What’s not to love about fantasy football, right? Well, the worst thing that can happen to a season-long fantasy football team is either losing your stud for the year, or your team simply being terrible. Fortunately, that’s what daily fantasy football is here for (partially).
In daily fantasy football, you get to create one, or multiple lineups each and every week, with the chance to win a whole lot of money. Daily fantasy football will feature some of the biggest games, biggest prize pools and biggest paydays to players, so if you play the game, you don’t want to miss the opportunities that are right in front of you.
Now, before getting into the week-by-week breakdowns, you have to know exactly what you’re getting into and remember a bit of basic strategy that can help you walk away as a winner in daily fantasy football. We’ll start things off with the always fun bankroll management guidance, because in fantasy football, this can be one of the most important things.
With so many huge games and so many options for you to play on a weekly basis, it can be easy to get drawn into the games that are either out of your comfort zone, or simply don’t allow you to prepare for the variance that comes with fantasy sports.
Let’s jump right into it, then you can jump into making some money.
Bankroll Management
So, let’s say for example purposes, that you start out with $100 in your account. If this is the case, you aren’t going to want to play in strictly the $27 guaranteed prize pool games. Why? Well, the variance in those games is going to be massive, and there will absolutely be weeks where you don’t do as well as you do in other weeks.
This is why you’re going to want to ride the wave and make sure to manage your money carefully. With $100, you may want to focus on playing in the $3 guaranteed prize pool games, while playing in $5-$10 double-up games. The double-up games can help you to deal with the variance in the GPP games, but we’ll talk about that more below.
From there, when talking bankroll management, it’s also pretty important to make sure that you aren’t going crazy when you wind up winning money. The worst mistake that a fantasy player can make is to have a week where they win some serious money, then decide to go wild and play in the biggest games the very next week.
You need to remain smart, play smart and spread your money out among lineups that you feel confident in. Also, you’ll know pretty quickly when building lineups and doing research how confident you are in your lineups, so don’t be afraid to either have a week with fewer lineups, or add one or two lineups if things come together nicely.
Just be careful, and don’t go too wild with your money, it should last you quite a while when grinding out the games on the multiple daily fantasy sites.
Choosing Your Game
We spoke a bit above about guaranteed prize pools against double-up games. If you’re the type of person who loves to find a good sleeper and let them lead your lineup and shock everyone, then GPP games are for you. Using these deep sleepers in double-ups won’t make as much sense, because all you’re trying to do is get into the top 40% or so of the field to double your money. For example, if you’re playing in a 100-player game and the top 40 double their money, getting first place thanks to a few sleepers or getting 40th place makes no difference. Either way, you’re getting the same profit at the end of the day.
Most players are going to be able to play a little bit of both, but it’s just about your own personal mold. Some people are built for GPP games, while others are built for double-ups. It’s highly recommended that you do play in both though, as double-ups can help you to avoid that variance of GPP’s, as we already mentioned. Play it smart, spread your money in multiple areas so you have a great chance to not only win big, but to also win your money back or make a slight profit for those “off” weeks that we all have.
Value Plays Paired With Studs
Say hello to one of the toughest things to do in all of fantasy football. There are going to be plenty of studs playing every single week, but how do you pair those players with the value/sleeper plays? Well, it’s all about the matchups. You not only need to find value plays who are going to save you money, but they need to be in pretty good spots to be able to get quite a few touches or looks, while also having some strong upside.
It’s a tough thing to do, but injuries and such are going to play a big role in these types of situations. As for the studs, you need to really focus on who has the best matchups. For example, if two receivers are equally priced, which one has the best matchup against an opponent who has struggled against opposing wide receivers? This may be the one you’ll want to target.
High Risk, High Reward in GPP Games
Yes, in guaranteed prize pool games, you’re going to need to get a bit risky. You don’t need to go crazy and try to predict that a player who hardly plays is going to get into the action, but you do need to be willing to take a risk on a mediocre quarterback with a great matchup, or a running back who many people may not use who has a few solid angles to be used.
Remember, usage percentage of players are going to be important, the less used your players are, and the better they do, it will wind up leaving you in a much better situation to cash and make some serious money. This doesn’t mean that you should be using all risky players, as these sleepers are going to be a perfect way for you to be able to fit a stud or two into your lineup.
Playing it Safe in Double-Ups or Head-to-Heads
Those rules above stand true for GPP games, but when it comes to the heads up or double-up games, you need to play it smart and safe. Find the players who are consistent, who get a lot of touches and who are on teams who can score big points in bunches. These are not only the safest options, but they’re the ones who are going to help you to make it into the top percentage of the double-ups, while also taking home a winner or two in the heads up games.
It’s going to be tough to avoid the big-time sleepers, but don’t forget that using a value play who doesn’t carry as much risk isn’t necessarily a bad idea in these games. It’s just not the best idea to load up on sleepers in double-ups or 50/50 games. The strategy between the GPP’s and these types of games are massively different, so just remember to smart about which players you use in which spots.
