We are just two weeks away from opening night of the NFL season and it is definitely time to start thinking (if you haven’t already) about NFL DFS. The most important aspect of DFS is having a plan, so here are my 5 Tips for NFL DFS on DraftKings in 2020.

5 Tips for NFL DFS on DraftKings in 2020

Tip 1: Have a Plan

This probably seems like it should be obvious, but most people just go into the season blind. That is setting yourself up for failure. DFS is not designed for you to win money. Creating a plan takes thought and everyone’s may be different. I understand that some may just be playing DFS for fun, without many expectations, but if you are like me, winning is fun and that is why I wanted to write 5 Tips for NFL DFS on DraftKings in 2020.

So, what is going into my plan?

Sponsored By:
  1. Bankroll
  2. Contest Selection
  3. Set Goals

Tip 2: Set a Bankroll (and stick to it)

This is one of the mistakes that most of us make when it comes to DFS. You may have endless pockets and depositing every week is no problem, but the benefit of setting a bankroll and sticking to it, is that it will keep you on task. It doesn’t matter if your bankroll is $100 for the season or $2,000, if you set that number and hold yourself to it, it will keep you from going ballistic in a random week.

When you set your bankroll for the season, you don’t have to deposit it all on DraftKings at the beginning of the season either. For some, if it is there, it may become an issue. After you set your bankroll, if you have to deposit, only deposit 10-15%. If you are following a solid bankroll strategy (articles coming soon), you will never have much more than 10% of your bankroll in play on any given slate.

Tip 3: Build a DFS Ladder

I had to include this in my 5 Tips for NFL DFS on DraftKings in 2020 article, but credit needs to go to our partners over at DFS Army (use code pyromaniacs for 20% off their VIP Membership) where I first encountered the DFS Ladder.

Using the ladder helps you minimize loses on bad weeks and maximize profits on good weeks. This coupled with following a strict bankroll management plan, can help you be much more successful and it is literally just thought and effort that could make all the difference for you.

I am not going to get too deep into the DFS Ladder here, but I will be writing a more detailed article, with personal examples, that I will drop in here once completed. The gist of the ladder is this:

The lower levels of the ladder are safer contests and as you move up the ladder, the contests get more volatile. From the ground level up, you should be allocating more money towards safer contests and less as you get into the volatile contests. By doing this, when you have a good week in your volatile contests, you should be winning money all the way down your ladder. The benefit is that when you have an average to below-average lineup, you should still retain at least some of your funds at the bottom of the ladder. This will be explained more in-depth in my future article.

Tip #4: Pay Attention to the Contests You Enter

This may be the most important of my 5 Tips for NFL DFS on DraftKings in 2020, because if you don’t follow this one, nothing else will matter. Many of the contests on all of the big DFS sites, including DraftKings, are gimmicks. The huge 1st place payouts give people hope at life changing money, but in reality, they will just suck from your bankroll. Yes, they are fun to play, but if I told you to go to your fireplace and burn your cash, you would tell me I am crazy. It really isn’t that much different.

Do yourself a favor and go download the RotoGrinders browser extension. This extension is going to tell you the margin and overlay of each contest while you are in the lobby.

5 Tips for NFL DFS on DraftKings in 2020
5 Tips for NFL DFS on DraftKings in 2020

What do these numbers mean and why do they matter? First, margin is the percentage that the DFS site keeps. The higher that number is, the smaller amount of your money that actually goes into payouts. Overlay is difference between the money entered into the contest and the guarantee that the site is backing. Ex. The NFL Showdown $300k Play-Action (20 Entry Max) has a $300,000 guarantee. In the image above, there are only 1201 entries, which equals $3,603 entered. That means that if nobody else entered the contest, DraftKings would have to cover the other $296,397.

So, to keep this simple, the smaller the margin % the better. The higher the overlay % the better. Most contests on big sites like DraftKings won’t have an overlay, or much of one, but every now and then, you will find some and it is good to know for other sites.

The other thing this extension does, is tells you how much of the prize pool is allocated to the top spots.

DraftKings NFL
5 Tips for NFL DFS on DraftKings in 2020

As seen in the picture above, you can see the Margin, that it pays 23.04% of the entries with a 1.67x min cash. The other important information that this gives us is that 1st place accounts for 10% of all entries. When you couple that with the 15.90% margin, that equals 25.9% of all the money is gone before you get to 2nd place. With the top 10% being paid 25.83%, over 40% of the entire pool is gone before you get to 11th place. 118,900 entries and 40% will go to margin & the top 10 finishers. We will dig deeper into this in a future article on contest selection.

Tip 5: If You Can’t Max Enter, Skip the Contest

I have been following this rule for a couple years and it is very important in my opinion. If you are throwing one entry into a contest where sharks will be entering 150 lineups, you have almost zero shot at winning. Give yourself a chance and make sure that any contest you enter, you are putting in the max amount of entries allowed.

Each contest will tell you how many entries allowed in the “Multi-Entry: XX” section (see image above) of the contest page.

Thank you for reading my 5 Tips for NFL DFS on DraftKings in 2020. Other than that, make sure to be reading the upcoming articles on the DFS page. We will be highlighting cash games, GPP’s, & strategy articles throughout the 2020 NFL DFS season. Also, join our FREE DFS FB Group and Discord Chats.

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