Daily Fantasy Sports Betting

The early days of daily fantasy were marked with dozens of competing sites that largely resembled one another in their approach to the business. Several years and many mergers later, the remaining mainstream fantasy companies offer a great deal of variety in how they work, the types of contests offered and more.

While many fantasy operators still place an emphasis on “traditional” multi-player salary cap contests, an increasing number of sites now specialize in certain types of games such as in-game predictions contests or snake-style drafts.

Understanding how each fantasy site works is critical to finding the best fit for your needs and play style.

You can broadly categorize today’s fantasy betting sites as either “big” or “small.” Big sites include the likes of FanDuel and DraftKings. These sites have the largest user bases, greatest selection of leagues and the largest cash prizes. It’s always worth at least keeping an account open at one of the big sites because you’ll always have a large selection of leagues to choose from.

One of the primary advantages offered by big sites apart from volume is the chance to win life-changing amounts of money. For example, last year the two biggest sites each hosted multiple contests that awarded $1,000,000+ prizes to the grand champions. If you manage to pick the perfect team for a major contest, you can actually become a millionaire on the spot. That’s an opportunity that simply isn’t found at smaller sites.

Larger sites provide the largest potential reward for your dollar. The tournaments at major fantasy sites can attract thousands of entrants and potentially return five-figure payouts in tournaments with buyins under $20. Yes, it’s harder to win in large tournaments but big sites also host smaller contests with limited numbers of entrants.

Smaller fantasy sites do have their own advantages though. Here’s something you might not know – federal legislation requires all prizes to be made known before the tournament begins. Furthermore, prizes must not be determined by the number of entrants in a contest. This means every single contest you compete in has a guaranteed prize pool.

The advantage here is that smaller sites sometimes host tournaments in which the total sum of buyins is less than the guaranteed prize pool. All you former poker players out there will recognize this as an “overlay.” It means you’re playing for a bigger prize than what the number of entrants can justify. This results in increased value for your dollar.

Major sports leagues are covered by all major fantasy betting sites. The NFL, MLB and NBA are the big-three that are covered almost universally. If your primary focus will be on one of the major professional North American leagues, you ca play pretty much anywhere you want.

Other leagues might require more looking around. For example, the PGA is covered by DraftKings but not by FanDuel. NASCAR, MMA and other leagues are sometimes covered by smaller sites trying to carve out their own little niche in the already-competitive daily fantasy market. You can check out any of our reviews to see which site covers which leagues or refer to the chart below.

Reputation is always something to consider when looking for a place to participate in real money leagues. Although most daily fantasy sites are legitimate places to play, it never hurts to do a little research and see what you can dig up. The industry is not regulated, and no licenses are issued by any sort of official governing body.

This is one of the reasons I tend to stick with bigger sites for my fantasy needs. Large sites didn’t get large by accident. They got there by giving players a fair game and paying winners quickly. Plus, larger sites are more likely to be financially stable than smaller sites that are just getting started.

It’s amazing what you can find about a site with a few well-executed Google searches. You can also check out our fantasy reviews to read up on what we think about all the major names in online fantasy. We don’t recommend sites that we wouldn’t play at with our own money.

Most states have since passed laws to formally legalize fantasy sports contests. However, some state laws could possibly be interpreted to apply to all forms of online wagering. Customers from the following states are not accepted by most DFS sites.

Yes. Although all bonuses come with fine print, most are a good deal. You get extra cash in return for doing something that you probably would have done anyways. A deposit bonus just makes the deal a little sweeter for the new player.

If you have any intent on participating in real money leagues, you might as well get a bonus while you’re at it. You can play in games like you would have anyways while slowly releasing the bonus cash. It’s a win-win for everyone.

Free entry promos let you participate in certain contests without paying the buyin like you normally would. Sometimes these are just small contests while other times you can join large tournaments with major prize pools.

It’s quite common to see free entry tickets offered as an incentive for depositing. For example, DraftKings has offered all new customers a free contest entry for years now as a thank you for making a deposit. Sometimes you even get free entries just for signing up. Back when I first joined DraftKings, they let me play in one $1 heads-up NFL league. It wasn’t the most valuable thing in the world, but it was nice because it gave me a chance to test the games there without depositing.

Most fantasy sites have some sort of rewards program designed to encourage player loyalty. For example, FanDuel awards FanDuel Points (FDPs) every time you enter a game. These points add up over time and can be used to take advantage of other promos or enter paid contests for free.

Welcome bonuses are far from the only types of promotions you’ll encounter in your daily fantasy career. Sites are always coming up with some new promo or other as an incentive to keep you happy and active. Promos change all the time but you’ll be notified by e-mail whenever your site comes up with something new. The main thing to remember is that it is important to read all the details before you take up any offer. Read the fine print and make sure the promotion works with your budget and style of play.

The most important part of getting started is choosing the right fantasy site. There are many to choose from today, but only a handful stand above all the rest in terms of reputation, prize pools and user experience. You can see our recommendations at the top of this page for a list of DFS sites that are safe, reputable and worthwhile.

Signing up for an account will require your name, address, e-mail, a username and a password. Fantasy sites are required by law to verify the identity of every customer, which means you may be asked at some point to provide proof of your identity by submitting your SSN and a photo of your driver’s license, passport or state-issued ID. Note that this is normal and is required by law in most states.

After you sign up for an account and log in for the first time, you will likely be prompted to make a deposit. If not, you should see a “deposit now” button on the main home screen or by visiting your account settings.

Each fantasy site accepts a different range of deposit methods, but some of the most common include credit cards, debit cards, PayPal and electronic bank transfer. In most cases, deposits are credited to your account instantly and you’ll be able to join your first contest immediately after depositing.

You can join your first fantasy contest by logging in and browsing the lobby showing upcoming contests for the league of your choice. At most fantasy sites, selecting the name of any contest will bring up an informational screen showing key information such as the entry fee, top prize, payout structure and other important information.

Select the contest of your choice and tap or click the “enter” button to pay your entry fee to begin your draft.

Now, it’s time to make your draft picks and build the best possible team of players from around the league.

Each fantasy site and contest type has its own approach to the drafting process. Some contests may have you draft a full nine athletes while others may only have you pick six athletes. Yet other contests involve “tiers” in which a single athlete from multiple skill tiers is picked with no salary considerations whatsoever.

Whether it’s a standard salary cap game or some other format, the goal in all fantasy contests is to build the most effective and efficient team possible.

After you have drafted your team and submitted your lineup, all that remains is to wait and watch the games play out. As the real-world counterparts of your fantasy team accumulate stats in their games, your fantasy team is awarded points. If you score more points than your opponents, you win the contest and collect the prize money.

All prizes are awarded automatically following the conclusion of the last game of the slate. These winnings can be used to enter additional contests or cashed out to your bank account.

Tournaments: DFS Tournaments are fantasy contests that are difficult to win but which offer large payouts. Imagine playing in a large contest with thousands of players and a $50,000 payout for first place. That is the prototypical tournament-style contest.

These are very difficult games to win, but the rewards when you do win make it all worth your while. Tournaments require considerable patience and confidence as long stretches between notable wins are just a part of the game.

Payout structures in tournaments are top-heavy, which means you get the most for finishing in first place, a little less for finishing in second and so on down the line. Since the goal is to finish in as high a place as possible, tournament players tend to build volatile but high-ceiling lineups in a sort of go big or go home approach. You’ll need to take some risks when it comes to building lineups for tournaments.

Big tournaments frequently accept multiple entries per user, which means you can enter a variety of different lineups in an effort to find one that gets the job done. Of course, your opponents can do the same, and this means you’ll be facing stiff competition from an endless variation of lineups.

• 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 a real-money payout 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 entry to a larger tournament in lieu of a cash payout. For example, bankroll limitations might have you enter a $5 DFS satellite for a shot at winning entry to a $100 tournament that would otherwise have been too expensive to buy in directly.
• Tournaments: Some DFS sites use the term “tournament” to specifically refer to contests with 3-100 players. It tends to work that the biggest contests with the biggest prizes are called GPPs while smaller tournaments are just called tournaments.
• Beginners Only: DFS sites are required by law in some states to offer beginners only tournaments, which are only open to players who do not have much experience. For example, DraftKings hosts beginners only games open 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 you move up levels. Each step contest on the way up awards entry to the next level up until you get to the final step and play for a larger cash prize. You may enter directly at any level or start from the bottom and work your way up.

Cash game contests at DFS sites are much easier to win and offer smaller payouts. Rather than looking to score a massive win, fantasy sports cash game players are looking to win smaller payouts more frequently.

Head-to-head contests and 50/50s are examples of DFS cash games. In each, you only need to outperform a limited number of people to guarantee a fixed payout. For example, imagine a 50/50 game in which 100 people enter. In this type of contest, you only need to place in the top 50% of the field to earn a payout equal to double your entry fee.

Payout structures in fantasy cash games are flat, which means it doesn’t matter if you finish in first place or just barely squeak by to finish in the top half of the field. All that matters is you beat enough players to earn a payout. As such, players tend to draft lineups that are safe – the goal isn’t to finish in first place; it is to draft a lineup with the best chance possible of performing just well enough to earn a payout. There is no need to make risky plays in cash games.

Types of Fantasy Sports Cash Game Contests

• Head-to-Head: Play against a single opponent for a winner-take-all prize pool. You either win the contest and double your money (minus a little commission taken by the fantasy site) or finish in second place and lose your buyin.
• 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) and 50 people go home empty-handed.
• Multipliers: Multipliers are based on the 50/50 model 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.

All the above types of contests can also vary in how your lineup is constructed.

• Salary Cap: Most online fantasy games use the salary cap model for lineups. That is, you’re given a set amount of money to spend on players and then use that money to 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: Snake drafts have been used in real-world fantasy leagues for years. In a snake draft, athletes who are drafted become unavailable to everyone else. The snake draft format keeps things fair by reversing the order of picks each round. This means the person who picks first in the 1^st round will pick last in the 2^nd round while the person who picked last in the 1^st round will pick first in the 2^nd
• Auction Draft: An auction draft works sort of like a snake draft, but rather than simply drafting an athlete when it is your turn, you nominate an athlete. The nominated athlete then goes on auction as you and the other GMs all bid on him. The highest bidder gets the athlete. This is a very strategic form of drafting because you have a limited salary and must choose very carefully not only who you bid on, but also who you nominate.
• Pick ‘Em: This term is not very well-defined, and you’ll find fantasy sites use it to describe all sorts of contest types. One type of pick ‘em contest introduced by DraftKings eliminates the salary cap altogether and instead presents you with a group of players for each position until you have filled out an entire roster.

Daily fantasy tends to take a bigger picture approach. You’re not just betting on the outcome of a single game or how many points a single player will score in a game; you are going to be building a team of players from around the league – many of whom will be competing in different games.

Building a daily fantasy lineup means you’ll want to consider a variety of players, who they’ll be playing against, how much each player will cost to draft, depending on how strategic you want to get.

Sports betting also requires a wide knowledge base, but individual wagers are much more specific in nature: Will the Broncos win tomorrow? How many points will be scored in tonight’s NBA game? It takes just as much skill to do well in sports betting overall, but each individual bet deals with a much narrower focus compared to drafting a full lineup.

Daily fantasy sports and traditional sports betting both put you in competition against other people. People often say sports betting is played against the house, which although true to an extent, does not take into account all the other bettors out there who are also researching their wagers, placing bets and impacting the lines.

On the other hand, the competition is definitely much more in your face when it comes to daily fantasy. You’ll actually see and compete in games with other people in a fantasy contest. Sports betting is a much more solo type of activity.

Sports betting is quickly catching up to daily fantasy in terms of where it’s legal, but DFS still has the win in this regard. We always urge readers to stay away from offshore betting sites, but even if you ignore that advice, you will still find it quite inconvenient making deposits and getting paid. Daily fantasy is the more convenient form of sports gaming in most states.

Sufficiently skilled players can profit long term in both DFS and sports betting, but it’s extremely difficult and only a small percentage of players are able to achieve regular success.

The vast majority of sports bettors and fantasy players are what we call casual players, who play for entertainment. They like to win, but don’t take it very seriously and often just draft a slate of their favorite players. For these casual sports fans, regular sports betting is a more convenient way to get action. There is a much lower time investment when it comes to researching a single wager as opposed to drafting an entire lineup.