Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS): Bankroll Management Even Ben Franklin Can Get Behind
Similar to real-life, to be successful in the slippery slope that is daily fantasy sports (DFS) you must manage your finances responsibly. The term for finances in DFS is bankroll. Unless you’re that lucky SOB who enters a random line-up into a high dollar contest and wins (I hate you), you need to make the most out of your deposit. It’s too easy to take a shot at a high dollar/high entry contest, lose, and then deposit more money and try again. Before you know it, you’re hundreds of dollars in the hole with nothing to show for it. If you play, or are thinking about playing DFS, chances are in the past you have done some sort of gambling and experienced loss through poor decision making and planning. Don’t be like me, and fail to learn a damn thing from your past mistakes. Take DFS by the balls, have fun, and make your initial or next deposit your last. I’m going to share some of my playing strategies that have allowed me to play on FanDuel and DraftKings for the past two years without depositing any money. I admit, it’s been close a few times, as I still have some DFS demons to overcome, but I was able to right the ship before I joined The Antoine Walker bankruptcy club.
Crash Course in Bankroll Management
My favorite dead politician, Ben Franklin, made famous many quotes. One of my favorites you see to the left. Another quote of Ben’s that pertains to DFS is, “A penny saved is a penny earned.” Bankroll management is a necessary tool in DFS to remain profitable for the long-term. It’s a tool to help make money, but just as important, it’s a tool to help you keep money in your account when you are on a cold streak. Cold streaks happen, even to the most experienced DFS players, and developing a bankroll strategy will allow you to keep treading water when the DFS seas get rough and choppy.
To truly master the art of bankroll management, you must be disciplined. I have conditioned myself over time to only play a certain amount of money each night. To keep numbers simple, I will use a $100 initial deposit as my bankroll number. My initial bankroll deposit was $25, but the numbers are easier to work with using $100. A mathlete I am not, so I need to keep things simple.
I only play 10-20% of my bankroll each night. No matter how much I like the slate or think I have built a “can’t lose” line-up, I don’t go over my pre-allotted dollar amount 99% of the time (the 1% represents my DFS Demons). Of the 10-20% I play, I play 90% cash games and 10% tournaments (GPP’s). This ensures that if I win my cash games I will make money. If I happen to hit a GPP, then that’s extra money I am not counting on. If you haven’t read my article on cash games, check it out and understand why it’s easier, and more likely, you will win at these contests. Look at the two examples below as I outline the epiphany I had that finally got it through my head that I had this DFS thing all wrong.
Example 1
Ok, so we have a Ben Franklin in our account. I am going to use playing 10% of the $100 as that is what I used when I started implementing this strategy. For tonight’s slate I am playing $10. Of that $10, I will play $8 in cash games and $2 in GPP’s. If you want, you can play all $10 in cash games. It just depends on how comfortable you are with the risk of GPP’s. If I lose my $2 in the GPP’s, but win my cash games, I will profit $4.40. That is a 44% return on investment (ROI). With solid line-up building strategies and proper contests selection, on average you will get these results 2/3 of the time.
If you were expecting a “get rich quick” solution to being profitable at DFS, you may find this method unappealing. I sure did when I first got started. However, this allowed me to still be in the game when I lost every contest I played on a slate. If you lose the $10, you still have $90 left to play with the next night. In the next example, here is what you get if you throw caution to wind.
Example 2
Same scenario to start, $100 deposit and rolling out 10% for the slate. This time we are going to win the big money using $8 in GPP’s and $2 in cash games. As with most nights, you lose all $8 in the GPP’s, but you win your cash games. At the end of the night, you lose $6.40.
The above scenario for most players without a bankroll management strategy ends in a $0 balance and another deposit quicker than I was during my first love-making session. Most players fall for this trap and blow their deposit in one night. This happened to me many times and I don’t want to see it happen to you.
Track and Analyze Your Results
My main man, Mr. Franklin, also penned this beauty, “We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid.” In relation to DFS, I busted my ass to stay the same stupid player I was at the start. I had no strategy, played contests at random, and didn’t look at the results of the contests I played. My focus was on my balance to see if it went up. I listened to different podcasts all day and changed my line-up many times with no data to back up my decisions. It wasn’t until I started my bankroll strategy that I began to track my contests. I set up a simple Excel spreadsheet with the types of contests I entered, how many participants were in it, and what the scores were that cashed. This told me if I was successful at one type of contest and not so much at another. Armed with this information, I pinpointed what contests gave me the best chance to profit. I am also a stubborn bastard, so I also used the information to try and figure out why I sucked at certain contests and what I needed to do to get better. As I’ve pointed out many times, this DFS thing is not easy. If you’re not willing to put in the work, don’t play, or better yet play me on the sites and I will be glad to take your money.
Two Additional Tips to Build Your Bankroll
Instead of entering all your money in one cash game, spread the wealth. If your spending $8, play two $2 games and four $1 games or some similar variation. With a solid line-up and more contests entered, the variance is less, and you have a better chance with more contests entered than putting all your hopes and dreams into one.
Single entry games, whether they are cash or GPP’s, are always the best to enter for profitable results. Each contestant gets to go with one line-up instead of 150 computer generated ones.
Discipline is key to making this strategy successful. I stumbled many times before I became committed to this DFS lifestyle. I would build my bankroll all week, then piss it away on the weekend with stupid decisions and a little liquid courage. These days, I make sure I don’t start pounding the beverages until after line-up lock and all contests are closed.
Conclusion
With the 10% of bankroll strategy, you are bound to hit a GPP along the way. Even if you don’t win, it will be a nice addition to your bankroll. Who knows, you may even win one. As your bankroll grows, obviously that 10% can grow depending on your preference. This allows you to take calculated risk on bigger contests if you would like. As you evolve as a DFS player, you will figure out what works for you and what doesn’t. If you figure out a failsafe method, do me a solid and share it with a brother, will you?
Coming Up in the Next Article
Thank you all for reading. I hope you are enjoying the articles half as much as I enjoy writing them. Next time, I will dive into tournaments (GPP’s) and the things the sites don’t tell you about these alluring contests. I like to think of them as sirens calling you in to a rocky shore. You enter with dreams of seduction and grandeur, and, for the most part, end up crashing into the rocks. I will educate you and get you ready to have the best chance of winning and let you know exactly what you are getting yourself into. Please email me at r.dicker@slickstermagazine.com with any questions, comments, or experiences you have had in the DFS world. Until next time, stay safe and stay profitable!
GPP’s are sexy, alluring, and can get the juices flowing. However, going into them blindly can lead to disastrous results.