The new things at Draft Kings (1 Viewer)

Hello Footballguys,

Excellent job on the updated Cracking DK Book. It was great to read the new material as well as go back and re-read some of the material that remained from the first edition to get a nice refresher.

Will there be a supplement to the book or maybe an article or roundtable discussing some of the changes DK made this year and how those changes may impact strategy/game selection/bankroll management?

Specifically, I'm referring to the following changes:

The lowering of the minimum QB salary from $5,000 to $4,000

The new multi-entry limit (lowered from 150 all the way down to 20 for any contest with an entry fee of less than $5)

The new high volume player restriction (players with $1 million or more in lifetime entry fees no longer able to play contests where the entry fee is less than $5 AND the total prize pool is less than $25,000)

The new Pick 'Em contests

Hey MaryTechJane-

We don't have anything specifically called out as part of this, but I will take this back and see what we can come up with.

My quick perspectives- 

The lowering of the minimum QB salary from $5,000 to $4,000. This is probably an inconsequential change. The only way it should have a big impact is week one with guys like Kizer and Savage. To me, there are so many ways to save money elsewhere than to go to this bottom of the barrel, even looking at last year when Dak Prescott was near minimum salary he did not reach value in his first game.

The new multi-entry limit (lowered from 150 all the way down to 20 for any contest with an entry fee of less than $5).  See answer below

The new high volume player restriction (players with $1 million or more in lifetime entry fees no longer able to play contests where the entry fee is less than $5 AND the total prize pool is less than $25,000)  I am one of the players that is blocked, and I love this move. I never played in these contests anyway as I typically want the community to grow and by making these moves to the low stakes contests, in my opinion, is a great move that I hope people notice. I would have liked to see them go even further and make the $1M down to $250k, but I think it is a start in the right direction. 

The new Pick 'Em contests. I really enjoy the pick-em contests and it is a case where our tools (projections, consensus value rankings) should come into play in these contests. We aren't planning an article specifically for these contests at the moment, but that may change if they gain in popularity. 

I find this interesting as someone who plays very casually.  I never took it too seriously, but I do enjoy throwing a few bucks at it here and there.  In all honesty, following a weekly team on DK or FD helps take my mind off the season long stuff while the games are going on, which I like.  I don't stress the weekly stuff, so I can just enjoy the games, but I still have reasons to watch.  It works for me.

Anyway, I know it was controversial to have seasoned "pro" players able to put 150 entries into a $1 tourney.  Get 10-15 of those, and you pretty much lose any real chance that a nobody like me can win any real money, especially if I am filling out 2 ineups.  The argument against was that every lineup after the first is a less optimal lineup for a "pro" so theoretically, each lineup gives them less chance to win.  I think that was a BS argument because nobody's optimum lineup is ever going to be the perfect lineup.  Any time an unknown WR breaks out for 35 points at a cost of $3000, generally only people with 150 submissions will even have him rostered, so it does matter. 

 Does anyone think this will have an effect on the overlay each week?  Take away 10000 entries from "pros" who are no longer allowed to play those particular contests, and maybe they don't fill up?  It seems to me that the pool of people who have over $1 million in entry fees has got to be pretty small, so are we even talking about 10000 entries?  5000?  that would be about 32 people playing 150 lineups.  Even if the max is down to 20, that is quite a hit. 

I am thinking about finding a $1 contest that the million dollar club can't play, and putting the max lineups on there.  I'd have to have a better chance at cashing than last year, right?

Hi Caeser, I would think that the $1M cap is bigger than you might think. I would guess it minimum 250 people or so, as we have at least three on our staff alone who exceed this threshold. It could be as high as 500-1,000 people, but I do not have any real data on that. 

The key thing here is that any contest greater than $25k in prizes the $1M threshold does not apply. However, where I think you will see the biggest benefit is the 20 lineup max for any contests less than $5 which is a terrific improvement. 

Devin Knotts said:

Hi Caeser, I would think that the $1M cap is bigger than you might think. I would guess it minimum 250 people or so, as we have at least three on our staff alone who exceed this threshold. It could be as high as 500-1,000 people, but I do not have any real data on that. 

The key thing here is that any contest greater than $25k in prizes the $1M threshold does not apply. However, where I think you will see the biggest benefit is the 20 lineup max for any contests less than $5 which is a terrific improvement. 

Click to expand...

thanks for the input.  I can see it being larger than maybe I was thinking when you put it in those terms.  I definitely think this will have a positive effect for the casual player, and certainly early in the season.

TBH, I didn't even know these changes were taking effect.  I am sure they sent it out in an email, but being a casual player, I don't read them.