Quick Picks

Pressed for time... here are the picks with no explanation:

CFL: Saskatchewan (+1) @ Hamilton.
NCAA: USC (-3) @ Oregon.
NFL: Miami (+3.5) @ NY Jets.
[2009 YTD 13-14.]

Why Auto Draft Is Best For NBA Daily Fantasy Games

This is the third season I'm trying my hand at fantasy basketball. The previous two years, I just felt I didn't have any edge over the competition, and it was a "rolling dice" scenario at best.

From the first to the second year, FSL changed their roster size from seven to nine. This helped reduce the possibility of duplicate rosters, but it still seemed all the regulars had several similar players each night.

Now going from the second to third season, I have the added advantage of my daily fantasy projections to help choose the best roster. I'm hoping my mathematical model will give me an edge this season.

However, there's going to be those nights where everyone picks the same. Just two nights into the current season, I've already seen exact duplicate rosters from two of the best opponents (with 12 games on the schedule, no less)!

I've been playing both salary cap and auto draft over on Fan Duel, and I think auto draft is a superior product for basketball. With a 9 player roster and no overlapping picks, I feel this is a much more skillful game. Even though there is no cap, there are some great disparities between 1st and 2nd (or 3rd/4th) choice at a given position.

It is a different skill than picking 9 players to neatly fit into your cap, but I think it's a stronger component to success, making cap games seem more luck oriented.

Maybe I just like the fact that there will be 9 unique players on each roster, and I won't have seven identical players as Tippy, Bonds, Kaiseroll13 and Primetime420. That gets old pretty quick.

Partly Profitable With A Chance of Winnings Through The Weekend

I managed to suffer through a quite nasty losing streak in hockey, putting up losing numbers on all three sites most of the week.

However, Sunday was kinder to me, putting winners up across the board. Most of my profits on FSL came from NASCAR, where I won every contest save two. I profited slightly on football, just barely in the black again.

I swept all 5 football contests on Fan Duel and also won a hockey contest for a perfect Sunday. I had swooned lately over there - after a hot 10-2 start, it took this perfecto to get me back over .500 lifetime at 22-21.

Snapdraft hasn't settled yet but I'm looking at another winning Sunday, since my only player left (Celek) shouldn't score negative points.

I'm in the process of getting all of my stats updated, which I will post on Twitter. I've been a winner on all four sites (Draftbug included) in September and October.

Oh, and I lost all three of my football picks. Meh.

Basketball starts tomorrow night - I'm hoping my daily fantasy projections can give me an edge this year.

Chronic Fatigue

I just haven't felt really energized since last week. I'm getting things done, but it's been a drag on me.

I had a losing night in fantasy hockey on Thursday. I pulled the "bizarro" perfecto on Snapdraft, finishing last in every contest, including three 25-players. It's been a long time since I pulled an "oh fer" over there.

Football picks: CFL, Montreal (-3.5) @ Winnipeg. I'll ride the Al's all the way to the post-season. NCAA, Temple @ Toledo (-2.5). Another MAC coin flip. NFL, Falcons (+4) @ Cowboys. I like the coaching matchup for Atlanta. [2009 YTD 13-11.]

My Desktop Is Dead, I'm Still Alive

The main hard drive on my PC is fried, I cannot get it to load any OS. Time for a replacement. Living off the netbook for the time being.

It was a very strange week all around. My recent illness was not the flu - I didn't have any respiratory distress, but I did have all of the other symptoms: fever, shakes, sweats, chills, etc. I'm still feeling a little lethargic, but good enough to get around.

Obviously, I didn't get around to making any football picks last week.

In my fantasy world, I have been CRUSHING (perhaps wafflecrushing?) fantasy hockey all around. I believe I have won outright 24 of my last 25 contests on FSL. Snapdraft has been almost as good. One night recently was a perfecto, going 15 of 15, which included three 25-player victories.

Week 6 football was a mixed bag, but a profitable one. I eked out a winner on FSL, cashing in 12 of 31 contests for a meager $12 profit.

On Fan Duel I was destroyed in all 5 auto-draft contests. I picked Aaron Rodgers first, so all of my opponents got Jones-Drew 2nd and Tom Brady later. (I do have an outside shot at one victory if Antonio Gates scores 10 points tonight.)

However, On Snapdraft I had another huge day. I'm on pace to win around 25 of my 30 contests, which won't be settled until after Monday Night Football.

My most impressive feat of the weekend was winning a 25-player multi on FSL without Tom Brady on my roster. That certainly shows the strength of my daily fantasy projections.

Blech.

I've managed to come down with flu-like symptoms. (I hope it's not the VH1-N1... fever, chills, shakes and Flava of Love re-runs.) All kidding aside, I'm not functioning very well right now.

I wanted to post in detail my weekly results, but this will have to suffice for now:

1) I lost some on FSL last weekend.
2) I've won a bunch on Snapdraft this past week.
3) I've decided to stop playing the Sundays w/ Dr. Pauly promo. I'll explain why later, but the short answer is: I'm quitting while I'm ahead.

I'm off to search for OTC remedies. Do they make Jager-quil? I need some sleep.

Football Threecast

Football picks: CFL, Calgary @ Montreal (-5.5). Thanksgiving special, take the Al's at home. NCAA, Auburn (-1) @ Arkansas. Coaching is the difference. NFL, Patriots (-3) @ Broncos. A healthy WR corps should carry New England. [2009 YTD 12-9.]

Snapdraft 100% Reload Bonus

I'm not sure this applies to everyone, but I got this email from snapdraft recently:

"Dear Valued User,

Thank you for returning to SnapDraft!

As a reward for playing, we're offering a very special, one-time deal.

We will match your deposit 100%. Yes, if you deposit $10, we will match that with a $10 promotional credit of our own. If you deposit $20, we will match that with a $20 promotional credit (Limit of $100 promotional credit match.)

Hurry now, offer ends 10/9/09 5PM ET.

If you want to take advantage of this great offer, email us at concierge@fanball.com.

Thank you again and good luck!

The SnapDraft Team"

That ought to compensate for a few months of slightly higher rake.

Football picks coming soon.

Fantasy Musings

I had a decent Sunday, it was very profitable. On FSL I cashed in 25 of 35 contests for an ROI of +102.90%. My Snapdraft contests have not settled yet, but I expect I didn't do as well over there. I scored well in SWDP but didn't cash. I'm 4th overall with one week to go.

In daily fantasy site news:

-It appears Draftbug has stopped offering contests altogether. I don't know if that platform will remain active... I imagine it could disappear any day.

-Snapdraft seems to have reduced/eliminated their freerolls, replacing them with "100% payout" contests (similar to FSL $1 contests). I'm not sure if this is to combat multi-accounting, or perhaps they just got tired of giving away free money.

-Fan Duel has launched salary cap contests to go with their auto draft offerings. All of the contests are HU, but I'm really impressed with the site. I hope to play there much more in the future.

My desktop is still running, but slower than I would like. So I'm sticking to smaller posts until the issue is resolved.

Carry on.

Technology Is My Friend?

Computers problems at about defcon 3. Here's all I got for now:

Football picks: CFL, Saskatchewan @ BC Lions (pick). Coin flip, you know the drill. NCAA, Air Force @ Navy (-2.5). Gotta like the Midshipmen at home. NFL, Cowboys (-3) @ Broncos. Barring a snowstorm, should be an easy Dallas win. [2009 YTD 10-8.]