DraftKings employee wins fanduel 350K with Inside Informatio

[Tom Kessenich]

In two of the playoff tournaments I was in last season the winning teams in different weeks started Danny Amendola and Davante Adams, two players who had stunk for weeks (if not most of the season) but had low ownership. Hitting on the low ownership players who outperform expectations is a huge part of winning big in DFS. I've definitely found that to be true in my experience.

[JETS SB]

In two of the playoff tournaments I was in last season the winning teams in different weeks started Danny Amendola and Davante Adams, two players who had stunk for weeks (if not most of the season) but had low ownership. Hitting on the low ownership players who outperform expectations is a huge part of winning big in DFS. I've definitely found that to be true in my experience.

I completely agree that playing sleepers might help you win. But did you really need the percentage owned numbers on Amendola and Adams in order to realize that these guys would not be highly owned?

[Tom Kessenich]

In two of the playoff tournaments I was in last season the winning teams in different weeks started Danny Amendola and Davante Adams, two players who had stunk for weeks (if not most of the season) but had low ownership. Hitting on the low ownership players who outperform expectations is a huge part of winning big in DFS. I've definitely found that to be true in my experience.

I completely agree that playing sleepers might help you win. But did you really need the percentage owned numbers on Amendola and Adams in order to realize that these guys would not be highly owned?

Are you saying you would turn down any potential advantage to help you win thousands and perhaps millions of dollars if it was available to you? Cuts both ways Alan.

[JETS SB]

In two of the playoff tournaments I was in last season the winning teams in different weeks started Danny Amendola and Davante Adams, two players who had stunk for weeks (if not most of the season) but had low ownership. Hitting on the low ownership players who outperform expectations is a huge part of winning big in DFS. I've definitely found that to be true in my experience.

I completely agree that playing sleepers might help you win. But did you really need the percentage owned numbers on Amendola and Adams in order to realize that these guys would not be highly owned?

Are you saying you would turn down any potential advantage to help you win thousands and perhaps millions of dollars if it was available to you? Cuts both ways Alan.

I would. But I disagree that it is that much of an advantage as everyone is making it out to be. There are a ton of sleepers every week. Too many combinations. And somehow knowing that a certain guy I like is highly owned or not, would not sway my choices. Its not like betting a long shot at the race track, where higher odds pay you more. Its the same either way. Sleepers for me are guys who might have a low salary that has a good Matchup and might play well. Maybe everyone else sees that same guy as a sleeper, I am still playing him either way.

I agree that everyone or no one should have ownership info. I said that in my first post. But it is way overblown that it makes that much of a difference. I have seen many weeks where the highest owned players are the majority of the highest scorers. And also have seen the opposite and many combinations in between. There is no set strategy to win these million dollar contests. Its a lottery ticket. Ethan Haskell had 200+ entries in that contest. He got lucky with one. Most of these high rollers have done the same. He just happens to be an employee of the other site. Are we saying he is the only employee of the competition that plays? Far from it. But he is the only one that won big money, as far as we know. The others lost like the rest of us. So much for having "inside information".

[Tom Kessenich]

According to one report Draft Kings employees have won around $6 million in prizes on Fanduel. That's a lotta money. If any of that was obtained due to improper practices that is a serious problem.

[JETS SB]

According to one report Draft Kings employees have won around $6 million in prizes on Fanduel. That's a lotta money. If any of that was obtained due to improper practices that is a serious problem.

Lets see the report regarding how much money they entered into these contests. If its anything like Ethan Haskell, they likely lost like everyone else who didnt win a top prize. Ethan barely profited, even with the big win.

[Tom Kessenich]

Alan, nobody is suggesting or saying that having this type of information guarantees you 100% success. That clearly isn't the case. However, the belief is it can provide you with an advantage over the playing field. You don't believe that. As a DFS player I clearly do and I'm definitely not in the minority. If I was, this wouldn't have become a major story.

[Don Draper]

I've dabbled in DFS and it is absolutely an advantage to know the %'s ahead of time. IMO anyone who doesn't thinks so, doesn't understand how to be a successful DFS player.

I'm sure there are NFBC'ers who think a current adp report is meaningless, ie, u should have a general idea where players go. Those folks are called dead money in my book

[renman]

% owned doesn't even need to be a hidden metric. Make it public as people are building lineups. Let everyone see % owned. Who cares? Let everyone have access to the info and let the players make their decisions. The bigger point is that Fanduel and draftkings need more transparency and would be smart to back off the massive advertising and grow at a more reasonable pace.

[renman]

I've dabbled in DFS and it is absolutely an advantage to know the %'s ahead of time. IMO anyone who doesn't thinks so, doesn't understand how to be a successful DFS player.

I'm sure there are NFBC'ers who think a current adp report is meaningless, ie, u should have a general idea where players go. Those folks are called dead money in my book

I bet you could predict %owned within 5%. It isn't that hard to look at the salaries, matchups and role the player has that week (Freemans role changed because Freeman broke his ribs) and predict with relative accuracy %owned. That doesn't help a player identify with any certainty what the players stats will be.

What I would like to see is more discussion about playing DFS that way fantasy sports is/was meant to be played. Meaning you make tough decisions, based on your predictions, on the players in the player pool and then compete with a team you built. When people can enter a stunning number of player combinations (in the same contest) among the players with obvious best matchups you cease to be playing fantasy sports (in my opinion) and are now playing a weighted lottery that requires little skill. That is the bigger turnoff to me about DFS though I do play it and enjoy it.