Day 10

Fresh Start_10: Fantasy Football
With the 2016 NFL vastly approaching and so is the new season of fantasy football. What once was a thing that only dungeon and dragon players played; has now transcended into a game that any random Joe can play. However, the rules have now changed thanks to websites like FanDuel and DraftKings. What these sites have done is added cash prizes and algorithms to a game that was once just picking your favorite player or the best superstar at your pick. Like for example I’ll tell my story of fantasy football.
I first started in a family league and was on a team with my dad, which, is how you usually get into playing, you play with someone. My dad and I did pretty well landing in third at the end of the season. I forget who won that year but whoever did received a total of $600. Then, my dad quit and “The NY Kid” took over the Geneva Convention fantasy football league for the next two seasons. I named myself “The NY Kid” because most of my family that was in the league was from Pittsburgh. I then took a break from that league, considering I was the raining two time defending champ, I started getting into ESPN leagues with my younger brothers and uncle. These really grasp my interest because there was no real prize expect bragging rights the week we happened to play one another. So I asked my parents if I could get a Paypal account so I could play Draftkings and win some money, because I thought I could make some decent money off playing every week.
Both of them just happened to say no so I really didn’t want or need to play because I was at the point where I felt like I needed to get paid for this. You know like the Northwest students… Anyway, I waited until last year where I finally got my own checking account and was able to deposit money and win money for myself with my parents not having to put any time or effort into it. I actually won some decent money, and won more money than I thought. Yes, I did lose some weeks, but you can’t win all the time right?
I know at this point in my story many of you probably think I’m like some master mathematical genius and I can assure you I am not. I am one of those random Joe’s that wins ten dollars on a five-dollar entry. It’s also probable that you think I am stubborn and I don’t think what I am doing on Draftkings is gambling. For those of you who don’t know; New York State filed a lawsuit against both FanDuel and Draftkings for illegal gambling. Both of these lawsuits would eventually be swept under the rug and settled because both sites at this moment are still up, and it is still legal in New York. I actually was interviewed about this topic by one of my good college buddies last year for one of his classes. And I will tell say what I told him for this blog. I told him that I do believe it is gambling and that is not wrong; the companies had to know they were because of the monetary value being put out into the respected companies. Where I have a problem with this the inability to monitor the amount of money coming in and out each week. On top of the fact, the bots that the companies were putting into contests to win money back, and the genius’ who have algorithms to make the best lineup to win money. Which is also the problem that New York State had, and my uncle for that fact. I like Draftkings a lot and I like playing fantasy football for money. I like the competitive aspect of that. I don’t make enough to live off of it but it’s fun to me. It adds something extra to the games, just like the weekly picks that I do for this blog.
With all that said, I will continue to play for the time being, and I will continue enjoying playing and talking fantasy football with my uncle. I honestly don’t care if you have a problem with my opinion on this or the way I spend my money, but that’s not your problem to worry about. Spend your money the way you want and I will do the same. And to all of the fantasy football owners and FanDuel/DraftKings players out there good luck in 2016 and enjoy the football season.


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