I chose Draft Kings because I got a deal through the Yahoo Public League I had joined.
At first glance, I thought I was going to have a secondary income based on my past Fantasy Sports performance. The first game I played I spent $3 and won $36. My plan was off to a great start.
I then "lost" fifteen consecutive matches before squeezing out a $6 win in a Fantasy Baseball challenge.
Recently, reports started surfacing that Draft Kings and Fan Duel employees were playing in each others contests. I thought that was peculiar, but paid little further attention to the story.
However, whenever I saw a story on ESPN or an ad on Facebook, there were some pretty consistent comments; Draft Kings (and or Fan Duel) was a scam.
I chalked that up to a bunch of butthurt fans who underperformed in their Daily Fantasy Leagues.
The came the report that one particular employee of these companies had access to (what I'll call for simplicity reasons) player ownership reports. These reports detail what percentage each player is owned throughout the contests.
Let's say you draft Aaron Rogers and I draft Ryan Fitzpatrick. The Green Bay QB goes on to throw, let's say 300 yards, 3 touchdowns, and no picks. The Jets signal caller, let's say, throws for 275, 2 touchdowns, and runs for 20 yards.
Similar numbers, but Fitzpatrick would be more valuable, because he's likely drafted less than Rogers.
If I had access to these reports, I'd draft a bunch of guys no one owns and hope for the best.
Imagine being able to play with that kind of knowledge?
Of course both companies denied that the employee played using that knowledge. If they don't claim that, things are going to get a little rougher than some dude hitting you with a class action lawsuit.
Wouldn't it save you a lot of time if I just gave up and went mad now?
One company said that they paid out less than .5% of their winnings to employees.
Simple math puts that around $10 million dollars. That's not exactly chump change, but it's not exactly screaming insider trading.
I'll keep playing Draft Kings until the money in my account runs out. I'm not sure how I feel about the current situation.
Part of me wants to believe the employee didn't have access to those numbers prior to betting, but the other part of me wonders what I would have done in the same situation.
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