There is no question that NFL DFS is one of the most exciting games to play. Over the past few years, we’ve seen people win life-changing money, including Fantasy Alarm DFS Playbook subscriber Bob Boris who took home $500,000 in a FanDuel GPP tournament and credited our work as his primary source for research. Imagine your entire life changing because of one successful week of fantasy football. And life-changing isn’t just winning half a million dollars. Just ask Cheyanne Bailey, another Playbook subscriber who took home almost $2,000 right before the holidays. Not only were she and her husband able to pay for their son’s wrestling tournament trip in Virginia, but they were also able to do it without sacrificing the family’s Christmas. Real people. Real Money. 

As a Fantasy Alarm Playbook subscriber, you will not only benefit from the absolute best deposit-matching bonuses in the industry but also from our expert DFS advice. The DFS Playbook has made winners out of so many new and struggling DFS players this past MLB season. For NFL we’re going to try and go that extra mile for you, bringing you the absolute best daily fantasy football selections you will find anywhere.

But before we guide you to the million-dollar prize, let’s run through some of the basics of playing and winning at daily fantasy football.

Set A Bankroll

Determining how big or small of a bankroll you are willing to invest in to become a winning DFS player is the first step to greatness. It really doesn’t matter what your bankroll is. Obviously, the more you have to invest the higher the stakes you can play and thus the more return you can expect.

We suggest starting out with at least a $100 initial deposit. It seems as though that amount is just enough to make players take it seriously yet not enough to really hurt their bottom line either. If you can’t do that much don’t worry about it. Put in what you can and we will devise a plan for you no matter what your bankroll is.

Know the Scoring Format

The way that players accumulate points is the most important facet to fantasy sports. In daily even the subtlest difference in scoring can be the difference between a payout and a blackout. Let’s take a look at the scoring system for DraftKings as an example:

Offensive players will accumulate points as follows:

Passing TD = +4PTs

25 Passing Yards = +1PT (+0.04PT/ per yard is awarded)

300+ Yard Passing Game = +3PTs

Interception = -1PT

10 Rushing Yards = +1PT (+0.1PT per yard is awarded)

Rushing TD = +6PTs

100+ Yard Rushing Game = +3PTs

10 Receiving Yards = +1PT (+0.1PT per yard is awarded)

Reception = +1PT

Receiving TD = +6PTs

100+ Yard Receiving Game = +3PTs

Punt/Kickoff Return for TD = +6PTs

Fumble Lost = -1PT

2 Point Conversion (Pass, Run, or Catch) = +2PTs

Offensive Fumble Recovery TD = +6PTs

Defense/Special Teams will accumulate points as follows:

Sack = +1PT

Interception = +2PTs

Fumble Recovery = +2PTs

Kickoff Return TD = +6PTs

Punt Return TD = +6PTs

Interception Return TD = +6PTs

Fumble Recovery TD = +6PTs

Blocked Punt or FG Return TD = +6PTs

Safety = +2PTs

Blocked Kick = +2PTs

0 Points Allowed = +10PTs

1-6 Points Allowed = +7PTs

7-13 Points Allowed = +4PTs

14-20 Points Allowed = +1PT

21-27 Points Allowed = 0PTs

28-34 Points Allowed = -1PT

35+ Points Allowed = -4PTs

The following scoring plays will result in Points Allowed (PA) by your Defense/Special Teams (DST):

Rushing TDs, Passing TDs, Punt Return TDs, Kick Return TDs and Blocked Punt TDs

2pt conversions

Extra-points

Field-goals

Choose Your Contests Wisely

Do not swing for the fences the first time you are playing DFS. Yes, DraftKings and other sites will be awarding millions of dollars this year in daily fantasy football, but you need to understand that those contests are incredibly difficult to win.

If you’re new to DFS or just consider yourself a casual or novice player, start with low-limit double-ups (50/50’s) at a price that is comfortable to you. Never have more than 10% of your total bankroll in play in any given week, though. Choose double-ups that have the highest number of participants. The more participants in a contest, the less the variance is between a winning and losing lineup. Remember, the goal in double-ups are just to finish securely in the top half of the field in order to double your entry fee. These are the simplest contests in DFS and they are a great way to get experience playing the daily games.

Once you are regularly winning at your double-ups it will be time to start playing in guaranteed prize pools (GPP’s) otherwise known as tournaments. This is where the big money is, but be cautious, as only the very top winners in GPP’s win a lot of money.

Setting A Lineup

It’s a shameless plug but make sure you at least consult the DFS Playbook before locking in your lineups for the week. We do a ridiculous amount of research to uncover the absolute best plays for the week and post them all in a nice tidy spreadsheet for you to use and master.

The key to a great daily fantasy football lineup is value plays. If you are able to uncover that cheap player who goes off, it will allow you to have other great players throughout your lineup. It isn’t easy to squeeze the likes of Patrick Mahomes, Christian McCaffrey and DeAndre Hopkins into your lineup on any given week. But if you were able to find two impactful low-end players, you just might be able to fit them in there.

The difference between a seasonal league lineup and a daily lineup is vast. In seasonal leagues, all that you are trying to do is beat your one opponent. Therefore, you can play it much more conservatively and not take on too much risk. In daily, you are going to need to maximize the upside of your lineup by selecting players who will have multiple chances to get into the end zone. Receptions and yards are great but the key to winning at daily fantasy football is touchdowns.

Use Advanced Strategies

We have over 80 factors that go into our DFS playbook each and every week. To get to the next level of DFS you are going to have to pick up on some advanced strategies and metrics to give you an edge.

Diving into the matchups every week and uncovering the weaknesses of the defense is a great place to start. If you find a team that has problems against bigger RB’s for example you will want to take a shot on players like Derrick Henry or Nick Chubb.. If a team is missing their starting safety, you could start a big play WR as one of your values that week.

The number of advanced strategies is seriously endless. The best thing you can do is develop your system (or just use ours!!) and stick to it for a good length of time. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither was a DFS empire.

In the coming days and weeks we will be discussing more and more advanced strategies in our DFS Section of the Draft Guide on the Fantasy Alarm website. For now, just get familiar with the daily fantasy football landscape. We will be providing picks, strategies and advice right here all season long so feel free to ask me anything that is on your mind, anytime on Twitter (@rotobuzzguy) or through the Fantasy Alarm Live Chat.