Fanduel opponents (1 Viewer)

[topman]

Condia or 1ucror is in every league of $10.00 and up on Fanduel.

Although I don't mind going against them in a league or 2 I don't want to play against them in every league.

I just started on Fanduel last year and maybe it is too early before the first week and they are ahead of most people in getting in the leagues.

Are 1 of these 2 always in every league contest that are $10.00 and up?

I also noticed they I have not seen them in any league against each other.

 

[mrip541]

I'm with you. Once I realized that 50%+ of each league was the same guys over and over (little exaggeration), daily fantasy lost a ton of appeal. They're professionals. You need to get lucky to win, which is fine, as long as you accept that going in. If I put my tinfoil hat on for a moment, I can see one guy making who knows how many dummy accounts to completely cover every game with multiple entries.

I basically restrict myself to trying to "snipe" low stakes h2h games with people under a certain number of games won, and the large tourneys where there's a larger luck factor baked in. You have to be quick with the h2h games though because the pros snap up games against joes in seconds a lot of the time.

more edits..

One other thing I noticed is that some of the big dogs stop making entries a little while before kickoff, so if I want to play in a league type that Condia blankets I'll wait until I see he stopped placing entries and try to grab one of the last open spots.

 

[Ignoratio Elenchi]

If I put my tinfoil hat on for a moment, I can see one guy making who knows how many dummy accounts to completely cover every game with multiple entries.

Why would someone do that? They'd just be competing against themselves and losing money to the rake.

I started playing Fanduel last year and had pretty good success. I'm operating with a much smaller bankroll than guys like condia but I'm employing basically the same strategy. If you mess around trying to cherrypick H2H matchups, there's way too much variance in the results. Instead, I just spread my money out across a bunch of different contests, and found that it was easy enough to beat the rake.

 

[topman]

Ignoratio I am curious at what level you are spreading your money around in. I looked at every league from $10.00 and up and I find either Condia or 1ucror in every league. As of now the only league you could enter is $5.00 or under if you don't want to be in every contest against one of them.

I also played in Fanduel with limited success last year but was hoping to start playing in leagues for $10.00 + and not have one of the same 2 guys in each league.

 

[Ignoratio Elenchi]

Ignoratio I am curious at what level you are spreading your money around in. I looked at every league from $10.00 and up and I find either Condia or 1ucror in every league. As of now the only league you could enter is $5.00 or under if you don't want to be in every contest against one of them.

I also played in Fanduel with limited success last year but was hoping to start playing in leagues for $10.00 + and not have one of the same 2 guys in each league.

Right now I'm just in all $1, $2 and $5 contests.

I guess I don't see why it's that big a deal that they're in so many contests. These guys aren't wizards, and I don't think they're any better at roster construction than I am. They're just entering a variety of rosters in as many contests as possible and letting the "law of averages" work itself out. I don't really pay any attention to who else is in the contests I enter - last year there was plenty of easy money to go around for everyone.

 

[topman]

It was easy money because you are an above average player playing against average to below average player because of the stakes you are playing at. Don't get me wrong that is what I was doing also.

I would like to up my stakes. But...

You cannot get in a $10.00 or higher contest without playing them. I don't mind playing them once or even twice but in order to get in any contest of $10.00 or higher you have to play against one or the other each and every contest. Assuming you are getting into 50+ contest a week my assumption is you are playing against a variety of opponents in each contest. Some may be above average but most will be below average.

If you were to get into 500 contest of $10.00 or above every contest you would be up against one of the same two people. The odds of playing against some of the best in the business in every event would mean your odds of winning are considerably less.

 

[(HULK)]

This is for week1? Meaning, they've already set prices? Man, week1 is going to be a cluster imo.

 

[Ignoratio Elenchi]

It was easy money because you are an above average player playing against average to below average player because of the stakes you are playing at. Don't get me wrong that is what I was doing also.

I just looked at my history from last year. The first five contests I clicked on (all with an entry fee of $5 or less) all had condia in them. I stopped checking because I know what I'll find. These guys are in ALL the contests. At my peak I was playing 100+ contests a week and condia was probably in just about all of them. It's the only way they could get $100,000 in play every single week or whatever.

 

[Maurile Tremblay]

You don't want to play heads up against condia (or anyone else who's good). But having a few good players in a 20-person contest (or a 100-person contest) is fine.

The matrix leagues are ideal, IMO. The payouts are structured as if you're playing a bunch of H2H matches (low variance), but you're competing against a whole bunch of different opponents, so the condia effect is minimal.

 

[topman]

I agree with you Maurile. I do not want to go up h2h or do multiple small leagues against Condia. I have mainly played and have done well in leagues 3-10 people but unfortunately Condia/1ucror are currently in every league where the cost is $10.00 and up in these leagues.

Is this the norm on Fanduel or closer to the week 1 will they not occupy the entire pool of $10.00 + leagues? I know Fanduel had set the maximum at 250 Contest/ NFL week but have since changed it back so that these guys can continue to monopolize the $10.00 + money in the smaller leagues.

 

[Maurile Tremblay]

Last year it was pretty much the norm. (Not just at FanDuel, but on every site.)

 

[topman]

As far as you know do they never play against each other? Every contest I looked at it is either one or the other I have not seen either in the same contest.

I guess for now it is play in the $5.00 and under leagues.

 

[(HULK)]

This is for week1? Meaning, they've already set prices? Man, week1 is going to be a cluster imo.

anyone?

 

[topman]

Yes this for week one.

Prices are set games are filling in. It is time for football.

 

[David Dodds]

As far as you know do they never play against each other? Every contest I looked at it is either one or the other I have not seen either in the same contest.

I guess for now it is play in the $5.00 and under leagues.

They play the same lineups so they are clearly connected. I suspect this is the year we start seeing a lot more rules regarding this monopolizing effect. It's horrible for the daily ecosystem. My suggestion is that a player can play at 3 levels only in the $1 to $100 category (GPPs are excluded). No limits above $100. So to lock down the $1, he needs to not do 100s, etc. This will force these players to higher limits

 

[topman]

I was hoping the 250 contest a week would help but rule has gone by the way side. From what I read on other sites these 2 bring too much money to Fanduel and the other sites that they don't want to limit them or push them away from their particular site.

Obviously David you have more of a connection with Fanduel but from what I see they don't care about the quantity of people as long as they can get someone to match up against these 2 they will continue to let them play in 1,000 + contests a week. Its a business to Fanduel while it is a hobby to most everyone that plays.

 

[(HULK)]

As far as you know do they never play against each other? Every contest I looked at it is either one or the other I have not seen either in the same contest.

I guess for now it is play in the $5.00 and under leagues.

They play the same lineups so they are clearly connected. I suspect this is the year we start seeing a lot more rules regarding this monopolizing effect. It's horrible for the daily ecosystem. My suggestion is that a player can play at 3 levels only in the $1 to $100 category (GPPs are excluded). No limits above $100. So to lock down the $1, he needs to not do 100s, etc. This will force these players to higher limits

Since you guys have brokered a few partnerships with them, have you run this suggestion by them directly? I think it would be a very smart move.

 

[(HULK)]

I thought there was a limit on how many contests/leagues you can enter, but no limit on how many you can start yourself?

 

[(HULK)]

Yes this for week one.

Prices are set games are filling in. It is time for football.

Thats just silly. We've got an entire preseason between now and Week1. So much can and will change, whatever values they've assigned already will be useless by the time Week1 gets here.

 

[John Lee]

As far as you know do they never play against each other? Every contest I looked at it is either one or the other I have not seen either in the same contest.

I guess for now it is play in the $5.00 and under leagues.

They play the same lineups so they are clearly connected. I suspect this is the year we start seeing a lot more rules regarding this monopolizing effect. It's horrible for the daily ecosystem. My suggestion is that a player can play at 3 levels only in the $1 to $100 category (GPPs are excluded). No limits above $100. So to lock down the $1, he needs to not do 100s, etc. This will force these players to higher limits

Since you guys have brokered a few partnerships with them, have you run this suggestion by them directly? I think it would be a very smart move.

Trust me...FanDuel is very aware of the problem.

In basketball season, they limited every player to a maximum of 250 games, which meant that guys like Condia had to distribute their play accordingly; if they played 200 x $1 games, they could only play 50 additional games at higher levels. This was an effective way to keep those guys out of the low-level entry games, as playing low dollar games limited their upside/profit.

NFL is a different animal, however, because there are many more players and there is only 1 'game' per week (as opposed to 7 per week for NBA). So, FanDuel is hashing through options that will encourage maximum play on their site without discouraging newer players from entering the arena. I'm about 95% certain they will implement some sort of strategy to prevent the 'sharks' from terrorizing the entry-level games...just give them time to come up a reasonable solution.

My advice: Wait until closer to NFL season (after September 1st), create your own contest(s), and you'll see that you'll get enough player diversity to keep you happy.

 

[steveski]

Yes this for week one.

Prices are set games are filling in. It is time for football.

Thats just silly. We've got an entire preseason between now and Week1. So much can and will change, whatever values they've assigned already will be useless by the time Week1 gets here.

I like it. I usually start off really small the first few weeks until I get a good feel for the teams and players, but I might start off big in Week 1. Remember, if you can avoid these big guys and enter in leagues at the last minute before Week 1, there's a good chance you're being matched up against guys that aren't following football year round like we are right now. They might catch the first quarter of a couple preseason games and then read up about some sleepers and then pick your team. I feel like we are at a big advantage coming in ahead of the majority.

Definitely wait until a few days before Week 1 starts though. If you're entering in games now...well it's pretty obvious that your entering in the games with people who know what they're doing.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

They play the same lineups so they are clearly connected.

Interesting. I guessed last year that Condia stood for "daily consortium" and if there's another screen name playing exactly the same lineups I'm convinced it's a group at MIT or some other quant organization. At least I can look forward to the book I guess.

 

[Ignoratio Elenchi]

I guessed last year that Condia stood for "daily consortium"

At the time I signed up for Fanduel, I was thinking of creating a new unique login name because I was getting tired of the old ones I was using. My two favorite bands at the time were Conditions and Lydia, so I combined the two names as a tribute to those bands. The avatars I have used are covers from Lydia’s albums “Illuminate” and “Paint It Golden”. “One More Day” by Lydia is my all-time favorite song. I am actually listening to a Lydia mix as I am doing this interview

http://rotogrinders.com/articles/Condia_Interview-30106

 

[flc735]

Condia is a kid playing with his rich parents money. He has been playing forever and I'm sure he does his diligence, but this is not some Vegas shark you're going up against. There are plenty of guys on FBG i'd put my money on over him. I would say you are only getting matched with those two people because the other 99% of the players isn't going to bother joining leagues until the week of. No reason to join leagues a month prior unless you are planning to play in hundreds of them.

 

[John Lee]

They play the same lineups so they are clearly connected.

Interesting. I guessed last year that Condia stood for "daily consortium" and if there's another screen name playing exactly the same lineups I'm convinced it's a group at MIT or some other quant organization. At least I can look forward to the book I guess.

Let's be clear: Condia and 1ucror are NOT the same person. They are both from Colorado and have known each other since they were very young.

Last year, both of these players signed on as 'consultants' with MGT Capital Investments, the publicly-traded parent company of several daily sites including the former FanThrowdown and current DraftDay. 1ucror's given name is Nick Dunham and Condia is Charles Chon....feel free to google this information to appease any concerns you may have about them being bots, a conglomerate, or the like.

The story is that Condia did quite well in fantasy sports and, because of his personal friendship with 1ucror, invited him to play, as well; with Condia's guidance, 1ucror quickly became a profitable player and the rest is history. There is no denying that these guys share information with one another...they even admit as much during interviews, but there is nothing in the 'rules' that says 2 people cannot share notes prior to kickoff.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

Well, there you go then. Thanks for correcting me.