DFS Questions (1 Viewer)

[scrum77]

Hey guys. Recent subscriber of Football guys here. I'm a poker player and I've recently started getting into DFS. But right now I'm basically just gambling. The nature of my game is that I always want to have an edge over my opponents, so I'm here to try and do that. I'm not an expert when it comes to sports knowledge but I figure research and the proper tools will allow me to be successful. So I started reading the Cracking Draftkings guide to get started but I also have some questions for you guys (currently just regarding NFL)...

What tools do you use for daily fantasy, be it research tools or scripts/automation tools?

How do you structure your core lineup(s)? Are there a certain number of core guys you pick? Does that number stay the same or does it vary? Are there certain positions that you want or don't want as your core?

Are there any rules of thumb about starting players that are playing each other? Are there bad combinations such as an RB from one team that is playing a WR on the other team, etc.?

What DFS sites do you play on?

What is your entry breakdown? Do the sharks own the H2H, 50/50, and double up games? Do you do a lot of GPP entries because of the high number of fish?

Do any of you do this for a living?

Thanks a lot.

-Scrum

 

[GreenNGold]

Hi, welcome to the forum, and also a poker player here. I'll try to answer most of your questions but will probably miss a few points.

For football, the best tool I have found is the interactive charts they provide here as part of the subscriber content. I think you would need to know programming and have your own projection system to do better, and getting better than their projections would obviously be a challenge as well. I generally sort between expected points, value, and h-value to find players I want to target. Sometimes my own research comes up with better plays but for a general tool I have not found a better one.

I don't have hard rules for my lineups, but basically try to find the positions I think have the most value then pay up for premium players in whatever is left over. My strategy will vary from week to week based on how players are priced.

There are a few lineup rules, and they vary from sport to sport but just speaking to football here. Generally you do not want any offensive players going against your defense as if one does good the other is most likely struggling. Also, it depends on if you are playing a cash game (50/50) or tournament (GPP). In a GPP you will always want to stack your QB with a WR and/or TE. In cash that can be risky as stacking is more of a boom or bust strategy, so you you may want to diversify more in cash games, as there the goal is to finish in the top 50% as opposed to the top 1%, you need to "gamble" a lot more in the big tournaments to reach one of the top-heavy payouts, and play it a lot safer in a 50/50, h2h, or double-up. There are more if you have any other questions would be glad to help.

I do not do it for a living, and there are very few who can, but those who can make a lot.

I mainly play at FanDuel and DraftKings. I was a big fan of Victiv/Starsdraft but they are only in 4 states now. The other smaller sites can provide more value if you are just starting out, but the biggest tournaments are at FanDuel and DraftKings, it depends what you are looking for. I am looking into other sites now but it does take a bit of research for each site you want to play. Unlike poker, the bonuses in this industry are not worth chasing, just focus on building good lineup and trying to win money, the bonuses are pretty much worthless compared to bonuses that poker sites offered.

I tend to focus on cash games as I prefer to grind out a consistent profit and if you can win consistently there is still a lot of money to be made there. I do enter tournaments too but normally just a few entries as lottery tickets more than anything as a fraction of my action. I am working on a better GPP strategy but my personality works out a lot better towards finding good value which works better in cash games (for me). There are others who are better at constructing multiple lineups with upside and throwing them all into tournaments and that works for them. You need to decide what works best for you and go from there.

Best of luck!

 

[Snorkelson]

I figure this question can apply to this thread. It's written in a lot of strategy threads/articles that you should roll at least half of your bankroll in cash games (50/50, double ups) and the rest in GPPs. So, as a low stakes player with say a bankroll for the week of say $20, you decide to play $10 in cash games and $10 in GPP, do you play one $10 GPP to go for the bigger payout or do you cast a wide net with 10 $1 teams? Or do you play all cash to get a better bankroll established?

Has anyone here turned $20 into something ridiculous?

 

[BassNBrew]

I figure this question can apply to this thread. It's written in a lot of strategy threads/articles that you should roll at least half of your bankroll in cash games (50/50, double ups) and the rest in GPPs. So, as a low stakes player with say a bankroll for the week of say $20, you decide to play $10 in cash games and $10 in GPP, do you play one $10 GPP to go for the bigger payout or do you cast a wide net with 10 $1 teams? Or do you play all cash to get a better bankroll established?

Has anyone here turned $20 into something ridiculous?

Wadsworth in FB and Choas Commish in BB.

 

[BigJohn]

I'm far from an expert. I developed my own spreadsheet and ranking system last year, but I have zero script knowledge so I was manually inputting data and spending 6-10 hours a week creating my rankings. It DID help me turn $25 each in fanduel and draft kings into $1100 withdrawn over the course of the season.

I haven't fired up my spreadsheet this year yet and I'm working only off of FBG tools so far. I have more than tripled what I started with, but I do need to get my own stuff on track again.

IMO, invest most of your bankroll into cash games(50/50 and multipliers). I tend to make 5 cash lineups and 3 tourney lineups. I usually end up at around 75/25 cash to tourney exposure. Always, ALWAYS enter your cash lineups into at least one tourney. I tend to get just as much success with these lineups as I do with my actual tourney lineups.

 

[Tennessee_ATO]

I figure this question can apply to this thread. It's written in a lot of strategy threads/articles that you should roll at least half of your bankroll in cash games (50/50, double ups) and the rest in GPPs. So, as a low stakes player with say a bankroll for the week of say $20, you decide to play $10 in cash games and $10 in GPP, do you play one $10 GPP to go for the bigger payout or do you cast a wide net with 10 $1 teams? Or do you play all cash to get a better bankroll established?

Has anyone here turned $20 into something ridiculous?

Personally, I don't think a 50/50 split is sustainable for anyone other than the best/luckiest players. I think something on the order of 80/20 or even 85/15 (cash/GPP) is a more appropriate split.

As far as how to allocate that GPP play, it all depends on what you want. If you want to take 1 single stab at a bigger payout, just play 1 big tourney. Just understand that by far the most likely outcome is that you will lose that wager every week. If you want to increase the odds of winning SOMETHING, but significantly reducing your ceiling, play $1 GPPs. I don't think there's a right or wrong answer, it just depends on your risk tolerance and personality.

 

[Tennessee_ATO]

I'm far from an expert. I developed my own spreadsheet and ranking system last year, but I have zero script knowledge so I was manually inputting data and spending 6-10 hours a week creating my rankings. It DID help me turn $25 each in fanduel and draft kings into $1100 withdrawn over the course of the season.

I haven't fired up my spreadsheet this year yet and I'm working only off of FBG tools so far. I have more than tripled what I started with, but I do need to get my own stuff on track again.

IMO, invest most of your bankroll into cash games(50/50 and multipliers). I tend to make 5 cash lineups and 3 tourney lineups. I usually end up at around 75/25 cash to tourney exposure. Always, ALWAYS enter your cash lineups into at least one tourney. I tend to get just as much success with these lineups as I do with my actual tourney lineups.

This. At the very least drop each cash lineup into a $1 100-man or 250-man league.