Hybrid Auction Suggestions

[Bloody Sox]

So in my 12 team mixed roto league, I made a decision this year to switch to a hybrid draft format. Our first 12 rounds will be a regular snake draft, the last 10 rounds will be an auction where each team starts with $100. Anyone selected in the auction can be kept by forfeiting a 9th round pick next year - if you already have a 9th round keeper, you forfeit a 10th, and so on.

In terms of league make up, we have a mix of strong and casual managers, all good friends. About half of the league (not all casual managers) has been resistant to going with an auction draft format, so I'm using this as a compromise to let people get their feet wet with auction format. My thinking is that if it goes as I expect, we can move things to a full auction in future seasons.

With that as a backdrop - what suggestions do you have to make sure the draft runs smoothly? Note: This is an in-person draft.

- Should I use a projector to display a running update of teams' selections and dollars remaining?

- Should we do a "free for all" approach where teams openly bid or try to use a "go around the room in a circle" approach? What are the advantages of each?

Any other suggestions/ideas to make this go smoothly are appreciated.

[mkultra]

I think you're way overcomplicating it. If you want to do auction, do auction. By the time half your draft is over, the rest of the players are largely going to be $1-level guys, which is no fun. A big part of auction strategy is bleeding money out of other managers by bidding up good players you don't want or need.

Also, doing an online draft is the way to go, even if you're all in the same room- it keeps people on the clock (VITAL in an auction to keep things moving), and prevents situations where it's unclear whose bid got in first.

[RDD15]

So in my 12 team mixed roto league, I made a decision this year to switch to a hybrid draft format. Our first 12 rounds will be a regular snake draft, the last 10 rounds will be an auction where each team starts with $100. Anyone selected in the auction can be kept by forfeiting a 9th round pick next year - if you already have a 9th round keeper, you forfeit a 10th, and so on.

In terms of league make up, we have a mix of strong and casual managers, all good friends. About half of the league (not all casual managers) has been resistant to going with an auction draft format, so I'm using this as a compromise to let people get their feet wet with auction format. My thinking is that if it goes as I expect, we can move things to a full auction in future seasons.

With that as a backdrop - what suggestions do you have to make sure the draft runs smoothly? Note: This is an in-person draft.

- Should I use a projector to display a running update of teams' selections and dollars remaining?

- Should we do a "free for all" approach where teams openly bid or try to use a "go around the room in a circle" approach? What are the advantages of each?

Any other suggestions/ideas to make this go smoothly are appreciated.

You didnt ask us to weigh in on this part but.....why only a partial draft? I would go full auction or no auction personally. And if you were going to do this hybrid draft, it would seem to be more interesting to auction first, then draft somehow. The better players are the interesting ones at auction time.

As for the questions you did ask....

- Certainly you should use a projector. Get a laptop with a spreadsheet on it. After each winning bid, have the auctioneer update the SS. All the SS needs to display to the members is each team's remaining roster spots to be filled, and remaining budget. If guys want to monitor more than that, they can do so on their own laptop.

- I would say a "free for all" is a must. Going around the room would eliminate strategy, especially when it gets down to the $1-$3 players.

- As far as other suggestions....find someone willing to act as auctioneer that is not an owner in the league. Too much going on for one guy to try to run an auction and a team, it isnt like a snake draft in that regard. That person should know a bit about fantasy baseball, and familiarize themselves with the rules of the league. If at all possible, the auctioneer should be the one handling any disputes or disagreements during the auction, and not the commish (assuming the commish owns a team). At some point, two owners are going to place a bid at pretty much the same instant, and the auctioneer is going to have to decide who he heard speak first.

Good luck man. I wish I could get enough local friends together for an in-person auction. It sounds like a blast.

[RDD15]

Also, doing an online draft is the way to go, even if you're all in the same room- it keeps people on the clock (VITAL in an auction to keep things moving), and prevents situations where it's unclear whose bid got in first.

This has merit also. Doing the auction truly live would be a blast, but if you do not have a VERY strong auctioneer, online might work best.

[Bloody Sox]

Yes, I understand and agree completely, but this is the hand I'm being dealt. People aren't willing to go with a full auction and don't want to revamp our entire keeper system which is based on draft pick forfeiting. To be honest, I'll be happy enough just spicing up the last 10 rounds of our draft (which are usually torture because of the casual owners). If I can make this a good experience, then I think I can get us converted to a full auction (and keeper system change) next year.

Thanks for the online idea... I hadn't considered having to keep track of who got their bids in first.

One other idea I've seen thrown around is going around the room in order and having people either "raising or folding" (instead of free for all) - I think this might be a good idea.

Anyone else?

[Bloody Sox]

So in my 12 team mixed roto league, I made a decision this year to switch to a hybrid draft format. Our first 12 rounds will be a regular snake draft, the last 10 rounds will be an auction where each team starts with $100. Anyone selected in the auction can be kept by forfeiting a 9th round pick next year - if you already have a 9th round keeper, you forfeit a 10th, and so on.

In terms of league make up, we have a mix of strong and casual managers, all good friends. About half of the league (not all casual managers) has been resistant to going with an auction draft format, so I'm using this as a compromise to let people get their feet wet with auction format. My thinking is that if it goes as I expect, we can move things to a full auction in future seasons.

With that as a backdrop - what suggestions do you have to make sure the draft runs smoothly? Note: This is an in-person draft.

- Should I use a projector to display a running update of teams' selections and dollars remaining?

- Should we do a "free for all" approach where teams openly bid or try to use a "go around the room in a circle" approach? What are the advantages of each?

Any other suggestions/ideas to make this go smoothly are appreciated.

You didnt ask us to weigh in on this part but.....why only a partial draft? I would go full auction or no auction personally. And if you were going to do this hybrid draft, it would seem to be more interesting to auction first, then draft somehow. The better players are the interesting ones at auction time.

As for the questions you did ask....

- Certainly you should use a projector. Get a laptop with a spreadsheet on it. After each winning bid, have the auctioneer update the SS. All the SS needs to display to the members is each team's remaining roster spots to be filled, and remaining budget. If guys want to monitor more than that, they can do so on their own laptop.

- I would say a "free for all" is a must. Going around the room would eliminate strategy, especially when it gets down to the $1-$3 players.

- As far as other suggestions....find someone willing to act as auctioneer that is not an owner in the league. Too much going on for one guy to try to run an auction and a team, it isnt like a snake draft in that regard. That person should know a bit about fantasy baseball, and familiarize themselves with the rules of the league. If at all possible, the auctioneer should be the one handling any disputes or disagreements during the auction, and not the commish (assuming the commish owns a team). At some point, two owners are going to place a bid at pretty much the same instant, and the auctioneer is going to have to decide who he heard speak first.

Good luck man. I wish I could get enough local friends together for an in-person auction. It sounds like a blast.

Thanks - great idea on getting an independent auctioneer. I'll investigate that.

I hear you on the negatives of "going around the room"... just thinking it would keep things more orderly and would kind of fit a poker model, which this group is familiar with.

My other response answered your question of "why". Not my preference, but it is what it is.

[TopChuckie]

If you want to create a hybrid auction look into the rules of Shandler's Roto500 system. Basically, it's a straight draft with each team having a limited number of opportunities to overbid someone's draft pick, however the original drafter always has topper rights. It gives the flavor of both types of drafts without actually splitting it in halves.

[RDD15]

I hear you on the negatives of "going around the room"... just thinking it would keep things more orderly and would kind of fit a poker model, which this group is familiar with.

It might keep things more orderly, and it might be a setup they are familiar with, but I think if you use this it is game breaking and defeats the purpose of an auction. I would really recommend that you do not use this method.

[bigmck]

This will be my 17th year of doing a Roto Auction, all in the same room. Most of the guys there for at least ten years. == We sit in a circle (as close as possible) and draw cards to see who throws out the first player name. We then continue in a clock-wise rotation of throwing out names. When the first name is thrown out we use the "random yelling" method for our bids. Going in an order is too slow. Occasionly two guys will yell out at the same time, but we decide who got it in first. It isn't that much of a problem. We don't have an Auctioneer. Someone who is not bidding on that player just takes it upon himself to do the "Going Once, Going Twice, Sold". Everyone has a computer and keeps track of the money. About every half-hour we have a "money check" to see if we all agree. One guy might have his total wrong but he corrects it and we continue. The projector and auctioneer are not needed. If you can get an Auctioneer that is great, but is not a problem if you don't have one.

[Bloody Sox]

This will be my 17th year of doing a Roto Auction, all in the same room. Most of the guys there for at least ten years. == We sit in a circle (as close as possible) and draw cards to see who throws out the first player name. We then continue in a clock-wise rotation of throwing out names. When the first name is thrown out we use the "random yelling" method for our bids. Going in an order is too slow. Occasionly two guys will yell out at the same time, but we decide who got it in first. It isn't that much of a problem. We don't have an Auctioneer. Someone who is not bidding on that player just takes it upon himself to do the "Going Once, Going Twice, Sold". Everyone has a computer and keeps track of the money. About every half-hour we have a "money check" to see if we all agree. One guy might have his total wrong but he corrects it and we continue. The projector and auctioneer are not needed. If you can get an Auctioneer that is great, but is not a problem if you don't have one.

This is great, and very helpful. I was very nervous about how smoothly things would run if we just went "free style". Thanks!