cash.

Fantasy NASCAR Is Back

2009-02-06T09:05:00.003-05:00

One of the unique offerings of Fantasy Sports Live is daily NASCAR contests.

I did some nosing around the web and found a bunch of season-long fantasy NASCAR stuff, but nothing like what FSL is offering. Snapdraft doesn't offer NASCAR and none of the other couple of daily sites that I checked do either.

This weekend has two contests on tap - one relating to the Bud Shootout and one relating to Daytona. In each case you pick a lineup based on performance at qualifying and a second lineup based on performance in the race itself. You can choose a point cap contest or you can go uncapped and pick all stars. Check the Fantasy Sports Live site (Rules tab) for detail on how the contests are scored.

Both heads up and multi-player contests are available, with buy ins ranging from $1 to $107. As of right now, there are only a couple contests filled. Traffic is likely to pick up some heading into the weekend and as the season goes along and race fans discover this quick and easy way to win cash from their knowledge of NASCAR.

I don't know all that much, so if you find me in a contest, you can assume that I'm donating. I'm in a dollar multi for the Bud Shootout and will probably enter one for Daytona as well. It'll give me a reason to pay attention as to who wins.