When you live in the world of Daily Fantasy Sports, you have to be one step ahead.
You’re trying to be one step ahead of not only your competition but also yourself. This means switching gears to avoid long losing streaks and figuring out what you’re doing right during a winning streak.
Below, I’ve provided a DFS Self Assessment—a list of nine questions you can ask yourself—to help you evaluate your performance. You should re-examine your situation every few weeks, monitor results and progress, and make adjustments accordingly.
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NINE QUESTIONS FOR YOUR DFS SELF ASSESSMENT
Am I Playing In Enough Games Each Week?
People who win at a much higher percentage than they lose often question if they’re playing in enough games. Rather than revel in their victories, they wonder, “Should I be winning even more?”
A few weeks ago, I explained some strategies in building your bankroll, and this all started with a discussion on being a risk-averse player. If you’re correctly playing 10 to 20 percent of your bankroll every day, then the total played every day should slowly be growing.
Should you be playing more than 10 percent? That’s up to you, but remember that you started on a path and it’s already working in your favor. Maybe increase the percentage you’re playing each day, but put it toward less volatile games like 50/50s.
Am I Playing in Too Many Games Each Week?
If you find that the 10 to 20 percent you play each day dwindled because your bankroll is dwindling, then maybe start thinking about playing smaller games. If you’re playing $10 a day, don’t put it all on one $10 50/50. How about spreading your risk and playing in 10 $1 50/50s or five $2 50/50s?
Is It Time to Adjust My Splits on Tournaments and 50/50 Games?
In the article linked above, I mentioned a 70/30 split, but that might not be working out for you. If you’ve been tracking your games each week in a spreadsheet, then you can figure out which games you’re doing better at, and which ones you should probably just avoid.
You have to win at a 56-percent clip in 50/50 games to cover the rake. Over at FanDuel Insider, I broke down the targeted win percentages for 50/50 games. If you played 100 50/50 games for $10 each ($1,000 total entries), and those games have the standard 10-percent rake, then you’d need to land in the top 50 percent of at least 56 of those games to not lose money.
Are you winning 56 percent of your 50/50 games?
The numbers are different for tournament play, but if you’re struggling with 50/50s, you likely need to correct that first. Start reading articles on different sites and get help from their FanDuel picks, and make sure you’re assessing players with the correct scoring system, whether you’re talking about pitchers or hitters.
Also: Are you using all of the Daily Fantasy tools at your disposal?
Did I Fall In Love With a Player or Team?
You might be playing more players from your favorite team or even from your season-long Fantasy teams. But that might be because you’ve read about and done more research on them, so you know they’re better at home, or you know they’re finally healthy from a nagging injury.
When this becomes a problem is when you’re playing players after their salaries exceed their value.
The best move is to look for good part-time players on your favorite team, and start them in ideal matchups. They’ll likely be low-priced already, and you’ll be better off targeting them than low-priced players on other teams that you aren’t already tracking.
Should I Consider Entering Different Size Events or Play Different Games?
You might not be built for Daily Fantasy tournament play, and your money feels safer with 50/50s, but you’d like to grow your bankroll faster.
Consider playing in other types of games that have similarly high payouts, like Double Ups, Triple Ups and Pick ‘ems. Go here for a list of even more Daily Fantasy games you should try.
Are There Days I Should Avoid Playing?
You probably already noticed that some days of the week are much thinner for Daily Fantasy Baseball than others. You can only count on a full slate of games on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. On Mondays, some teams are off before a three-game set that starts Tuesday, and some teams are off Thursdays because they just ended a three-game set that started Monday.
Then, when you add in the different time periods each day for games (Early, All Day, Late), you’ll see that the different options at each position are smaller and smaller. When four or five teams are playing in a contest, you suddenly only have four or five first basemen to consider. This shrinks the variability quite a bit, and suddenly, your really good lineup is close to being the same as several other teams.
When you’re struggling, stick to big tournaments on 15-game days of the week.
Should I Withdraw Some Cash?
It’s OK to take out cash and spend it on new toys, but you want to make sure you leave enough in your account to keep your bankroll moving at a good pace. I like to take out 25 percent of my money after I’ve doubled my initial investment, and then start again.
As an example, if your starting bankroll was $100, you’ll take out $50 when you get to $200. That leaves you with $150, which means you’ll take out $75 to spend when you get up to $300 in your account.
Finally, at the end of the season, think about taking a larger chunk out as an end-of-season reward! However, you might want to think about leaving it all (or some) in for Daily Fantasy Football season!
Should I Put More Cash In?
You might have already burned through most of your bankroll learning the ins and outs. You might have done a little drunk DFS-ing, loading up on some tournaments, only to blow through your money in a couple days.
If you find yourself losing control like that often, then only put in a little at a time so at worst you blow through a small chunk and you live to DFS another day.
One time you should definitely consider putting more cash in is if you come across a 100-percent reload bonus.
Is It Too Early To Prepare for Daily Fantasy Football?
You might be baseball’d out, ready to set your Daily Fantasy Football lineups for Week 1. Unfortunately, we’re still three months away from all that fun.
But it’s never too early to start getting ready for playing in those games, as there are plenty of articles to get your mind right.
My FanDuel Insider colleague Eric Mack has already begun a series of NFL team previews based on Daily Fantasy play.
Also, give these two ebooks a shot: Jack Delaney’s “Daily Fantasy Football: A Simple Guide for New Players,” and Jonathan Bales’ “Fantasy Football For Smart People.” They’ll get your head straight weeks ahead of time!