So I was kicked out of my own fantasy entity ...

[TimBone]

Originally Posted by MeatRock

Damn. I feel for the people involved. I hope everyone wins their money back and then some. I just can't understand how one guy could feel so empowered with that much on the line from multiple people to treat it all as his own.

Unreal.

Originally Posted by Li'l Smokey

Hoots is right up there with Hitler and Stalin. I'm telling ya.

Now wait a second. I do want to chime in and say that I don't think Hootie had any ill intentions, and he did work very hard. He wanted to win everyone a lot of money. He is just awful at working with other people.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by TimBone

Now wait a second. I do want to chime in and say that I don't think Hootie had any ill intentions, and he did work very hard. He wanted to win everyone a lot of money. He is just awful at working with other people.

THIS! he just thought he had all the answers himself and couldn't work with anyone.

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

THIS! he just thought he had all the answers himself and couldn't work with anyone.

Yeah, I understand that. What he apparently didn't get is that if the group isn't going along with your ideas, even if you think the group is making a stupid mistake, you can't force them your way when their money is at stake. Just wish them luck, chuckle to yourself, then put your own brilliant sure-fire winner lineups up separately at draftkings.

[farmerchief]

Originally Posted by TimBone

Now wait a second. I do want to chime in and say that I don't think Hootie had any ill intentions, and he did work very hard. He wanted to win everyone a lot of money. He is just awful at working with other people.

Yep, I agree. He had some very sound strategies, he just didnt "play well with others" so to speak.

[NewChief]

Originally Posted by farmerchief

Yep, I agree. He had some very sound strategies, he just didnt "play well with others" so to speak.

I mean... it sounds like he may have had sound strategies and a lot of knowledge, but it also sounds like he didn't have the discipline or work ethic to implement those strategies effectively.

Didn't he basically abandon the entire theory of how to assemble diverse lineups when he went all in on the Seattle defense?

[KC native]

Originally Posted by NewChief

I mean... it sounds like he may have had sound strategies and a lot of knowledge, but it also sounds like he didn't have the discipline or work ethic to implement those strategies effectively.

Didn't he basically abandon the entire theory of how to assemble diverse lineups when he went all in on the Seattle defense?

Yes. He completely abandoned the theory and not just with the Seattle defense bullshit.

[Swanman]

Originally Posted by KC native

Yes. He completely abandoned the theory and not just with the Seattle defense bullshit.

He also had an absurd mancrush on all things Patriots the first week we entered and from a fantasy perspective, Brady and co. had a terrible week.

I said it before in here and it bears repeating - if he was such a stellar FanDuel player, he could bankroll the schemes himself by this point. But he isn't, so he's not.

The really ridiculous thing about the Seattle defense that week is that we let him know that Bobby Wagner was out, and he still stubbornly stuck with them.

[Nzoner]

Originally Posted by NewChief

I mean... it sounds like he may have had sound strategies and a lot of knowledge, but it also sounds like he didn't have the discipline or work ethic to implement those strategies effectively.

Didn't he basically abandon the entire theory of how to assemble diverse lineups when he went all in on the Seattle defense?

Correct however Hootie didn't like much diversity to whereas my thoughts were if you have 188 line-ups why would you not diversify especially at QB and Def.

Josh McCown our first week was 1.1% owned in the contest and blew up against the horrid Balt pass D scoring 3 less points than Brady and Wilson combined.That's not to say this is full proof as the #1 slot that week did not have McCown showing just how difficult it really is to surround any qb with the other"right" players while staying under the salary cap.It is to say that I believe diversity is the way to attack multiple entries because you're hoping to get that ONE special line-up.

[sedated]

Originally Posted by Nzoner

It is to say that I believe diversity is the way to attack multiple entries because you're hoping to get that ONE special line-up.

I think this has been researched when it comes to NCAA bracket pools. I believe they determined that quantity (below an insane amount, like in the thousands) doesn't really help because there are so many possible combinations. One bracket you hit on A and B, but the other one who hit on X and Y.

But I don't have a link so I could be wrong.

[Nzoner]

Originally Posted by sedated

I think this has been researched when it comes to NCAA bracket pools. I believe they determined that quantity (below an insane amount, like in the thousands) doesn't really help because there are so many possible combinations. One bracket you hit on A and B, but the other one who hit on X and Y.

But I don't have a link so I could be wrong.

That makes sense but you're also talking about a clear cut winner and loser to whereas what we're doing could net us some serious money by placing in the top 100 or whatever.We may not hit the jackpot but the diversification at least imo gives us a better shot at placing in the money and keeping this thing going.

[Swanman]

Originally Posted by Nzoner

Correct however Hootie didn't like much diversity to whereas my thoughts were if you have 188 line-ups why would you not diversify especially at QB and Def.

Josh McCown our first week was 1.1% owned in the contest and blew up against the horrid Balt pass D scoring 3 less points than Brady and Wilson combined.That's not to say this is full proof as the #1 slot that week did not have McCown showing just how difficult it really is to surround any qb with the other"right" players while staying under the salary cap.It is to say that I believe diversity is the way to attack multiple entries because you're hoping to get that ONE special line-up.

Which is funny because he kept talking about the strategy of "covering the entire dartboard" but when it came time to actually do lineups, he abandoned that because he knew exactly what players were going to hit it big. Just ask him, he knew all.

[KCUnited]

I just hope the cafeteria had his bacon jalapeno mac n' cheese.

[NewChief]

Originally Posted by Swanman

Which is funny because he kept talking about the strategy of "covering the entire dartboard" but when it came time to actually do lineups, he abandoned that because he knew exactly what players were going to hit it big. Just ask him, he knew all.

That's such the definition of someone with a gambling problem. They can't stick to the system because they want to play their hunches, gut feelings and such. A system isn't "fun" and doesn't feed their addiction in the same way the randomness of playing hunches does.

[Swanman]

Originally Posted by NewChief

That's such the definition of someone with a gambling problem. They can't stick to the system because they want to play their hunches, gut feelings and such. A system isn't "fun" and doesn't feed their addiction in the same way the randomness of playing hunches does.

It's like a blackjack player splitting 10's to get 2 chances to win when every sane strategy in the world says not to.

[Eleazar]

Originally Posted by NewChief

That's such the definition of someone with a gambling problem. They can't stick to the system because they want to play their hunches, gut feelings and such. A system isn't "fun" and doesn't feed their addiction in the same way the randomness of playing hunches does.

Interesting:

The Psychology of Compulsive Gambling
By Dr. Keith Ablow
January 05, 2012


Having treated many people for compulsive gambling, I have identified two psychological issues a significant percentage seem to share. Being aware of these dynamics has helped them fight their addiction and has helped their loved ones support their recovery.

There may well turn out to be a neurological or even genetic reason that helps explain why compulsive gamblers can’t seem to resist visiting casinos, buying lottery tickets or staying glued to Internet gaming sites. Parts of their brains that respond to pleasure—including what is called the limbic system—may react particularly strongly, for example, to the intermittent and unpredictable reward of winning. But the emotional forces at the root of an addiction to gambling should be overlooked.

I have noticed that, for many addicts, gambling reproduces painful and unexamined aspects of their childhoods and make casinos, convenient stores with Keno and Internet lottery sites feel very much like going home.

First, gamblers often seem to come from homes where they couldn’t predict whether the environment would be peaceful and happy, or filled with panic, despair or anger. They may have had alcoholic parents who were sometimes sober and loving, but sometimes drunk and punishing. They may have had parents who could be kind to one another and to them, but could also become verbally or physically abusive. They may have had siblings who struggled with illnesses like severe diabetes or asthma—that meant that they sometimes seemed to be in perfect health, then needed to be rushed to emergency rooms.

When the good things about home—like shelter and food and birthday parties—become linked in a person’s mind with a seesaw of unpredictable highs and lows, then they may be forever drawn to other places that spark uncontrollable waves of pleasure and pain.

Second, compulsive gamblers want to believe that they are “liked” or “loved” by the people, places (including gaming websites) or even the machines that are actually hurting them. As obvious as it may be to me, many of my patients have needed to admit that their bookies or blackjack dealers, along with the folks who park their cars and smile at them at the doors of casinos, don’t really like them at all, but are looking to take their money away. Often, admitting that this is the case requires admitting that they weren’t loved in a pure way during childhood—or, in some cases, ever, by anyone. If a father keeps telling his daughter how much he loves her, when he really intends to manipulate her and control her, that girl can actually believe she’s got “friends” bringing her drinks at slot machines.

I will always remember how a bookmaker I knew described the “customers” he serviced. “They’re sick, degenerate addicts,” he told me. “Their whole lives are a tragedy, because they think I’m actually on their side, that I believe in them. They think I want them to win. They really do. It’s incredible.” What he really wanted was to keep them weak and dependent on him. Doesn’t that sound a lot like a manipulative, disempowering parent?

This combination of having experienced little control, lots of chaos and too little genuine caring during childhood (even if there were lots of false displays of it), can make a building with no windows and lots of machines and tables where you might get “lucky” feel like home. And almost everyone wants to “go home,” even when home was a pathological place. Because almost everyone is willing to fool himself or herself into believing—during childhood—that home is a good place. Very few 5-year-olds or 8-year-olds run away from home—and mean it. Many more should.

Breaking the cycle of compulsive gambling, in the people I speak of, requires resolving to no longer be complicit in their own destruction. It means realizing that the people and places they thought embraced them, were actually shaking them down—all the way back to childhood. These are sobering realizations that can come with all the force of a freighter adrift that slams into shore. And that’s the point. When someone decides to no longer be hostage to tides of emotion outside themselves that drag them here and there, there is always a moment of impact when everything becomes perfectly, painfully clear.

Dr. Ablow is the author of "Inside the Mind of Casey Anthony." He
is a psychiatrist and member of the Fox News Medical A-Team. Dr. Ablow
can be reached at info@keithablow.com. His team of Life Coaches can be
reached at lifecoach@keithablow.com.