Fantasy Football
My back is broken again. A combination of drinking, sleeping on the couch, and attempting to do push ups all lead to me ripping a muscle in my back again. The same muscle I ripped in January that had me out of commission for months. That means, all I can really do is chip and putt. I’m not going to let it get worse like I did last time. Ice it down, do nothing physical, and focus on one of my other passions outside of poker… fantasy sports.
I don’t do fantasy drafts, that’s just way too boring. Instead we do it auction style so that you can really mess with people and skill players a larger role. For example, I drove up Frank Gore’s price by about 15% because I picked up a monster tell on my opponent that he’s be willing to spend 40% of his bankroll on him. He did.
The set up for the pool was pretty simple: everyone gets 200 “fantasy dollars” to complete a 15 man roster:
QB
RB
RB
WR
WR
TE
RB/WR FLEX
K
DEF
RES
RES
RES
RES
RES
RES
These guys, most of them anyway didn’t seem to have any experience with auction drafts and simply bid when they liked a guy and didn’t when they had no interest. They also just went down the line and nominated the top backs right off the bat. That makes things difficult, especially for me and my main strategy. My goal was to get 3 top 10 RB’s and fill the rest of the team with what I could. However, since the big backs went so early, that elevated the price of the second tier backs.
My first pick was WR James Hardy, BUF. I only spent $3 on the 6′ 7″ rookie who is the kind of guy who stands in the end zone and catches balls. He’ll get loads of looks in the red zone right off the bat since Buffalo’s other wides are short.
My second grab wasn’t a guy I even had on my list. I planned on having a weaker QB like Jay Cutler, DEN on the cheap, but I drove up the price on QB Peyton Manning, IND. getting him for $42. ESPN magazine had him rated to go for that much in a 12 team league, so it’s a very slight bargain, depending, of course, on his injury.
RB’s were getting scarce so I knew that’s where I had to go next and spend my wad. I spent $49 on RB Marshawn Lynch, BUF. and $45 on Ryan Grant, GB. respectively. I’m a Buffalo Bills fan and have never had a player on that team in a fantasy draft, but now I have two. Lynch is a solid choice, and I think new Green Bay QB Arron Rodgers is going to depend on Grant a lot in the red zone.
I had enough money for one more splash but RB’s were scarce. I had WR Andre Johnson, HOU. rated to go for about $44 so when he was available at $34 I jumped on the chance. He is a top 5 WR according to ESPN the magazine.
That freed me up to bid on TE Antonio Gates, SD. who wasn’t on my list either. I wanted Chris Cooley cheaper, but nabbed Gates for $15.
That left me almost broke but I had my nucleus in place. I could now bid a max of $4 on any one player. Before doing that I filled in my defense for $1 going with Seattle Seahawks which ESPN had rated at #2.
Then WR Ted Ginn, JR, MIA. got nominated for a buck and I went all in for 4 desperately need a wide. I then added K Josh Scobee, JAX to fill out my roster. I picked up the rest of my team for $1 each:
QB: Peyton Manning, IND.
RB: Marshawn Lynch, BUF.
RB: Ryan Grant, GB.
WR: Andre Johnson, HOU.
WR: Ted Ginn JR. MIA.
TE: Antonio Gates, SD.
FLEX: WR Anthony Gonzalez, IND. (A good combo with Manning and will play)
K: Josh Scobee, JAX.
DEF: SEATTLE SEAHAWKS
RES: WR James Hardy, BUF.
RES: WR Isaac Bruce, SF. (New team, old coach)
RES: WR Ronald Curry, OAK. (a sleeper)
RES: WR Sidney Rice, MIN. (a rookie)
RES: RB Ray Rice, BAL. (a rookie who will start until McGahee comes back)
RES: RB Chris Perry, CIN. (may also start in Cincy)
It’s a 10 team league that includes PotOdds3, Gavin Smith, Erick Lindgren, and “Team Phil Hellmuth which drafted the oldest team by a long shot. I’ve got all kinds of bets going with everyone so it should be like a 50k investment at least.
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Today is likely my last day in Vegas before heading to LA in preparation for the bike. I was going to drive and bring my clubs, but now that my back is out of commission I think I’ll just fly. I’m going early to record my new radio show with host Scott Huff and Justin Bonomo. This show will be different than what you are used to at PokerRoad, in that, it is all strategy, all the time. Mostly we’ll focus on tournament strategy, but we won’t be limited to anything. It should be a solid show with two unique perspectives on how to play big MTT’s… did I just use MTT’s? Wow, this online jargon stuff is starting to rub off. Never thought I’d ever use the term MTT’s but then again, I never thought I’d understand what the heck an ROI was either.
As for the Bike, I’m looking forward to it. I can’t wait to play some poker again! It feels like it’s been ages!
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