DraftKings UK Launch - Will you Play Daily Fantasy Football?

[The Shark]

Daily Fantasy Sports is huge in the US with millions of people playing the games and $millions in prize money.

For sure, part of the success might be because they can't all punt over there like we can, but I do think it is a fun and exciting game which will catch on in the UK too.

DraftKings launched in the UK over the weekend and we are sure to be hearing lots about them through sports sponsorship and I expect TV advertising as they try to make it work over in the UK as well.

I love Fantasy Premier League football so I was very interested in DraftKings football game. I've had a look into it, played a couple of games and added a couple of blog posts about it here

I'd love to hear from any other OLBG members interested in this. Do you think you will be playing daily fantasy sports?

[Jim Brown]

I've been playing Fantasy NFL over here this season and I've enjoyed it. It becomes clear as you play it, though, that you need a strategy. And unless you have money, avoid multi-entry games if you only want to have a single entry.

Shark is right it is HUGE over here. In fact it's so big that individual states are now wanting to ban it as 'gambling' to prevent so much money going in one direction. They've taken out injunctions in several states so far with court cases pending.

Will it take off the same way in the UK? That will be harder because of the already established betting industry. It may not get as big but I'm sure it'll be popular. I can see DraftKings putting up several juicy guaranteed prize competitions to attract more people.

[titans choice]

Is it a monthly or weekly game as football season is nearly finished so if it's over the full season no point in joining and does it cost money to join?

[Jim Brown]

Is it a monthly or weekly game as football season is nearly finished so if it's over the full season no point in joining and does it cost money to join?

titans, it will likely be run on a daily/weekend basis, on each set of fixtures. You pay an entry fee to participate (from low amounts to larger) and your skill in picking productive players within your fantasy budget is what gives you the points. The more points you gain the bigger you prize.

In NFL Fantasy they have games where the top 50% in a contest win prizes, also there's Top 5, Top 10, Top 25, Double-Up leagues and so on.

It's NOT season-long. Quick turnaround and onto the next set of fixtures.

[titans choice]

Just took a quick look and i noticed you get points for the amount of crosses a player does even if it is a bad cross does anyone know how else the scoring works.

[The Shark]

This guide here goes into some detail on the scoring

http://www.olbg.com/blogs/post.php?id=410678

It does appear quite complex at first but for me it makes it much more interesting.

Yes as Jim says, the time periods vary with loads of options. Last week for example you could have entered a comp on the premier league on just the one night with just 2 matches on.

[Jim Brown]

It will appear complicated at first but that's mainly because of the range of options available. I found it easier to stick to a limited type of competition and by doing that I got the hang of entry/scoring/picking etc.

My own preference is to avoid the multi-entry games. In those people can make up to 250 entries at a time. They use that to cover many combinations from a pool of their selected players. Trying to beat that with a single entry is a bit like buying a lottery ticket, or making a single Scoop 6 entry when people are pooling together to permutate. I prefer single entry games where I am on the same level playing field as others

[The Shark]

Yes I understand that there are a number of full time professionals in the US.

That sounds like a good job to me!

Which sports do you play Jim?

I entered one of the golf comps as I like to watch what golf I can but I don't like to have "fun bets" and anyway the opportunities for golf betting are rather limited - I often like to follow players I think will do well but that doesn't necessarily mean they will be top 5 finishers. $10 on drafting a team of golfers though for the chance of winning a few grand I allowed myself and found it good fun.

[Jim Brown]

I have just done the NFL so far, and I found some success in Top 15 and Top 25 contests. Entries for those are limited in size so you perhaps have only 100/150/250 people to play against instead of thousands. Entry fees goes from $1 upwards, so you can play small or play larger. Those comps don;t have the lure of a big first prize, but I ended up topping the table on several, even though the Top number of winners all get the same amount.

It's very much about picking the right players at the right time, and not just the best players. It's about trying to find out which players will score most for the comp you are in at that time. Fascinating to work out.

[titans choice]

It sounds good but i think i would like a free attempt at it first is there a site that does somthing similar but for free.

[Jim Brown]

It sounds good but i think i would like a free attempt at it first is there a site that does somthing similar but for free.

Titans, they also have beginners competitions, some are cheap to enter and there are also free to enter ones with no prize money. Ideal ways to try to get the hang of it too

[The Shark]

They are running free to enter $1000 free rolls during Feb and you get a $3 free tournament entry.