Daily Fantasy Sports - anyone playing?

[bergeroo]

Does anyone play DFS? I've been playing it quite a bit since Draft Kings Launched in the UK a month or two back and quite enjoying it!.

 I play the golf, the football and had a speculative shot at the MMA last night. Very quickly I decided to swerve the US sports as I feel like I've got a big disadvantage vs people who have been playing it for a few years and are huge fans of the sport, but I might try one and focus on it, I guess maybe the NFL when it starts.

All of the US sports and the golf are absolutely massive on there. Football is still growing. At the moment there is Premiership, Champions League and they just added Europa League. And they do MLS and Mexican League! I'm hoping they launch Bundesliga soon.

At the moment I haven't played on any other sites. If anyone has any experience with any of the others then let me know!

Still don't know whether DFS is going to get massive in the UK. People have so many ways to legitimately and easily gamble in the UK that I suspect the companies might have a fight on to grab a market share and change people's gambling habits.

[Matt.NFFC.]

I have played on Draft Kings recently but have not deposited as they only offer Paypal (which I have not got).

Enjoy it though.

[thesilkworm]

I've been playing Mondogoal since the start of the season, and more recently DraftKings since it launched.

Mondogoal offered great overlay early in the season and it was very easy to make money, but now they've cut back on their guarantees, and such a high % of all entries are from good regs, that I don't really find it worthwhile (other than playing for modest stakes for a bit of fun). I think they could be in trouble now that DraftKings has launched, as in my opinion it's a far superior product. Mondogoal haven't improved their offerings at all since the start of the season, and they're not attracting any new players as far as I can tell.

While I find playing on DraftKings a fun and slick experience, I must admit that I've been losing money to players who are better than me so far. I'm somebody who takes season long fantasy very seriously, watches loads of football, and even built a pretty complicated model to project expected points for each player taking into consideration betting markets and Opta stats, but I still feel like I'm outclassed at the moment, so my recommendation to anyone thinking of getting involved would be to start small until you work out what you are doing. I can imagine some UK season long fantasy players assuming that they know more about football than Americans and being a bit overconfident, but the truth is the US regs are very good and would absolutely crush a new UK player who just picks players who would be good in FPL (I'm sure you know this already bergeroo, but more for the benefit of anyone else reading this thinking of getting involved).

I haven't touched American sports, but given how good the regs are at football, I imagine it would be very tough. I've played a little golf and although realistically I know I'm never going to be a winning golf DFS player, it's too hard to resist their massive guarantees for small entry fees.

I think it's quite a big issue that the top regs can easily enter all contests - they create their lineup and with minimal clicks can enter into everything from $1000+ buy-in right down to the $1 level. So unlike in poker where beginners playing micro-stakes are protected from the very best players (because they're playing higher up), in DFS they're forced to take them on right away. I tend to agree that it might be a struggle to change the gambling habits of British people, especially if they just get crushed as soon as they give DFS a try. I think it could really take off though if they are able to find a way to attract more casual players while also finding a way to give them a bit more protection from the sharks. I also think they need to tweak their scoring system (for football), so that players who actually contribute positively for their team are rewarded. Crosses being rewarded whether or not they are successful (including set pieces) is pretty farcical to be honest. I don't think it looks good to a casual player when players like Robbie Brady and James McClean are among the top scoring players in the game.

[bergeroo]

I don't know why draft kings only offer paypal as a deposit /withdrawal option (unless this has changed recently) - It could be licencing/law related, or as a way to save money but it definitely is a barrier to get more British people signed up.

They've signed partnerships with several football teams and I hope that means it will be a big push at the beginning of the season. Also they should offer games for the euros and with 3 or 4 matches a day it could be quite fun.

I really enjoy it and I'm even sad that there probably won't be any games for two weeks because of the international break.

I'd like to see a lot more tournaments where you can only have one entry and also a way to stop high buy in players also playing the $1 comps.

The first week I was pretty useless but I think I've picked it up quickly and won a couple of decent tournaments.

There are two different types of games to play. GPPS - like poker tournaments where the top 15% get paid and are very top heavy. And the somewhat confusingly named 'cash games' which are double ups and head to heads.

The thing I've learnt the most is you need totally different lineups for each. In tournaments you want to be taking risks, looking for people who are inconsistent but can have great individual matches and also people who are a differential, who you think people won't pick (ie I did not pick Rashford after his first two break out games as I knew everyone would have him). It is a big problem if you have the winning lineup but five other people do too.

 Cash games you need solid consistent performers, players who will be involved in games and won't go missing or have a complete nightmare game. It doesn't matter so much if they are duplicated in other teams.

Hopefully another company steps up and becomes a decent competitor, then both sites will be forced to compete more for players and have offers/ bonuses.

[rinswun]

We do a regular Draft Kings column on a Wednesday for their golf tournaments breaking down the guys to target and those to fade in both GPPs and cash games. I think it can be found here: http://fairwaywedge.com/basic-information-strategy/ though Jamie's more tech savvy than me so I might be linking to the wrong place.

Have had some moderate earlier success in both golf and football though have found the football cash games are much more solid than golf thus far. Feels like it's very beatable though and there are some fantastic resources put their to help you build lineups.

[bergeroo]

I had a look at your column as I usually stick a couple of lineups in the massive $3 and less buy ins so ty for writing it.

 Golf is massive on draft kings but I feel like it is a fun one as you get a four day sweat. The variance must be astronomical though in the GPPs

How many lineups will you be having in the big Masters tournament they have coming up?

[rinswun]

I'll probably have about 10 lineups in. I generally have played the $27 and lower tournaments thus far. Usually buy in for about $250 a week.

[PokerBroker]

I have a wee dash on the football, also play mates heads up and just set up free leagues for that to avoid paying rake! 

[rinswun]

The big one tomorrow - the Milly Maker! Have put in 10 lineups. Sweat please! Anyone else in?

[POWWWWWWWW]

I got 6 in atm, gunna work on a few more tonight.