Welcome back to The Daily Grind, the place where I will be discussing all the happenings in Daily Fantasy Sports on a weekly basis. The Daily Grind will be my voice to help you through the constantly changing DFS landscape as I highlight important news, free articles, resources, potential overlay situations, great contests to play and more every week. The emphasis here will be first to cover the four sites that we partnered with this year (FanDuel, DraftKings, FantasyAces and FantasyScore), but I will still discuss major news and contests beyond those sites when applicable.
CREATE YOUR OWN FREEROLLS – OF SORTS
Today I wanted to talk about something you should be taking advantage of on DFS sites like FanDuel and DraftKings, if you haven’t been doing so already. Both of these sites awards players points for the games in which they play, and these can and do add up. Trading in those points for entries into contests on either site (either directly on FanDuel or by using these points to buy tickets for contests on DraftKings) creates what is, in essence, a free entry to a contest of your choice. That is what I mean by making your own freerolls. These points are valuable, and given that the DFS climate changes on a weekly, if not daily, basis, it would be wise to spend these points as soon as you can and get those rewards.
THE DFS LEGAL REPORT
Speaking of that DFS climate, both FanDuel and DraftKings were making legal headlines this past week. Most of the news came from the state of New York, where the Attorney General (“AG”) sent both sites a cease-and-desist letter to try and force both sites from taking what the AG stated were illegal bets on sports within the Empire State. Well, this was the last straw for both FanDuel and DraftKings, and after both DraftKings and FanDuel issued statements to their players and the media, they have hired attorneys to defend their right to operate within New York and filed suit against this action. Now, players from New York state are still able to play this weekend, but the longer term beyond this weekend is on shakier ground than it most certainly was just a week ago. Some are also wondering if there is an ulterior motive for the NY AG to get involved in DFS so suddenly, as reports have come out that casinos have been contributing to his recent campaign funds. This is looking like it is going to take quite a while to resolve, but the good news (if any) is that FanDuel and DraftKings are looking to fight this fight through proper channels.
In addition to what is going on in New York, Florida has started the process of initiating a daily fantasy sports bill for operators to have Floridians play DFS. Illinois, who has already had issues with paying their lottery winners, is introducing two bills to protect fantasy fans and their rights.. California may be one of the next states to weigh in on DFS, so stay tuned out on the West Coast.
So, no matter where you are in the United States, if you want to play DFS, you better stay up on what is going on in DFS. The Daily Grind will do what it can to inform you, but be sure to read up on all the latest and greatest here at Footballguys, Legal Sports Report and Rotogrinders to stay on top of the news.
THE ROTOGRINDERS' DFS CONFERENCE
Seems like most of our headlines are pointing us to Metropolis this week. Our friends over at Rotogrinders are hosting a DFS player conference this weekend in New York City. The timing could not be better, as November could be viewed as one of the peaks for DFS play with NFL, NBA and NHL seasons (plus college football and basketball) all in play. Of course, the location of New York City can be considered as opportunistic as well given the recent actions by the state’s Attorney General. A rally was held on Friday, and from what I am hearing, lots of media is asking for press credentials to cover this event, which could be good news if the coverage reflects both DFS players and the DFS community in a positive light. If you are local to NYC this weekend and want to see what the buzz is about or just want to meet fellow players and folks from Rotogrinders, consider stopping by. Check out more details here about the conference.
THIS WEEK’S DFS LESSON - SLATE CHOICES AND CONTRARIAN OUTLOOKS
When we wrote the two e-books on DFS, “Cracking FanDuel” and “Cracking DraftKings”, we talked a lot about the type of games to choose when you play in daily fantasy football contests. I think the discussion of when to play head-to-heads, leagues, GPPs and other contests are well covered in those books, so what I want to highlight today is how to pick games in particular slates. “Slates”, for those who are not familiar with the term, defines the games that are used for a given DFS contest. The “full slate” each week includes every game in the NFL that week, from Thursday to Monday Night Football. The “main slate” is often used to refer to Sunday 1PM Eastern games through Monday. There are some smaller slates that are out there, such as “late afternoon” which is the second set of afternoon contests on Sunday, “prime time” (Sunday Night Football and Monday Night Football), and even the Monday / Thursday slate.
So how do you choose to play these games? Good question. What I like to do is mostly play the bigger states, but there are very good reasons to target these smaller group of games. The key point to know is that if you are choosing to play with a smaller amount of contests, getting the game scripts for those games matters much, much more than in the bigger slates. It is one thing to say that a given player will have a big game on a big slate, but the game dynamic that results in that big performance matters more with fewer contests. An example probably explains this point best. Let’s take the extreme example of the smallest slate possible – two games. If you believe that a wide receiver is going to have a big night on Monday Night Football, that could be the result of his team blowing out the other team, a game that is a shootout, or even a game where his own team is blown out and that he is racking up garbage time production. Those three different recipes for success has secondary impacts to the other players in those games, so this is why I say that getting the game script right is critical.
So here is the best way to play these games, in my humble opinion. If you believe that you know how a game (or two) will play out, playing on a smaller slate that includes those contests can give you a significant advantage. Winning smaller slates requires getting those game scripts right, as you will need 2-3 or more players from the same team far more often (and need to fade the right players far more often as well) in contests with only a handful of games. I tend to play more GPPs in these smaller slates, as the return on your investment for getting that game script right is much higher if you are right.
There are two more points I want to make on this before I close. The first is that every player you pick for your small slate lineup has to match your game script recipe. Do you think that the Jets’ quarterback will have a big game? Taking his quarterback and tight end would make sense. Pairing stacks (QB/WR, QB/TE and RB/Defense) are strong strategies for game script decisions, as does taking wide receivers on both teams in a shootout game. The last point is probably the biggest one to make. If you think that your recipe for a game is opposite of what most people are predicting – and the game plays out that way – then you stand to profit a lot more on smaller slates where you get that game right as you will have more exposure (and more people will have less players that support that game script) if you nail that outcome. Playing a GPP with an alternative game script to conventional thinking is the best way of all for success on a small slate.
FOOTBALLGUYS AND DFS COVERAGE FOR 2015
You know the deal by now - Footballguys has a ton of DFS coverage this year. Whether it is our two e-books that cover FanDuel (“Cracking FanDuel”) and DraftKings (“Cracking DraftKings”), or the 50+ articles a week we produce to cover all four major sites each week – we have it all covered. All this articles are linked in our Daily Crusher App that continues to be one of he best ways that DFS players can create lineups for cash games and tournaments and also get deep analysis on their rosters, likelihood of winning and exposure to various players. Once you start using this, it will be hard to imagine how you ever lived without it. I'm still learning all the different ways to use this great tool both by experimenting with it and with the help of our Daily Crusher Manual and I can already see its immense value to me as both a cash game and GPP player.
There's a ton more coverage we have this season for DFS, too much to outline in The Daily Grind, but we have a large section dedicated to each of our sponsor sites listed below.
DraftKings Coverage for Week 10
FantasyAces Coverage for Week 10
FantasyScore Coverage for Week 10
Let's also not forget about the Footballguys' blogs for both FanDuel and DraftKings. Watch for new content every day over there.
We even added new video content for 2015. In a partnership with Rotogrinders, you can now see both John Lee and Austin Lee with Dan Back on The Footballguys Rotogrinders Hour. It is a great show with lots of insight. Check it out!
Of course, if you are a bigger fan of The Audible, we have both FanDuel and DraftKings shows for DFS coverage for each site as well. Be sure to subscribe to these weekly podcasts to get your weekends rolling for the NFL DFS slate.
FOOTBALLGUYS DFS CONTEST
Footballguys wants all of their readers to get in on the fun. With the help of both FanDuel, we have a great contest available to Footballguys here in Week 10 - THE FINAL WEEK TO QUALIFY!!!. The Footballguys Football Championship, presented by FanDuel, offers contestants with a shot at not just a double-up opportunity on their $10 entry, but also a chance at one of the final prizes. All you have to do is beat Sigmund Bloom, David Dodds and Joe Bryant’s scores in a given week and you get a ticket for the Week 11 final contest, where first place will win $5,000. That’s a pretty sweet deal on top of a normal double-up contest, as these extra prizes create a built-in overlay of about $40,000. This one should fill up quickly.
BIG CONTESTS FOR WEEK 10
FANDUEL
Last week I pointed out the great FanDuel NFL Survivor contest, and I hope that you are still alive and moving on to the third round. If you did, you need to check your ticket list to see if your entries are available for Sunday. If you don’t know, just click your name on the FanDuel site, then click “My Account”, and then “My Tickets” to see your tickets, and then be sure to update your rosters for Sunday. FanDuel also added the “win a car” freerolls to accounts that qualified (you had to play 2-4 weeks of cash contests, so hopefully you made it). Once again these freerolls should appear on your account, so again, update any dummy rosters.
Aside from that, FanDuel “only” has the same contests as last week on the DFS street continues to offer some of the largest volume of contests around. Start off with this week's $3 Million Contest where someone will win a half-million bucks for just a $25 entry all the way down to the NFL Sunday Rush, wherr a $5 entry to this contest can win you $100,000 for first place. What a value that one is. But of course there is more, and as we mentioned earlier in The Daily Grind, FanDuel partnered with Footballguys to create an exclusive Footballguys-FanDuel Championship with over $40,000 in free prizes where you can turn a double-up entry into a ticket for a Week 11 final where if you can beat Joe Bryant, David Dodds and Sigmund Bloom in the week you can add up to $5,000 to that $20 you won in the $10 double-up. That's pretty sweet right there. And of course you have to take note of the Playboy College Football Championship, where you can earn one of 70 exclusive entries to the PCFC event at the Playboy Mansion on November 21st. Qualifiers will be running all season long at FanDuel, so take some shots at these great tournaments with extra incentives and prizes. Let's also not forget about the biggest one of them all, the $12M Fantasy Football World Championship that was announced early this season. Find a qualifier you like and take a shot and winning millions of dollars. The hard part is not deciding if to play, but which contests to target and try and take down.
DRAFTKINGS
DraftKings is once again offering their usual slate of great GPP contests. Such is the case this week with the $5M Millionaire Maker for Sunday. First place walks away with $1M dollars, not a bad payday at all. DraftKings still has the biggest contest around with their $15 Million contest announcement from a few weeks back, and qualifiers are still in play for as low as $3 an entry. Hmmm, $3 for a shot at $5 Million. I’m in, and I think everyone should take a shot at this big prize.
As far as the rest of the contests for this week, there are plenty of tournaments at DraftKings to sink your teeth into, even after the Millionaire Maker. At a price point of just $3, the $1.25M Play-Action tournament is certainly appealing, and this week they kept the $9 tournament at big money levels as the NFL Slant contest offers $450K in prizes and you can win as much as $30,000. There' are also several giant 50/50 contests in the lobby as well, including a $25 entry with 20,000 winners about to get $50 Tuesday morning. Lots of contests and lots of money to be had in Week 5, so get those lineups ready.
FANTASYACES
You have to check out what FantasyAces is offering this season. Not only are they going bigger and better for the NFL, but they are also going for a Live Final for College Football!
First, FantasyAces announced the $500,000 NFL Live Final for 2015, which will be in Newport Beach, CA on December 13th. The live final will have 40 entrants competing for a $100,000 grand prize. Qualifiers will run all season long up until the live event, including satellites to get into qualifiers at a discount.
The other major event for FantasyAces is their other live final, the $100,000 College Football Live Final. The live event will take place in Newport Beach, CA on November 21st where 13 finalist will compete for the $100,000 prize pool. The only way to claim a seat to the live final is to win a FACFC qualifier contest, which will be held weekly beginning September 3.
FantasyAces also has an interesting format called SalaryPro, where you get bonus points for staying furhter and further under the salary cap. More and more are trying out this unique format, so be sure to check out the lobby over at FantasyAces for contests that use this rule.
FANTASYSCORE
FantasyScore is offering up a GPP with a twist this year. If you can finish in the Top 3 in their Fantasy Football Championship Satellite, you can grab an elusive golden ticket for an entry towards the Week 16 championship game where $25,000 will be awarded. Another way to get a ticket is to go after the $20 entry satellite that is giving away four tickets. Check out all of these contests and more at our FantasyScore page.
Footballguys has you covered here - both in major DFS announcements and the tools you need to build winning lineups.
Thanks as always for reading The Daily Grind, and good luck this week.
