How Daily Fantasy Sports Made Me A Better Poker Player

(Could also be titled: Bad Beats Happen In Fantasy Too!)

So I'm on a three day losing streak. Not the best way to end up the month.

On Tuesday, I lost every contest, due to the fact that Stephen Strasburg was scratched minutes before the start time. With 0 points from my pitcher, I was pretty much doomed for the night.

When this situation happens, I like to go back to all of my news sources and see which one reported it first. This helps me lock in the best places to look for information.

BTW, earliest announcement? 7:01pm. Four minutes before start time. Not enough time to change the rosters. (Actually AFTER the start time on Snapdraft.)

I guess someone could argue that playing fewer contests (or even only one) would prevent this situation in the future. Well, it would be nice to only modify one roster, but:

a) You still need to have that info right at 7:01 to be able to change the roster.
b) I had some opponents who also had Strasburg, so I still had a fighting chance in those contests.

Anyway, onto the main point of this post.

Players get injured. Players get ejected. Games get cancelled. Sometimes it costs you a bunch of contests.

When I get a "bad beat" in fantasy, I easily realize that it's completely out of my control. I have no control over the weather, the officiating or the health of athletes.

In poker, this is the analogy I failed to connect with for many years.

When someone would hit a running one out, one out straight flush on me, I would beat myself up. I'd tell myself I played the hand horribly and I should have done something differently to make my opponent fold.

The intention of learning to make myself a better player was there, but the lesson was rarely learned.

Thanks to my fantasy bad beats, I've come to learn which plays at the poker table I can control.

Now I'm a much more confident and relaxed poker player - with improved results.