Daily fantasy sports (DFS) contests put fans in the driver’s seat by giving them a chance to build their dream teams and compete against players from around the country for real cash.

Today, daily fantasy sports sites and the best DFS apps are legal in most US states. Some states have passed legislation legalizing and regulating DFS sites, while others allow the industry to operate under existing law.

Best Daily Fantasy Sites

PrizePicksPlay $5, Get $50PrizePicks Promo Code: BUSA Get Bonus
Boom Fantasy$250 First Entry RefundBoom Fantasy Promo Code: BUSA Get Bonus
Underdog Fantasy50% up to $1000Underdog Fantasy Promo Code: BETUSA Get Bonus
ParlayPlayFree Entry + $100 Deposit BonusParlayPlay Promo Code: BUSA Get Bonus
OwnersBox$500 Deposit BonusOwnersBox Referral Code: BUSA Get Bonus
Betr Picks100% 1st Entry Match up to $250Betr Picks Promo Code: MATCH Get Bonus
Dabble Fantasy$25 Sign-Up BonusDabble Fantasy Promo Code: Not Needed Get Bonus

21+ to Play, T&Cs Apply. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER

Only a handful of states have laws on the books that actively prohibit fantasy sports sites.

Read on for BettingUSA’s most highly recommended daily fantasy sites, reviews of major DFS providers, and detailed explanations of how fantasy sports betting works.

Fantasy Sports Sites We Recommend

The best daily fantasy sports sites we recommend joining are listed below:

PrizePicks

PrizePicks pickem fantasy
PrizePicksPlay $5, Get $50PrizePicks Promo Code: BUSA Get Bonus
  • Sports Covered: NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, PGA, UFC, tennis, soccer, college sports, esports, niche sports like disc golf and jai alai; special events like the hot dog eating contest, NBA dunk contest, celebrity boxing matches
  • Pick’em Game Types: Power Play (higher payouts, must get all predictions right); Flex Play (lower max payouts but secondary payouts for not getting all predictions right); Arena (peer-vs-peer pick’em contests played against other players)
  • Max Payouts: Up to 100x entry fee
  • Notable Features: Demons and Goblins; Reboots

PrizePicks provides a simple form of daily fantasy that feels a lot like traditional sports betting. In each PrizePicks contest, users select a handful of athletes and make over/under predictions on each athlete’s projected fantasy points total.

Unlike standard fantasy contests, PrizePicks players do not play against other users. Instead, they earn payouts based on the accuracy of their predictions. Players can earn up to 100 times their initial buyins for making just five accurate predictions or make fewer predictions for smaller prizes.

PrizePicks is the best all-around fantasy pick’em site for multiple reasons.

Most importantly, PrizePicks is a reputable operator with a massive customer base and no shortage of experience.

Other highlights include an excellent mobile app that’s intuitive to use and runs smoothly, unique game types, a vast variety of supported sports leagues, and player-friendly features.

For example, the PrizePicks Reboot policy keeps players in the game if one of their athletes leaves the game in the first half and doesn’t return in the second. In that case, the entry reverts down one level (e.g., a 6-Pick Flex becomes a 5-Pick Flex) instead of losing outright.

Standard PrizePicks games offer payouts up to 25x, but players can submit “Demon” projections that are more difficult to win but that boost the max payout to up to 100x.

Likewise, players can submit “Goblin” predictions that are much easier to win but reduce the maximum potential payout.

Underdog Fantasy

Underdog Fantasy pickem
Underdog Fantasy50% up to $1000Underdog Fantasy Promo Code: BETUSA Get Bonus
  • Sports Covered: NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL PGA, UFC, NASCAR, tennis soccer, college sports, cricket, and special events like the MLB All-Star Game
  • Pick’em Game Types: Standard Pick’em, Rivals, and Pick’em Champions (peer-to-peer pick’em contests played against other players)
  • DFS Contest Types: Salary Cap DFS Contests and Season-Long Best Ball Leagues
  • Max Payouts: Up to 20x
  • Notable Features: Rescues, Insurance, Scorchers, Specials, In-Play Projections

Underdog Fantasy is another popular, well-established sports prediction site with an excellent selection of game types and features:

  • Standard Pick’em: Make 2-5 more/less projections on athlete stats like rebounds, rushing yards, etc. for payouts ranging from 3x to 20x
  • Rivals Pick’em: Underdog Fantasy provides pairs of athletes for particular stats, and players predict which athlete will perform better in that stat. Players select 2-5 pairs and make one prediction for each. Payouts range from 3x to 20x.
  • Pick’em Champions: Make 2-5 more/less projections and compete against other players. If exactly one player gets the most projection correct, they win the predesignated Champions Prize. Players who tie for the greatest number of accurate picks split the Champions Prize evenly.

Unique Underdog Fantasy features include Scorchers that boost any entry’s max payout and Specials that heavily adjust an athlete’s projection to give the customer a significantly improved chance of getting that prediction right.

Underdog Fantasy also offers Rescues, where if an athlete leaves the game in the first half and doesn’t return in the second half, Underdog will refund the entry and drop a Special in the customer’s account.

Additionally, Underdog Pick’em offers in-play projections, the pick’em equivalent of in-game sports betting.

In summary, Underdog Fantasy ranks among the best fantasy pick ‘em sites because it is reputable, intuitive, and offers a huge range of game types and leagues.

ParlayPlay

ParlayPlay pickem fantasy
ParlayPlayFree Entry + $100 Deposit BonusParlayPlay Promo Code: BUSAGet Bonus
  • Sports Covered: NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, UFC, various soccer leagues, and esports like CS:GO, LoL, Valorant, and Dota
  • Pick’em Game Types: More or Less and Hit-It (predict stat totals within predetermined ranges)
  • Max Payouts: Up to 155x
  • Notable Features: Alt lines, stat shifts

ParlayPlay is an app like PrizePicks that offers pick ’em predictions contests with cash prizes.

In a typical ParlayPlay contest, players select two or more athletes and predict whether they will accumulate over or under their projected statistical totals.

For example, a player might predict whether each of three quarterbacks will pass for more or less yards than their projected passing totals.

ParlayPlay isn’t as well-known as some of the other fantasy pick’em sites discussed on this page, but it has numerous strong points that make it a legitimate contender.

For one, ParlayPlay covers a good range of sports, including all major professional US leagues, international soccer, and esports.

Second, ParlayPlay is the only prominent fantasy pick’em app with a game type other than “more or less” predictions. ParlayPlay’s Hit-It contests require players to predict two athletes’ stat totals within ranges to earn payouts of 2x if they get one right or 6x if they get both right.

ParlayPlay also allows customers to use one stat shift per day, which moves the projection up or down by a half point to make that prediction easier. Stat shifts are essentially the pick’em fantasy equivalent of teasers in sports betting but don’t negatively impact the potential payout.

The most noticeable negative point is ParlayPlay’s app. The interface is unintuitive, looks dated, and seems to list athletes randomly, which can make it frustrating to ensure every entry contains athletes from at least two different teams.

Boom Fantasy

Boom Fantasy pickem
Boom Fantasy$250 First Entry RefundBoom Fantasy Promo Code: BUSA Get Bonus
  • Sports Covered: NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, NBA All-Star Game, college sports
  • Max Payouts: Up to 500x
  • Pick’em Game Types: Standard (up to 20x payout), Favorites (easier predictions with a 3x max payout), Longshots (harder predictions for up to 40x payouts), and Pick & Spins (randomized payout of 2x to 500x).
  • Notable Features: Spin the bonus wheel in Pick & Spin games for a randomized payout multiplier of up to 500x; Coverage option to enable consolation cash prizes when you miss one or two predictions at the cost of reduced max payouts for perfect entries

Boom Fantasy is the most intuitive and straightforward operator in this space, making it ideal for fans who don’t have experience with other fantasy pick’em sites.

All Boom Fantasy pick’em games involve making 2-5 over/under predictions, and players can choose from three difficulty levels.

For example, Favorites contests offer easy predictions (like taking the OVER on the NFL’s best quarterback getting at least 200 passing yards) at the cost of reduced payouts.

Additionally, Boom Fantasy’s Pick & Spin games offer the chance to play for some of the biggest fixed payouts in daily fantasy. In Pick & Spin games, players submit two predictions and spin the prize wheel for a randomized payout multiplier ranging from 2x to 500x.

The Boom Fantasy app uses a straightforward interface that makes it easy even for inexperienced players to log in, select a game type, and submit predictions.

FanDuel DFS

FanDuel DFS$100 Deposit BonusFanDuel Fantasy Promo Code: Not Needed Get Bonus

FanDuel.com opened for business in 2009 and quickly grew to become one of the most prominent players in the fantasy sports industry.

FanDuel.com has earned a reputation for quick payouts and fair games.

FanDuel DFS players can join public events and compete for massive prize pools, start private contests with their friends, or compete in heads-up contests for payouts just shy of 2x.

FanDuel DFS contest buyins range from $1 to $200, sometimes higher for special events.

FanDuel offers DFS players some of the highest payouts in daily fantasy sports, with first-place prizes occasionally exceeding $1 million.

For fans who want to compete for the biggest prizes, FanDuel is an easy choice.

DraftKings DFS

Boston-based DraftKings is home to massive prizes, innovative social features, and varied DFS contest formats such as season-long best ball games.

DraftKings accepts convenient payment methods, including credit cards, debit cards, PayPal, and prepaid gift cards. As a result, DraftKings is one of the best DFS sites for new fans to play at for real money.

DraftKings DFS also hosts frequent mega contests with seven-figure payouts to the winners and significant prizes to the runners-up.

Many players prefer DraftKings’ software and mobile app over FanDuel’s because it embeds many features without cluttering the interface or complicating navigation.

OwnersBox DFS

OwnersBox pick'em screenshot
OwnersBox$500 Deposit BonusOwnersBox Referral Code: BUSA Get Bonus
  • Sports Covered: NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL
  • Pick’em Game Types: Lightning Lineups
  • DFS Contest Types: SuperFlex DFS
  • Max Payouts: Lightning Lineups pay up to 6x; daily and weekly fantasy contest payout vary
  • Notable Features: Daily and weekly salary cap contests in addition to pick’em games; social media element to add friends and chat with other users; daily, weekly and season-long challenges to earn OwnersBux, which are convertible to real money

OwnersBox operates closer to the DFS side of fantasy sports than most fantasy pick’em sites.

Instead of more-or-less projections on individual stats like passing yards or three points, OwnersBox contests involve projections on fantasy point totals.

Basic Lightning Lineup contests generate three random lineups and ask players to select which lineup of the three will earn the most fantasy points. If the chosen lineup outscores the others, the player wins a cash payout.

If players don’t like the three lineups they’ve been given, they can hit the spin button as many times as they wish to generate new random lineups.

Players can also increase the payout multiplier by adding lineups to the selection pool. In short, the more lineups you have to pick from, the bigger the payout when you pick the one that outscores all the others.

Which States Allow Daily Fantasy Sports?

Key

  • Red = Prohibited
  • Blue = Legal
Fantasy Placeholder
Fantasy

Each state takes a different approach to legal daily fantasy sports.

Some states have passed laws to regulate DFS operators, others states prohibit daily fantasy sports, and some states do not regulate the industry at all.

Below are brief overviews of daily fantasy sports legal status in every state.

States Where DFS Is Allowed

States Where DFS Is Prohibited

  • Hawaii
  • Idaho
  • Montana
  • Nevada
  • Washington

Daily Fantasy Sports Apps

FanDuel and DraftKings dominate the daily fantasy industry, but new DFS sites like PrizePicks, Boom Fantasy, and Underdog Fantasy are creating innovative content formats and gaining market share.

There are numerous daily fantasy sports apps to choose from today, and the differences between DFS sites can be significant.

Choosing the best daily fantasy sports apps involves finding safe DFS operators that match players personal preferences.

Players interested in massive, guaranteed DFS prize pool contests with million-dollar payouts should consider mainstream operators such as FanDuel and DraftKings.

Likewise, fans looking for the closest alternative to sports betting should consider entirely different types of DFS apps like PrizePicks.

BettingUSA’s daily fantasy sports reviews are neutral and unbiased, openly discuss pros and cons, and explain how each fantasy app works.

Key Considerations in Our DFS Reviews

Below is an explanation of BettingUSA’s approach to reviewing daily fantasy sports sites. These are the key considerations BettingUSA makes when writing DFS app reviews and making recommendations.

In the early days of daily fantasy sports, dozens of competing sites largely resembled one another. Each fantasy sports site had unique aspects, but in general, there was little differentiation among operators.

Today, the most successful mainstream fantasy sports brands offer a great deal of variety in how their apps work, the types of DFS contests they offer, and more.

While some fantasy sports operators emphasize “traditional” multi-player salary cap contests, many popular DFS apps now specialize in certain types of games, such as in-game prediction contests or snake-style drafts.

Understanding how each daily fantasy sports site works is critical to finding the best fit for each user’s preferences.

FanDuel and DraftKings boast the largest user bases, the most extensive league selection, and the largest cash prizes. It’s always worth having accounts at the most popular DFS sites because they tend to have a large selection of leagues and fantasy sports contests available.

One of the primary advantages big DFS sites offer apart from volume is the chance to win life-changing amounts of money.

For example, the biggest DFS sites host contests that award $1,000,000+ prizes to the grand champions. If a player manages to pick the perfect team for a large contest, they can become a millionaire.

Smaller fantasy sites simply cannot compete with that.

Additionally, the most popular fantasy sports sites offer the greatest potential return per dollar spent on entry fees. DFS tournaments often attract thousands of entrants and award huge payouts in DFS contests with buy-ins under $20.

It is harder to win in tournaments with many entrants, but the biggest DFS sites also host smaller contests every day.

On the other hand, less popular fantasy sports apps also have their advantages.

For example, smaller DFS operators often host contests with overlays where the guaranteed prize pool is larger than the total amount of buy-ins.

All fantasy betting sites host contests for the major US leagues, and some cover international sports. The NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL receive almost universal coverage among the nation’s mainstream fantasy sports operators.

Players interested in other leagues may need to look around more. For example, DraftKings hosts contests for EuroLeague basketball, but FanDuel does not.

Players should always consider reputation when choosing which DFS sites to join. Mainstream operators such as FanDuel, DraftKings, and others recommended on BettingUSA have well-established track records.

Lesser-known sites may pose security and financial risks because they are less likely to be financially stable.

DFS Bonuses and Promotional Offers

Daily fantasy sports bonuses come in many forms: first deposit bonuses and welcome promotions play a prominent role in the marketing efforts of almost every fantasy sports app. Most DFS sites regularly offer deposit bonuses, free contest entries, and other perks to players who sign up and enter real-money contests.

Yes. Although all fantasy sports bonuses come with fine print, most are a good deal. Players get extra cash in return for making a first deposit, which offers more value to new players.

Free entry promos allow users to participate in select fantasy sports contests without paying the buy-in.

It’s common for DFS operators to offer free contest entry tickets to incentivize new players to sign up and deposit.

For example, DraftKings occasionally offers new customers a free contest entry in addition to its longstanding welcome bonus.

Most daily fantasy sites have loyalty rewards programs designed to encourage frequent players.

For example, FanDuel awards FanDuel Points (FDPs) to users every time they enter a contest. FanDue loyalty points add up over time, and players can use them to take advantage of other DFS promos or enter paid games for free.

Welcome bonuses are far from the only types of promotions users will encounter at daily fantasy apps.

Operators frequently offer new promotions and incentives to keep customers active and happy. Daily fantasy sports promos change frequently, check back frequently for the latest promotions.

Remember, it’s essential to read all the details and conditions before accepting any daily fantasy sports signup offer.

Expert tip: Always check the fine print of an offer to make sure it provides value.

How Daily Fantasy Sports Works

Daily fantasy sports contests are a twist on traditional, season-long fantasy leagues. The biggest difference between the two is that daily fantasy contests only last for a limited slate of games, typically covering a day or a single week’s worth of action.

Sports fans can try playing fantasy sports contests for real money by creating an account at any DFS site recommended on this page, and checking the app for a list of upcoming contests.

Most daily fantasy sports apps offer contests for a range of leagues, including the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, NASCAR, UFC, golf, tennis, and college sports.

Every fantasy sports contest covers a specific “slate” of games spanning a single week, weekend, or day. For example, a typical Sunday NFL slate covers all NFL games scheduled for that day.

After entering a contest, entrants draft a team of athletes expected to play in that slate of games. Most DFS contests give each athlete a fixed cost according to their recent performances and desirability.

For example, a star quarterback will cost significantly more than a backup QB.

DFS players can pick any player as long as they stay within the salary cap.

For example, let’s use a total starting budget of $50,000:

If you draft one of the best quarterbacks in the league for $10,000, you will inevitably give up strength in another key position because your pick just took 20% of your salary cap, and you still have several slots to fill in your lineup.

After assembling your lineup, watch how the athletes on your team perform and earn points as your players rack up stats in real-time. Touchdown passes earn points for your quarterback, turnovers earn points for your defense, and so on.

If your draft lineup collectively scores more points than the competition, you receive a real money payout.

Daily fantasy sports sites structure contests in many formats. Players can compete in head-to-head matches against a single opponent, join tournament-style competitions with thousands of other players, or make simple predictions against the house.

Payouts vary based on the rules of each contest and the number of entrants. Some DFS contests have winner-take-all prizes, while others provide tournament-style payouts to the top X% of finishers.

In any case, the goal is to score as many points as possible by selecting athletes who perform well on game day.

Start Playing Fantasy Sports

For anyone completely new to daily fantasy sports, this section details the basic step-by-step process of how to play daily fantasy sports for real money prizes.

The most important part of getting started is choosing the right fantasy sports site. There are many fantasy sports apps to choose from, but only a handful stand above the rest in terms of reputation, prize pools, and user experience.

See BettingUSA’s recommendations on this page for safe and reputable daily fantasy sports sites.

Signing up requires each new user to provide their name, address, e-mail, a username, and password. Additionally, federal law requires fantasy sports contest operators to verify the identity of every customer. As a result, most operators also ask users to provide a social security number and an image of their photo ID or passport.

The next step after signing up is to make a first deposit (and claim the latest bonus).

Fantasy sports websites accept a range of easy-to-use deposit methods, including credit cards, debit cards, PayPal, and electronic bank transfers. Deposited funds are usually credited to player accounts instantly.

Players can enter DFS tournaments by logging in and browsing the lobby to find upcoming contests for each league.

From there, players can browse, sort, and filter by entry fee, prize pool, and payout structure to find the best contests

The mechanics of drafting fantasy lineups vary by operator and contest type.

Daily fantasy contests give players a salary cap and instruct them to draft a team without exceeding the cap. Others use traditional snake drafts in which entrants take turns selecting athletes.

Some contests involve “tiers” in which players pick a single athlete from multiple skill tiers without price considerations.

The goal in all fantasy contests is to build the most effective and efficient team possible.

After players have drafted teams and submitted lineups, all that remains is to watch the results.

As selected athletes accumulate stats in their games, each player’s fantasy team earns points accordingly.

You win the contest and collect the prize money if you score more points than your opponents.

Are Fantasy Sports Sites Legal?

Yes. Fantasy sports contests are legal at the federal level and in most states.

A handful of states with strict gambling laws prohibit daily fantasy contests, but most fans nationwide have access to daily sports fantasy apps.

Many states are now focused on legalizing sports betting, but the DFS industry had a head start thanks to a special exemption from the UIGEA.

The legality of daily fantasy sports wasn’t always this clear, though. When FanDuel and DraftKings were undergoing their first significant growth phase, they had to deal with substantial legal uncertainty in nearly every state.

DFS sites consider their real money contests games of skill, but Attorneys General in multiple states challenged that view and ordered FanDuel and DraftKings to cease operations, initiating a multi-state legal battle that had both companies fighting for their very existence.

DFS operators also initiated extensive state-level lobbying campaigns, hoping to shape the perception of lawmakers across the country.

In addition, FanDuel and DraftKings went on a national advertising blitz, forged partnerships with professional sports teams, and held multiple investment rounds.

These efforts were largely successful, and fantasy sports sites secured access to most states thanks to a combination of lawmakers passing DFS regulation, and Attorneys general in other states choosing not to intervene.

Only a few states today have laws on the books that explicitly prohibit daily fantasy sports.

Types of Daily Fantasy Sports Contests

Fantasy sports sites have introduced many contest types that can generally be classified into two overarching categories: DFS tournaments and cash games.

DFS Tournaments are fantasy contests that offer large, guaranteed payouts (also known as GPPs). A typical GPP may accept entries from thousands of players and guarantee large cash prizes to the first-place finisher.

Large fantasy contests are challenging to win, but the rewards can be massive.

Payout structures in DFS tournaments are top-heavy, paying the most for first place and progressively less for lower finishes.

Tournament players tend to draft volatile but high-ceiling athletes in a go big or go home approach. The nature of large DFS GPPs requires players to take some risks when building their lineups to have a chance at finishing above the competition.

Some DFS tournaments allow users to pay the entry multiple times and submit many lineups, while others enforce strict limits on the number of entries each customer may enter.

  • GPPs: The term GPP refers to guaranteed prize pool fantasy tournaments. Technically all DFS contests are guaranteed prize pool events, but generally, the term “GPP” at fantasy sites refers to large tournaments with big prize pools.
  • Freerolls: Fantasy freerolls have no entry fee but offer cash payouts to the winners – often used as an incentive for new customers to sign up or as a part of other promotional activities for existing customers.
  • Satellites: Satellite contests award entries to larger tournaments in lieu of cash payouts. For example, bankroll limitations might prompt a player to enter a $5 DFS satellite for a chance at winning entry to a $100 tournament.
  • Tournaments: Some DFS sites use the term “tournament” to specifically refer to contests with 3-100 players.
  • Beginners Only: The law in some states requires DFS operators to offer beginners-only tournaments, which are only open to players who do not have much experience. For example, DraftKings hosts beginners-only games available to players who have played in 50 or fewer contests.
  • Steps: Steps are a series of small fantasy sports tournaments with buy-ins that increase as players move up levels. Each contest on the way up awards entry to the next level up until players get to the final step and play for a larger cash prize. Players may buy in directly at any level or start from the bottom and work their way up.

Daily fantasy sports cash game contests are much easier to win and cash game players aim to win smaller payouts more frequently than tournament players looking for massive scores.

Head-to-head contests and 50/50s are examples of DFS cash games, where players only need to outperform a limited number of opponents to guarantee a fixed payout.

For example, in a 50/50 DFS game where 100 people enter, players only need to outperform half the field to earn a payout equal to double their entry fee.

Payout structures in fantasy sports cash games are flat, all winners are paid the same amount.

DFS cash game players tend to draft safe lineups because the goal isn’t to finish in first place; it is to construct a lineup with the best chance possible of performing well enough to earn a payout.

Types of Fantasy Sports Cash Game Contests

  • Head-to-Head: Play against a single opponent for a winner-take-all prize pool. The winning player doubles their entry fee.
  • 50/50s: The goal in fifty-fifty and double-up DFS contests is to place in the top 50% of the field. If 100 people enter, 50 people win double their money (minus commission).
  • Multipliers: Multipliers function like 50/50 games but offer payouts to a smaller portion of the field. For example, triple-ups offer a 3x payout to the top 33% of the field, while quadruple-ups offer a 4x payout to the top 25% of the field.

Types of Daily Fantasy Drafts

Daily fantasy cash games and tournaments also vary in how players build their lineups:

  • Salary Cap: Most fantasy sports games use the salary cap model for lineups. That is, players receive a virtual salary to spend on athletes and build the best team possible. In a salary cap game, drafting an athlete does not remove him from the pool for everyone else; all athletes are available to all contestants.
  • Snake Draft: Season-long fantasy football leagues have used snake drafts for years. In a snake draft, players take turns drafting athletes from around the league, and once an athlete is drafted, no other player may select that athlete. The snake draft format keeps things fair by reversing the order of picks each round. For example, the person who picks first in the 1st round will pick last in the 2nd round.
  • Auction Draft: An auction draft works sort of like a snake draft, but rather than simply drafting an athlete when it’s their turn, players nominate an athlete to go on auction. During the action, everyone can bid on the athlete, who goes to the highest bidder. Auction drafts are highly strategic because players have limited salaries and must carefully choose not only who they draft but who they nominate.
  • Pick’em: Various fantasy sites use the term “pick‘em” differently. For example, DraftKings offers pick‘em contests in which players build lineups by making one selection at a time from groups of athletes chosen by DraftKings. However, some daily fantasy sports sites have pick’em contests that involve making in-game predictions for fixed payouts.

Fantasy Pick’em Sites

Some daily fantasy sports sites provides an experience remarkably similar to sports betting that is legal in most states.

Pick’em fantasy sites function completely differently than sites that specialize in DFS tournaments and cash games.

Instead of building lineups, contestants make more-or-less predictions on individual athlete’s stats, like rushing yards and three-pointers. Some pick’em fantasy sites also offer more-or-less predictions on how many fantasy points individual athletes will score.

Pick’em fantasy predictions resemble sports betting totals (over/under wagers) but they meet the legal definition of daily fantasy sports because they always require players to build “lineups” consisting of predictions for at least two athletes from different teams.

This style of fantasy sports contests takes a unique approach to predictions and over/under props, providing an exciting way for fans in states without legal online sports betting to play for real money.

Fantasy props and over/under DFS contests differ from standard daily fantasy sports contests in two primary ways:

  • Players attempt to predict the statistical performances of two or more individual athletes
  • Players compete against the house for fixed payouts (a growing point of contention in some states, which has resulted in some operators offering peer-to-peer pick’em contests in which players compete with each other for payouts)

For example, a typical PrizePicks contest involves three steps:

  1. Select two to five athletes slated to play in upcoming games
  2. Predict whether each will have OVER or UNDER the projected number of passing yards, points, shots on goal, etc.
  3. Receive a payout of up to 25x the initial buyin fee

Other DFS prediction apps offer similar types of contests, with payouts as high as 500x the initial buy-in.

The most popular daily fantasy sports predictions apps include:

  • PrizePicks
  • Underdog Fantasy (also offers best ball DFS)
  • OwnersBox
  • ParlayPlay

Tip: fantasy props and over/under contests are the next best thing to full-fledged sports betting for fans in states without legal online sportsbooks.

Legal Issues Involving Fantasy Pick’em Apps

Increasingly, state gambling regulators are investigating the fantasy pick’em business model and concluding that it meets the state’s legal definition of sports betting.

As a result, fantasy pick’em sites have had to adjust their contest rules, apply for sportsbook licenses, or exit some states entirely. The increased scrutiny creates legal risk for fantasy pick’em operators but not for customers.

In multiple states, local officials have sent cease-and-desist orders to popular pick’em fantasy sites.

The future of pick’em fantasy is uncertain, but none of the legal issues operators face are direct concerns to fans. In every state where fantasy pick’em has come under fire, regulators have only targeted operators with threats of legal action.

How Fantasy Pick’em Apps Manage Regulatory Risk

Operators have responded to the legal issues they face by adjusting their contest rules in some states or pausing their operations indefinitely in others.

Additionally, a handful of fantasy pick’em operators have joined forces to form the Coalition for Fantasy Sports. PrizePicks, Underdog Fantasy, Betr, and Dabble established the Coalition for Fantasy Sports to advocate for favorable legislation, discourage unfavorable regulatory action, and enhance goodwill by promoting responsible gambling.

As its mission statement explains, the Coalition aims “to protect fantasy sports fans and users by promoting innovation, ensuring responsible play, and removing barriers to growth that threaten the fantasy sports industry.”

For instance, the Coalition of Fantasy Sports partnered with responsible gambling firm idPair to launch the industry’s first national self-exclusion program. The program allows fans to self-exclude from all Coalition members’ platforms nationwide with a single request.

How Pick’em Fantasy Works

The pick ‘em fantasy concept revolves around predicting whether athletes will exceed their projected totals in key stats.

Most pick ‘em fantasy sites present a list of athletes and their projected stat totals on the homepage.

For example, a pickem fantasy site might list Patrick Mahomes with a projected total of 300.5 passing yards in his next game.

From there, the player can start building an entry by adding Mahomes and selecting “more” or “less.”

If the player selects “more” and Patrick Mahomes throws for more than 300.5 passing yards, their prediction is correct.

The concept is a lot like sports betting totals up to this point. The difference is that fantasy pick ‘em sites require players to build entries (also sometimes referred to as lineups or pick sets) consisting of at least two athletes from two different teams.

The best fantasy pick’em apps introduce various tweaks on the concept to offer unique game types, but the fundamental question is always this:

Will my athletes exceed their projected stat totals?

If every prediction on the lineup is correct, the player wins a cash prize. Some fantasy sites also offer reduced payouts as consolation prizes to fans who get most but not all of their predictions right.

Fantasy Pick’em Payouts

Most pick‘em fantasy sites use multipliers to determine payouts and allow players to select their own entry fees. For example, a player who chooses a $10 entry fee would stand to win $100 in a contest with a 10x multiplier.

Pick’em fantasy sites use a variety of internal metrics to determine multipliers, but these are the two primary factors:

  • The number of predictions in a pick set: The more predictions a player makes, the bigger the potential payout. For example, a contest where the player only needs to get two predictions correct will pay less than a contest where the player needs to get five or more predictions correct.
  • The odds of each prediction: Longshot predictions offer higher payouts, just like in regular sports betting. For example, a fantasy pick’em site recently listed an alternative line of 11.5 rebounds for a certain NBA player, which was way over his norm. There was no option to pick “less,” but anyone who picked “more” had a potential payout of 7.5x their entry fee for that prediction alone.

The best fantasy pick’em sites display a running total of the potential payout as players build their lineups. That way, players can always se what they stand to win as they add and remove predictions.

Fantasy Sports Sites vs. Online Sportsbooks

Daily fantasy sports sites and online sportsbooks have a lot in common at the surface level. Both give everyday fans a way to have a stake in the sports they love, and knowledge of the game significantly impacts customers’ results.

How much they differ depends on whether one is comparing sports betting to traditional DFS operators or pick’em fantasy sites.

Comparing DFS Contests to Sports Betting

Traditional DFS sites like FanDuel, which specialize in lineup-building salary cap contests, are completely distinct from online sportsbooks.

The differences between the two activities have significant legal implications and offer completely unique user experiences.

Daily fantasy sports contests operate from a zoomed-out point of view, while sports wagers are much narrower in scope.

As a result, online sportsbook users can afford to be highly selective in choosing where to put their money. There are thousands of sports wagers available at any moment, each determined by a specific outcome.

If a betting line doesn’t offer value, the bettor loses nothing by opting to pass.

In contrast, building a daily fantasy lineup requires fans to evaluate many athletes, consider who they’ll be playing against on game day, how much they cost to draft, and more.

There’s a lot more to consider when building a daily fantasy lineup, and there are fewer DFS contests to choose from than there are sports wagers. As a result, it’s more difficult for DFS fans to specialize and identify advantageous opportunities.

Skill and knowledge have a direct impact on fans’ daily fantasy and sports betting results.

Sufficiently skilled handicappers can achieve long term profits in DFS and sports betting, but it’s extremely difficult, and only a tiny percentage of fans achieve regular success.

Salary cap DFS contests have a steeper learning curve and require a bigger time investment than sports betting.

Sports betting is the more convenient option for casual fans to get in on the action. Casual bettors can spend as much or little time as they want researching sports wagers, but they will always spend more time building DFS lineups.

Legal online sportsbooks and fantasy sports sites are legal in most states. Daily fantasy still has the edge in this regard, but online sports betting is closing the gap.

Comparing Pick’em Fantasy Sites to Online Sportsbooks

Fantasy pick’em apps like PrizePicks blur the line between DFS and sports betting to such an extent that regulators in some states require them to acquire sportsbook licenses.

Unlike classic DFS apps, fantasy pick’em sites resemble sports betting in form and function but certain twists to satisfy the UIGEA-compliant definition of “fantasy sports.”

Here are some of the key similarities and differences between fantasy pick’em apps and online sportsbooks.

The most common type of fantasy pick’em contest requires fans to predict whether several athletes will exceed their projected totals for stats like rushing yards, three-pointers, and so on.

Fantasy pick’em contests require players to select at least two athletes from different teams, which feels a lot like sports betting parlays involving point totals.

Federal guidelines require fantasy sports contests to involve athletes from at least two different teams. That’s why fantasy pick’em apps only offer higher/lower contests involving players from two or more teams.

Online sportsbooks aren’t subject to the same requirement and may offer point total wagers on individual athletes.

The more predictions fans combine into a fantasy pick’em contest or sports betting parlay, the bigger the potential payout.

In most states, fantasy pick’em sites face fewer regulatory hurdles than online sportsbooks.

The licensing process, background investigations, responsible gambling rules, and ongoing compliance monitoring is far less demanding for fantasy sports operators compared to online sportsbooks.

As a result, fans should be extra-vigilant when choosing where to play pick’em fantasy online.

Most fantasy pick’em contests offer fixed payouts set by the operator, just like how online sportsbooks set the odds on their wagers.

A handful of fantasy sports operators offer peer-vs-peer pick’em contests for regulatory reasons in select states, but player-vs-house contests are much more common.

Daily Fantasy Sports FAQ

DraftKings and FanDuel are the undisputed DFS market leaders for a reason. They have the biggest contests, varied contest types, largest prize pools, and rock-solid reputations.

However, sites like PrizePicks, Underdog Fantasy, OwnersBox, and ParlayPlay are the best bets for fantasy prediction contests that closely resemble sports betting.

It depends. In terms of easy competition, smaller fantasy sports sites like Underdog Fantasy and OwnersBox have a better fish-to-shark ratio than the major operators like FanDuel and DraftKings.

For easy-to-play contests, prediction-style fantasy sites like PrizePicks and ParlayPlay are the obvious choices: doing away with time-consuming lineups and instead offering simple predictions contests with fixed payouts.

Fantasy sports sites require customers to be 18 or older in most states. However, players must be 19 or older in Nebraska and Alabama and 21 or older in Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana, and Massachusetts.

OwnersBox offers the biggest daily fantasy sports welcome bonus, a 100% first deposit match worth up to $500. PrizePicks, Underdog Fantasy offers the next-best DFS welcome bonuses, worth up to $100 each.

Yes. Players should speak with a qualified tax professional for help reporting their daily fantasy sports winnings. Readers can read more at BettingUSA’s post on daily fantasy sports taxes.

Some daily fantasy sports apps offer beginners-only contests exclusively to new customers. The definition of a new customer varies from one DFS site to the next.

For example, DraftKings labels anyone who has entered fewer than 50 contests a beginner.

Some states require licensed fantasy sports operators to label players by experience level. As a result, some fantasy sports sites place badges next to players’ names indicating their experience based on the number of contests they have entered to date.

The salary cap in fantasy sports is the budget players have available to spend on athletes when drafting their lineups.

For example, a DFS site may give players $60,000 to spend on athletes whose salaries vary based on their potential to accrue fantasy points.

The term “GPP” stands for “guaranteed prize pool.” Daily fantasy contests with a minimum guaranteed prize pool, regardless of how many people enter.

“Chalk play” is a term for athletes expected to have high ownership rates. These are obvious picks like star quarterbacks who will likely appear in many players’ lineups.

Fantasy sports does not meet the legal definition of gambling in most states. In many states where it was debatable, lawmakers solved the issue by passing legislation to exempt fantasy sports from their states’ legal definition of “gambling.”

However, a handful of states still consider fantasy sports to be illegal gambling and prohibit DFS operators such as FanDuel and DraftKings from offering their services to residents.

Fantasy pick’em sites are legal in most states, including jurisdictions that haven’t yet legalized online sports betting.

However, authorities in several states have opened investigations into the business model, and some have sent cease-and-desist letters to operators like PrizePicks and Underdog Fantasy.

Players in most states can visit any of the fantasy pick’em sites discussed on this page to play March Madness prediction contests for real money payouts.

The minimum age to participate in fantasy pick’em contests varies by state and operator.

For example, the minimum age to play at PrizePicks is 19 in most states but 21+ in Arizona and Massachusetts. Meanwhile, Underdog Fantasy accepts customers 18 or older in most states. See BettingUSA’s daily fantasy sports reviews for more information about the minimum age and accepted states.