This handful of tips for FanDuel will help beginner to intermediate Daily Fantasy players build their bankroll in GPP tournaments and cash games. But it’s not a matter of just knowing how much to play and when, as there are a lot of nuances to the game that some might not realize. The lure of the guaranteed prize pool tournament is usually what entices Fantasy players into playing on sites like FanDuel. People might have played traditional Fantasy Football for a decade or longer, winning a championship or two, dominating their brother-in-law regularly, and they believe they can then just turn around and use that same skill to pay off their mortgage by winning FanDuel GPP tournaments.
It’s possible – but it’s not probable. But that’s OK, because if you play smartly, you can build your bankroll enough through cash games to continue to play GPPs regularly, giving yourself more chances at big paydays.
These tips might not help you win a big GPP this weekend – or even this year. But learning some of these tips for filling out your tournament lineups should help you climb the standings and improve your chances.
The most important thing to remember about FanDuel GPP tournaments is that – well, there are several “most important things” to remember – is that if you’re playing GPPs right, you’ll have plenty of low scores and a few high scores. In other words, you’ll be taking chances that won’t always pay off. But if you do things right, those chances will pay off at some point. In cash game you'll want to improve your consistency and win percentage.
5 Fundamental Strategies You Need to Follow
There are few things that will make you as happy and excited as watching your team climb the standings on the live FanDuel scoring page.
- Play More Cash Games Than Tournaments
5 Tips For FanDuel GPP Tournaments and Cash Games
Many people want to dig right in and go after the big GPP tournament money, but since only about 15-20% of people win money in those leagues, they’ll likely burn through their bankroll quickly. Cash games, including Head-to-Heads, 50/50s and Double-Ups, generally offer you a chance to double your entry fee. In other words, it’s not a great payout, but the percentage of people that win is much greater than other games.
- Use the 20/20/20 Rule Each Week
Plan on playing 20 percent of your bankroll each week, so that you don’t burn through all your money at once if you have a bad week or two. Then plan on playing just 20 percent of that money in GPP tournaments, which allows you to take some shots at a big pay day, while still sensibly playing cash games with the rest of your money. Then, try to diversify your lineups enough to only have the same players in 20 percent of your lineups. What does that mean? In other words, try not to fill every lineup with the same players. If they don’t do well, you’ll get wiped out. So try to find players you like in several games, and mix and match them for different contests.
- Multiple-Entry Tournaments Are Tough to Win
Pay great attention to the setup of all tournaments, including if they are single-entry tournaments or if they are multiple entry. The difference being that if you join single-entry tournaments, you pretty much have the same chance of winning as any of the other entrants. But if you join a multi-entry tournament, it’s very possible that your one or two lineups will be going up against someone with 50 lineups or more. That’s not to say you can’t win, as much as it is saying it’s just tougher to win. You can still place in the cash, but you probably won’t get near the top five spots.
If you decide to do multiple entries yourself, you can sit down and figure out the best stacks of the day and mix and match, while also peppering your lineups with some longshots.
- Stack Your Players Correctly
“Stacking” players in GPPs means playing two or three players from the same NFL team, which means they’re points essentially double up for your team. In other words, if a QB throws a touchdown pass to a WR and you own both of them, you’ll get points for a passing touchdown and a receiving touchdown, and points for passing yards and receiving yards, all from the same play. Here are some stacks you should consider in Daily Fantasy Football:
QB/WR: The most common stacks are the QBs and WRs, of course, and a QB paired with a tight end isn’t a bad idea at times, too, depending on their prices and volume of passes or goal-line connections.
RB/DEF: Another smart stack is between a running back and a defense on the same NFL team. Since you already expect this running back to have a good game, it stands to reason that the clock is running and it will probably be a low-scoring game. That, of course, greatly benefits the defense, also.
QB/RB: Owning pass-catching running backs and their quarterbacks is a smart move in FanDuel GPP tournaments because it’s an uncommon stack.
You generally don’t want to stack your players in cash games, since if one player has a bad game, it could affect the other. In GPPs, you don’t mind taking those chances.
- Know When to Go Against the Grain
In cash games, you generally want to pick the players most people agree are going to have good games. You want players with high floors that are consistently good, or playing defenses that are consistently bad. Since you only have to finish in the top half of the field to win, you don’t want to risk going for players that might disappoint.
In GPP tournaments, you want to usually lean away from players that everyone is likely to start, as this will help your chances of climbing the leaderboard. If you play a player that 30-percent of the field has, then every time he scores, you still have to differentiate yourself from 30 percent of the entrants. You want players with high ceilings and low floors in GPPs.
BONUS TIP: Use our Optimal Lineup Tool to help you find great values for each week of the Fantasy Football season! This tool is jampacked with a ton of great stats that will help you get analytical on your lineups!
By using all of these tips for FanDuel GPP tournaments, you will improve your chances of not just finishing in the money, but possibly winning one of these major money tournaments someday.