and co-founder of fantasy siteFanball.com.Charchianhas
watchedDFS grow into a juggernaut that’s attractedmore
than3millionplayerswhowill pump$2.6billion intoDFS
thisyear.By2020,that figure isexpected to increase six-fold.
Here’s howDFS works: Sites like FanDuel.com and
DraftKings.com,the industry leaders,hostcontestswithentry
fees ranging from less than $1 tomore than $1,000.The
money ispooledand,after thesites take theircut,distributed
to thewinners,who, as in traditional fantasy, are thosewho
havedraftedtheplayerswhoperformbest.Thatmightsound
likegambling,butCharchian insistsDFS isagameofskill,not
chance.Crucially,thegovernment isonhisside.TheUnlawful
InternetGamblingEnforcementActof2006,whichbanned
onlinepoker,placesno restrictionson fantasy sports.
Asaresult,manybigcorporationshavegottenintothegame.
FanDuelcountsTimeWarnerandGoogleamongitsinvestors;
DraftKings is owned, inpart,by21stCenturyFox;Yahoo,a
longtime leader in the traditional fantasy space, launched its
ownDFSproduct in July.“Companies thatnormallyarevery
touchyaboutgamblinghaveembracedDFS,”Charchiansays.
Professional sports leaguesaregetting inontheaction,too:
TheNBAownspartofFanDuel,andMajorLeagueBaseball
owns part ofDraftKings.The investment is ano-brainer for
theNBAandMLB.Afterall,DFSplayers likeIan Johnspay
a lotofmoney tobeable towatcheverygame theycan—and
thatmoneygoestothe leagues.Johns,a30-year-oldwho lives
inLasVegas,begandabbling inDFS in late2013.“Itwasright
upmyalley,”hesays.“I lovesports.I lovemathandnumbers.”
Johnscallsthemoneyhespendstowatchgames“an invest-
ment.”He treatsDFS likea job.“I think ifyouwant towinat
it, youhave tohave a really strongdesire,” he says.“It pretty
muchconsumesmy thoughts.”
As a fantasy sports player formore than a decade, I can
relate,butmy experienceswere all of the traditional variety,
spanningentireseasons.AfterspeakingwithJohns,Idecided
to takeacrackatDFS.Thishappened in July,whenbaseball
was the only show in town. I beganby depositing $25 in a
FanDuel account andbuyingmyway intoanMLBcontest.
Ipaid$5 forthechancetocompeteagainst20,000people for
$100,000 inprizes.Theoddsof abigvictorywere slim: Just
30 contestantswouldwinprizesof $100ormore.
Following Johns’ advice, I consulted the Vegas betting
lines to see which games were expected to yield themost
runs. I glanced at the advanced stats onbaseball analysis site
FanGraphs.com,and Ipickedup tipsonRotoGrinders.com
andFantasyAlarm.com.Ibuiltmyteambyspendingmyfixed
budgetonplayerswhohavevaluesassignedbasedontheirpro-
jectedproduction;thatmeanssuperstarsareexpensive,scrubs
are cheap,and teams tend tohaveabalanceof both.At least,
minedid.I spent bigonMarlinspitcher JoséFernándezand
power-hittingReds first baseman JoeyVotto.Then I spread
my budget aroundondecent playerswhohad an advantage
that day, including lefty hitters JoshReddick andBrandon
Moss,whowereboth facing right-handed startingpitchers.
Immediatelyafterthegamesstarted,Ibegantounderstand
whyDFS issopopular.FanDuel’s liveappkeptmeabreastof
my standing in the20,000-person field,updatingmypoints
aftereachat-bat that involvedoneofmyplayers.WhenI first
checked,aboutanhourafter thebeginningof thenight’s first
games,Iwas in something like2,000thplace,puttingmeon
pace tomake $15 at the end of the night. I kept checking
backasmyposition fluctuated.Ahitwould sendme soaring
up the standings,a strikeout backdown.Thedollar amount
eventuallydropped to$12.50,a$7.50profit after accounting
formybuy-in.Apaltryamount,sure,butmoremoney thanI
hadevermade ina singledayofplaying fantasy sports.
Emboldened,Iwas eager for thenextday’s slateof games.
I startedanaccount atDraftKings andplayeda50/50game,
which rewards thosewho finish in the tophalfof thecontest
withdouble their entry fee and leaves the bottomhalfwith
nothing. Iwon that day—and the next day too.My initial
deposit of $25 on each sitewas up to $90 total.And then
day fourhappened: Ientered fivecontests and lost everyone.
I hadn’t changedmy strategy; the at-bats just didn’t gomy
way.Oneday,I stackedmy lineupwithbattersplaying in the
hitter-friendly high altitude ofDenver’sCoors Field.They
combined for an embarrassing eight points.The next day, I
nearlyovercamefourdismalperformanceswiththreebrilliant
ones,butultimately finished twopoints shyof themoney.
Four days after nearly doublingmy initial deposit,my
accountshad sunkbackdown to$11.Fortunes swingwildly
inDFS,butI’mstillplaying,andnotbecauseI’mobsessedwith
makingback themoney I’ve lost.I’m justhavingablast.The
strategy isachallenge,and followingmy teams’progresseach
night isathrill.Everyat-bat isamust-see,everyarticleamust-
read,every stat amust-analyze. Iwas obsessedwithbaseball
before I startedDFS; now, I’m addicted.For this longtime
fantasyplayer,thegame is justthatmuchfun.Thechancethat
Imightgo tobed$10,000 richerdoesn’thurt,either.
Freelancewriter
ADAMK. RAYMOND
wonhis first traditional
fantasybaseball leaguewayback in2002.
hemi culture
THE FAN
TIMCLAYTON/CORBIS
SWINGFORTHEFENCES
JoeyVottohelpedourwriter
win inhisfirst tryatDFS
“THREEMILLIONPLAYERSWILL
PUMP$2.6BILLION INTODFSTHIS
YEAR.BY2020,THATFIGURE IS
EXPECTEDTO INCREASESIX-FOLD.”
50
OCTOBER2015
•
HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
