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What Makes A Good Fantasy Sports Player?

Daily fantasy sports has millions of players worldwide, with 60 million based in the US and Canada alone. However, in other countries such as the UK, DFS has not yet found its feet. But, with more DFS providers and platforms launching in Britain at present and in the near future, it’s only a matter of time before Brits begin contributing to this multibillion-dollar industry.

If you’re not yet up to speed with what Daily Fantasy Sports entails. DFS allows sports fans to form a fantasy team in the sport of their choosing – which they’ll put to the test against other players’ fantasy sports teams in hopes of winning cash.

First, players need to select from one of many DFS sites online that offers the sports they enjoy. Such as NFL fantasy football, NBA fantasy basketball, MLB fantasy baseball, and so forth. NFL Fantasy is currently the most popular, but mainstream sports are available across most DFS platforms, whereas obscure or less popular sports may be more challenging to find.

Once you’ve found a website with the sport you like, you need to select a competition to participate in and then draft players onto your team. Once you’ve chosen your players, your fantasy team is complete and ready to compete.

The main objective is to create a winning fantasy sports team, beat your opponent, and win some money. Whether you’re a beginner or have played DFS for a while, the below explains a bit about what it takes to be a good fantasy sports player.

Bankroll Management Skills

An essential skill that each good fantasy sports player practices is bankroll management.

Setting an amount to use each game prevents you from wasting all of your money at once.

It’s important to note that great DFS players never dip into their funds that cover their essentials, bills, and savings. This point seems obvious, but the temptation for many while gambling and betting on DFS, and most gambling games, for that matter, is there.

Moreover, excellent bankroll management skills will prevent you from making reckless decisions. For instance, you might allocate $400 to play for the season ahead. With that total, ideally, you want to divide it over each week to make it last.

As a guide, opting for 5% of your total season sum per game, which would amount to $20, is a smart bankroll management strategy to use. You then split this money between cash games and tournaments. You can divide it up however you prefer, but great DFS players put more money on cash games – 70% is an excellent place to start.

Understand Cash Games and Tournament Strategies

Great DFS players know that betting more on cash games is important because there is a higher chance of winning.

There are 100 players in cash games, and the winnings are divided between the top 50 players. And so, whether you’re in position 3 or 39, you’ll still win some money, providing you are in the top 50.

For 50/50 cash games, you’ll want to put reliable, consistent sports players together to give you the best chance of winning.

The DFS tournaments, however, require a different strategy of play to win. It’s not enough to draft a team of reliable players; you need to merge a unique team to succeed in this winner-takes-all tournament.

While most DFS players will put together a mainstream team of reliable players, good fantasy sports players don’t!

The reason being, if everyone chooses top players such as pro-bowler Quarterback Tom Brady. If Tom performs well and gains an impressive amount of touchdowns, a significant chunk of DFS players in the tournament will move up the rankings together. But, they won’t move past the middle because their team hasn’t done anything more substantial than anyone else’s.

For the tournaments, great daily fantasy sports players think outside the box. They choose the underdogs, even the people that haven’t performed well recently. At least that’s what author Jonathan Bales of Fantasy Football (and Baseball) for smart people does.

However, players do pair their quarterback and receiver from the same team to maximize potential touchdown points.

Understand And Accept Variance

Did you know the best DFS players tend to be ex-professional poker players? Primarily because they understand the importance of variance – in other words, luck.

Keeping variance in mind with each move or decision prevents the player from making drastic choices between an average expected result and the actual result.

As a DFS player hedging your bets by creating and putting forward a strong team against your competitor is essential to enhance your chances of winning. Still, it’s vital not to forget, losing is an expected part of the game and should be accepted as such.

Putting together the best lineups will give you more chances to win. And eventually, your strategies and dedication to creating good teams will pay off, despite any losses along the way.

If you’re new to Daily Fantasy Sports, alongside the above suggestions of what makes a good fantasy sports player, here are a few other quick tips to keep in mind from great DFS players;

Research the available DFS sites for the sport that interests you. And scout the market to find and take advantage of new sign up offers and promotions. A lot of DFS sites are generous and give you free cash to play. Take these opportunities to experience how DFS works and gain some experience before you start betting more of your money.