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The interview series is long-standing tradition here at Footballguys.com, covering the best resources and fantasy football minds. In this installment Bill DeVault is front and center, sharing about the emotional swings of DFS (Daily Fantasy Sports), building lineups, his biggest payday and more!
Who Am I?
Name: Bill DeVault
Twitter handle: @B_Devault
Hometown: Toledo, Ohio
Day job: General Manager for 16 Subway Franchises
Quick bio: I have been playing Fantasy Football for over 20 years. I Started playing DFS in 2013, joining Fanduel through an incentive from Footballguys.com. Using that $30 deposit, I have won over $14,000 in winnings, specializing in cash games.
How has your experience as a General Manager helped you in DFS? To be honest, being able to make my own schedule for work has helped tremendously! I normally pop back to my office around lunch time and start doing daily research (during NBA and MLB). During slates with early games, I can normally get back and complete my lineups before they start as well.
What is something unique about you that few would know about? I played Pro Beach Volleyball for 12 years in the Midwest. I also played one year of Semi-Pro Football.
Favorite NFL team(s): Atlanta Falcons
Favorite NFL player(s): Matt Ryan
Years playing fantasy football: 22
Years playing DFS: 2
Biggest DFS sweat: Entered 5 lineups in a 'King of the Hill' qualifier on Draftkings. I Fell asleep thinking I was out of it and woke up to find I placed second as the Oakland A’s stack scored 9 runs in the ninth inning. I missed qualifying by less than a point. Bummer.
Biggest DFS win: Took third place in the NBA Swat and NBA Shot same night on Fanduel - A payday of $5,000 that night.
Biggest DFS heartbreak: Every night I lose! I don’t enjoy losing to well. I accept it as part of variance, but just don’t enjoy it at all!
Favorite DFS analyst(s): Hoops2410, he’s a cash game player that I emulate.
When constructing your main weekly roster, what is the first tactic? Build off 1-2 huge value plays? The best QB-WR stack? Since I play cash games, I tend to find the two biggest values and build from there. If there is a key injury, backups - especially at running back - can provide huge value. In cash games I like to have strong quarterbacks as the most stable points. The only time I sway from having a stud quarterback is if there is a backup who is really cheap I am certain will be highly owned.
When you are looking at breaking a tie between two players (at any position) that cost the same and project for the same points/virtually the same points in any given week, how much weight do you assign to a player being at Home vs. Away? If I have two players I project the exact same, I will lean more towards the Vegas spread to be honest. However, I do weigh in the home team, even more so if they are the favorite to win.
Rank the following according to their importance in your construction of FanDuel GPP lineups:
- Value (i.e., DPP/H-Value/etc.) First
- Variance (i.e., upside) Second
- Uniqueness (i.e., ownership rates) Fourth
- News (i.e., non-quantitative information) Third
What is your typical Sunday morning routine during the NFL DFS season? I do not build my lineups until Sunday morning. I normally have two different cash lineups already set during the week with place holder lineups. I start building the lineups three hours before kickoff. I do not watch any pregame because of this as I do not want any information besides injury news getting into my thinking. I use twitter for injury news. Besides my own projections, I rely heavily on David Dodds' and Adam Levitan’s projections. If I am torn on a player or two, I go to those two for information as I trust them the most.
Do you have any game-watching rituals or habits? If we do not go to a sports bar to watch games, I will sit on the couch, laptop on my lap and watch the Redzone!
If you had to give one piece of advice to DFS players, what would it be? It is easily bankroll management. You WILL lose at times, and being strict with your bankroll will keep you from losing too much. I learned the hard way. In 2013 I had built my bankroll from $30 to over $600, then I lost most of it in one day getting greedy. That is when I really began to read and focus more on bankroll management. I have never had to deposit again since that initial Footballguys offer. I attribute it 100% to having a very strict way of betting my 5-10% each day.