Poker Face…….Don’t be afraid to push all in.

My wife and I suffered a couple of great losses this past week to some close family members to say the least.  I’ll go as far as to say that they were both the male mentors for us growing up..….you can figure it out from there.  It’s a lot to absorb in a week for sure.

I did tell @GeoffLambert77 from Going For 2  that I may be “out of pocket” for a bit after the first loss and not expecting the second loss but did say “who knows, I may toss something out there as writing is something I often times consider as therapy” and this is one of those times.

Enough about my real life, let’s talk about our fantasy lives.  After checking in at work, I was informed from the person I spoke to that he had sent me a trade offer to which I responded by letting him know to keep sending them as it is what keeps my clock ticking.  It took me four attempts to figure out which league it was in but finally discovered the offer.

The offer was in a seasonal league that included me sending my Dede Westbrook for his Tony Pollard since I own Zeke in a league that I have taken risks not only with drafting Ezekiel Elliott before it was known that he was going to play anytime soon but also trading for Melvin Gordon and Saquon Barkley when their return was unknown and still is the case with Saquon.

So where am I going with all of this?  It’s about losses and I have four of them in five weeks in the league I am referring to and am left shrugging my shoulders knowing I have a better team than that.  I am in the middle of the pack when it comes to points which do factor in when it comes to playoffs so I feel like I am an owner of a team that is going nowhere fast but the tank is full.  Do I need to have an extra gallon of gas in case I run out or do I just keep driving hoping I have a full tank tomorrow?

One of the things that has helped me in my personal life this past week was having a buddy from twitter in town whom I met for the first time @PauliesSleepers.  He is a gambler but takes calculated risks which is where I am at with analyzing this offer.

I have pocket queens but have no idea what the flop brings.  The owner presenting the trade has pocket aces and has less to lose without having suffered a loss in that league to date.   My depth at RB is obviously strong and has the upper hand but my depth at WR is weak so I have to roll the dice and either accept a potential “bad beat” if Zeke goes down or have the security of having Zeke’s backup and still hope that his backup continues to produce at the level he has shown he can do.  It’s really that simple as I am all in with the cards I have played.

My fantasy football brother Paulie had the aces and the advantage but got beat by queens even though he had the best hand before the “flop”.  In Paulie’s case he ended up winning after losing because he qualified for the “bad beat”.  If only there was a “get out of jail” card in fantasy football like there is in poker in some cases but that is not the case, at least not in the leagues I play in.  Perhaps a “bad beat” element can be added into the the fantasy football structure going forward.  That would be fun for sure.

I am always looking for opportunities to breathe life into a fantasy team no matter if they are struggling and/or on their last breath.  As I told my wife after she asked how I could stop and check on my fantasy bro before he left town the next day hours after I lost my father, I said “just because somebody dies doesn’t mean we stop living”.  I always got my bro’s back and don’t give up in fantasy football because Andrew Luck retires within a month before the season starts!

One of the many great things about our “fantasy” community is that most of us realize that we are communicating with “real” people.  Carry on and don’t give up on your fantasy team because it is struggling today.  We are entering week six so don’t sleep on your next opportunity to make a move to keep your team alive!

Life is a gamble, don’t be afraid to go all in.  Westbrook vs Pollard is hardly a great example but it is the most recent one I can give personally when it comes to fantasy football.  Even though I wish I had not been “all in” with Antonio Brown this past year so lesson learned……don’t be afraid to push your chips in the middle and hope the river is friendly.  Aces over queens doesn’t always win the hand………but just may win the race!  That’s why we play the game……..

ATTN Dynasty Commissioners: Do you want to do something cool for your league? How about a 1-hour live show dedicated to YOUR league? Team-by-team breakdowns, rankings, and more. For details and to book a show, visit: GoingFor2.com/plp.