And yours as well.
But, well, yeah, to me, it does make a difference between $1.4M (and increasing) and one million, one that of course dwarfs someone recovering their buy-in (1500 x 3 entries) and maybe some travel costs.
In particular in the financial markets, the larger my working bankroll is at my advancing age, the further down rather than up the risk ladder I can work to achieve a decent income. In markets of all kinds, financial and betting, a fair amount of the push towards typically negative EV plays like parlay cards (absent an ability to bet into multiple substantially stale lines) -- and/or higher risk plays in the financial markets -- is folks with not a lot of money trying to and/or needing to turn it into a significant amount of money. With a sufficient bankroll, one should have even more of a tendency to gravitate toward positive EV -- or in the financial markets less risky -- plays. So I want a shot at "mo money," life or bankroll changing money, not at "doesn't-really-make-a-difference" money.
To me, it's just not that big of a deal to beat 3100 other entries -- most of which are dead money early on, maybe even before the first picks are made -- when you're playing Wednesday afternoon lines now as late as Saturday night. So, yeah, I want potentially life-changing money at the top -- for all the work I've put in these things over the years -- rather than relatively inconsequential money in the overall scheme of things for finishing around 60%, again playing against stale lines. Yes, that is a decent mark, even against stale lines, but it's still a "woohoo, here, have a cookie" situation to me (with a nod to Don Rickles).
I consider the contest buy-in gone every year, which is the most likely outcome every year for every contestant. I'm not playing to get that back or even that and a little bit extra. If I was trying to get a decent, more likely return on my contest buy-in, I'd put that money into betting sides at the windows (or on the apps) instead, and just try to grind my way up in a positive EV manner rather than via a negative EV one. If folks want to grind out a small profit, there are much more positive EV ways to do that.
Again, to each his own, Sports, it's a matter of preference, a "paper vs. plastic" sort of thing. But when I see opinions of this sort expressed on social media, I tend to present the contrasting view, lest it be assumed that there is a universal consensus by all contest players toward expanding payouts (necessarily by diluting top end payouts), when there instead are differing views on the point.
