Part of sports betting and playing daily fantasy sports is riding the ups and downs. You can get hot, go cold, get lucky and feel like everything is working against you at times. Then some night’s weird things happen, like stat corrections. Last night was a really good night for me on Draft Kings. I have been trying to take bigger shots in GPP’s with a friend of mine. Last night we almost crushed, well we thought we did.
It appeared we finished in second place and had won $20K. Awesome. These are the GPP nights you dream about. Big scores to make all that prep and hard work seem worth it. Turning $88 into $20K.
Then there was a stat correction. I don’t know exactly what it was or who was affected, but $15k was lost in the process. The drop from 2nd to 4th meant “only” winning $5k in that GPP. If I had gone to sleep and woken up to see that I had won $5k I would have been ecstatic. Instead, I woke up and felt disappointed. What a weird feeling. Had my biggest score in a while and I didn’t feel great.
It took me a little while to realize it was my perception that was off. I never actually was winning $20k. That was a mistake, but I did really win $5k. In my other GPP’s I won another $1k collectively. With some time and perspective, I thought, what an amazing night.
Living the GPP life can be maddening. Some people may never get a four figure score. This was my second this NBA season. Yet, I had ZERO this NFL season. I had ZERO this past MLB season. I had ZERO last NBA season. Four years ago (The year the Warriors lost to the Cavs) I had FIVE four figure scores in six weeks.
I am not the first, nor will I be the last to preach bankroll management. The DFS game is difficult and people are getting better. All the study, hard work and prep in the world might mean nothing. Some nights if one player gets in foul trouble, shoots poorly, drops a touchdown or leaves early with an injury you are done. Never play too much money on a given night and remember these is always tomorrow. The same goes for sports betting. Sometimes I am betting $20 a game, sometimes a lot more. You don’t have to hit homeruns to build a bankroll. If you can grind out $50 a day that’s over $18k for a year. That’s a lot of extra money for your family, yourself, or to allow you to keep grinding.
This was the lineup from last night. There were a couple of decisions that were difficult that helped us land where we did. The biggest decision was actually Giannis vs KAT. Giannis in a pace up spot in a competitive game seemed so juicy. However, this NBA season I have a pretty strict rule. When the Atlanta Hawks play, stack against them. The Hawks play fast and can’t stop anyone. Twenty minutes before lock, yanked Giannis and put in KAT. Towns crushed and so did Tyus Jones for Minnesota. Nic Batum was severely under-priced on Draft Kings at $4700. Batum almost got 10x on his price. Once the Heat ruled out Whiteside I was ready to play Bam and Kelly Olynyk. One of my big DFS nights from a few years ago was playing Kelly O when he was on the Celtics against the Warriors. The Heat’s opponent last night, the Warriors. It felt almost like destiny putting him in the lineup.
In the late games I had three players in my lineup. Lebron was the unquestioned best play of the night. He was going to play 40+ minutes in a fast-paced match-up. Lebron’s price is about to get absurd for the next few weeks. In that same game Elf Payton has really blossomed now that Anthony Davis is playing limited minutes. He almost got to 7x on his $5200 price tag. The last man in the lineup was the key to winning all the money. Bogdan Bogdanovic, my new hero. Priced at only $4900, Bogdan almost got to 12x on his price. Better yet, he was only 4% owned in a majority of contests on Draft Kings. Add all that up and it is 361 Draft Kings points of fantasy goodness.
How do you celebrate a big win like this? Get right back on the grind today. Make sure you follow us on Twitter and Instagram to see our wagers and any DFS thoughts we may have. Good luck everyone!
NBA Record 46-37 (55.42%)
NBA Parlay and Teaser Record 7-17 +483
College Basketball Record 8-8 (50%)
College Parlay and Teaser Record 1-6 -350
Basketball Total Record 54-45 (54.54%)
Basketball Parlay and Teaser Record 8-20 +133
Win The Weekends 