What is Daily Fantasy Sports?

Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) is a skill-based game where you build lineups of real players within a salary cap, competing against other users for cash prizes. Unlike season-long fantasy, DFS contests run for a single day (or week for NFL), letting you draft a fresh team every slate.

📌 How It Works

Step 1: Choose a contest (cash game, tournament, etc.)

Step 2: Build a lineup within the salary cap

Step 3: Your players earn points based on real-game performance

Step 4: Top-scoring lineups win prizes based on contest payout structure

The two dominant platforms are DraftKings and FanDuel, each with slightly different scoring systems and salary caps.

DraftKings vs FanDuel

👑 DraftKings

Salary Cap: $50,000
MLB Roster: P, P, C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, OF, OF, OF (10 players)
NFL Roster: QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, WR, TE, FLEX, DST (9 players)
Scoring: Full-point PPR (NFL), points for hits/RBIs/runs/SBs (MLB)
Captain Mode: Showdown slates with 1.5x multiplier
Contests: Wide variety from $0.25 to high-stakes

💙 FanDuel

Salary Cap: $35,000 (MLB) / $60,000 (NFL)
MLB Roster: P, C/1B, 2B, 3B, SS, OF, OF, OF, UTIL (9 players)
NFL Roster: QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, WR, TE, FLEX, DEF (9 players)
Scoring: Half-point PPR (NFL), points for offensive production (MLB)
Single Game: MVP gets 1.5x points
Contests: Beginner-friendly with lower rake

Key Scoring Differences (NFL Example)

Stat	DraftKings	FanDuel
Passing TD	4 pts	4 pts
Rushing/Receiving TD	6 pts	6 pts
Reception	1 pt (PPR)	0.5 pts (Half-PPR)
300-Yard Passing Bonus	3 pts	None
100-Yard Rush/Rec Bonus	3 pts	None

Understanding Contest Types

💰 Cash Games (50/50s, Double-Ups, Head-to-Heads)

How they work: Top 50% (or 45% after rake) of entries win. You typically double your money.

Strategy: Focus on high-floor, consistent players. Minimize risk. You don't need the #1 lineup—just need to beat half the field.

Best for: Building your bankroll steadily, lower variance

💵 Cash Game Example

Entry: $10 | Total entries: 100

Top 45 entries win $18 each (double your money minus 10% rake)

Goal: Score around the median to cash safely

🎯 Tournaments (GPPs - Guaranteed Prize Pools)

How they work: Top 20-30% win, but 1st place takes a massive share. Highly top-heavy payouts.

Strategy: Find leverage with low-owned, high-upside plays. You NEED uniqueness to win big.

Best for: Chasing life-changing scores, high variance

🏆 Tournament Example

Entry: $3 | Total entries: 100,000 | Prize pool: $250,000

1st place: $50,000 | 2nd: $25,000 | Top 20,000 entries win something

Goal: Differentiate your lineup to reach the very top

⚠️ The Variance Reality

Tournaments are extremely difficult to win. Even the best DFS players in the world have tournament win rates under 1%. However, the huge top prizes make it worth taking shots when you find edge.

Smart bankroll management: Never risk more than 10% of your bankroll on a single slate, regardless of contest type.

🔥 The PresidentLeach Advantage: Optimal Rate vs Ownership

Here's where most DFS players lose money: they chase projected points without considering ownership and optimal rate. Finding leverage is what separates casual players from winners.

📊 The Two Critical Metrics

Projected Ownership: What percentage of the field is rostering this player?

Optimal Rate: How often does this player appear in the highest-scoring possible lineups based on simulations?

🎯 The Leverage Formula

Leverage = Optimal Rate - Projected Ownership

Positive Leverage: Player appears in winning lineups MORE than the public thinks
Negative Leverage: Player is over-owned relative to their win probability

💡 Real-World Example

Player A:

• Projected Points: 45
• Projected Ownership: 35%
• Optimal Rate: 22%
• Leverage: -13% (AVOID)

Player B:

• Projected Points: 42
• Projected Ownership: 12%
• Optimal Rate: 20%
• Leverage: +8% (STRONG PLAY)

The Result: Player B scores 3 fewer points but appears in 20% of winning lineups because he's severely under-owned. In tournaments, Player B helps you climb the leaderboard while Player A tanks your ranking because everyone else has him too.

Why This Matters in Tournaments

In cash games, you just need to beat the median score. But in tournaments, you need to be different AND right.

If 40% of the field has the same chalk QB and he goes off, you ALL benefit equally—no one gains ground
If you roster a 10%-owned player who smashes, you LEAPFROG the field
The combination of low-owned + high-optimal is where tournament winners are made

✅ How PresidentLeach Calculates This

We take an analytical approach to compare projected points, value (points per $1K), and ceiling potential to determine which players should appear most often in winning lineups.

Then we compare that optimal rate to projected ownership (sourced from industry consensus). The gap between these numbers is your leverage edge.

Our tools show you: Which "chalk" plays to fade, which low-owned pivots to target, and optimal stacking strategies based on correlation.

Building Winning Lineups

Cash Game Strategy

Prioritize floor over ceiling - Consistent 35-point players > volatile 50-or-10 players
Pay up for studs - Spend on elite options at scarce positions
Avoid too much leverage - You want safe, not unique
Check injury news - Last-minute value from backups getting starts
Balance your roster - Don't punt multiple positions to afford stars

Tournament (GPP) Strategy

Find leverage plays - Target positive optimal rate vs ownership gaps
Stack aggressively - Correlate 3-5 players from high-scoring games
Fade popular chalk - If everyone has the same RB, pivot to a contrarian option
Embrace variance - Roster boom-or-bust players in good matchups
Game theory matters - What will the field do? Do the opposite when it makes sense
Multi-entry wisely - Build diverse lineups with different leverage angles

🎮 The Game Stack Meta

Elite DFS players don't just roster good individual players—they correlate players from the same game to maximize ceiling.

Example: Chiefs vs. Bills (O/U 54.5)

Stack: Mahomes + Kelce + Rice + Bills RB

Why it works: If the game goes over, all your players benefit. If it's low-scoring, you lose—but so does everyone else who stacked this game. The upside asymmetry is where you win tournaments.

Common DFS Mistakes to Avoid

❌ Over-Extending Your Bankroll in Tournaments

Tournaments have huge variance. Putting too much of your bankroll into GPPs on a single slate—even with edge—can lead to going broke during a cold streak. Stick to the 10% max per slate rule.

❌ Chasing Points from Last Week

DFS is about projecting forward, not reacting to past performance. A player who scored 50 last week might be over-priced and over-owned this week.

❌ Ignoring Ownership

Playing the "best" lineup isn't optimal if 30% of the field has the same lineup. You need differentiation to win tournaments.

❌ Roster Construction Imbalance

Don't play 4 minimum-salary players just to afford 4 studs. Balance is key—you need a lineup without glaring weaknesses.

❌ Not Tracking Results

Keep a spreadsheet. Track your ROI by contest type, sport, and slate. Adjust based on what's actually working.

💸 Bankroll Management

Never risk more than 10% of your bankroll on a single slate. Even the sharpest players hit cold streaks. Proper bankroll management keeps you in the game long enough for your edge to manifest.

Example: $500 bankroll = max $50/day across all contests

How to Use PresidentLeach DFS Tools

Key Features

Projections: Point projections for every player on every slate
Ownership: Projected ownership % to identify leverage spots
Optimal Rate: How often players appear in top simulated lineups
Value Rating: Points per $1,000 of salary (pts/$K)
Ceiling/Floor Projections: Understand variance and range of outcomes
Stacking Suggestions: Optimal game stacks based on correlation

Workflow for Building Lineups

Check slate overview - Identify high-total games and weather concerns
Find leverage plays - Sort by optimal rate vs ownership gap
Identify value - Look for high pts/$K in good matchups
Build correlations - Stack players from shootout games
Balance exposure - Don't over-concentrate in one game
Review ownership - Make sure you have differentiation for GPPs

🎯 Pro Tip: Differentiation Matters

For tournaments, your lineup needs to be different from the field to have a chance at big finishes. The exact ownership targets vary slate to slate based on how chalky or wide-open the player pool is.

Focus on building lineups with positive leverage across multiple positions rather than chasing a specific ownership number.

🏆 How DFS Works