Rich

Fan,poor Fan
The Beginners Guide to
Making Money in Weekly
Fantasy Sports

By: Edward Davis

RICH FAN

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z

Table of Contents

Disclaimer

POOR FAN

Copyright

Preface

About the Author

Fantasy Football: The Basics

The Dierence between Season-Long and DFS

Types of DFS Contests

11

DFS Site Guide

12

The Most Important Key to Win: Matchups

13

An#cipa#ng How Your Opponents Will Act

15

Managing Your Bankroll

17

Do Your Homework: Where to Research

19

Thank You

21

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Disclaimer

(1)

Introduc)on

This disclaimer governs the use of this eBook. By using this eBook, you accept this disclaimer in full. This disclaimer was created
using an SEQ Legal template.

(2)

No advice

This eBook contains informa,on about fantasy football. The informa,on is not advice, and should not be treated as such. You must
not rely on the informa.on in the eBook as an alterna)ve to [legal / medical / nancial / taxa)on / accountancy / [other] advice from
an appropriately qualied professional.

(3)

No representa+ons or warran+es

To the maximum extent permi/ed by applicable law and subject to sec8on 6 below, we exclude all representa8ons, warran8es,
undertakings and guarantees rela%ng to the eBook.
Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing paragraph, we do not represent, warrant, undertake or guarantee:

That the informa,on in the eBook is correct, accurate, complete or non-misleading;

That the use of the guidance in the eBook will lead to any par#cular outcome or result

(4)

Exclusions of liability

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We will not be liable to you in respect of any business losses, including without limita4on loss of or damage to prots, income,
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We will not be liable to you in respect of any loss or corrup&on of any data, database or so2ware.
We will not be liable to you in respect of any special, indirect or consequen6al loss or damage.

(5)

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(6)

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Copyright

The following content contains references to the NFL, FanDuel, Dra+Kings, Pro
Football Focus, Football Outsiders, and Sun Tzu.

Outside of these direct references, the rest of this content is completely original
and can only be used with the authors permission. If you are found to be using this
content without permission, you can be subject to li&ga&on.

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Preface

Welcome to Rich Fan Poor Fan! Well guide you through the basics of fantasy
football, the dierence between season-long and DFS, and shows you how to win.

This guide is not meant for people who already possess a deep knowledge of
fantasy football. Rather, we write for the novice who is just star7ng their rst forays
into fantasy football.

Well teach you everything you need to know to start out, from the rules of fantasy
football to where to play, and then graduate to some higher-level topics such as
how to an(cipate which players your opponents will pick and how to manage your
bankroll.

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About the Author

Edward Davis is a former college football
player at Virginia State University. He is
from Stone Mountain, Georgia, and he
got his degree in Health & Physical
Educa&on while a(ending VSU.

Davis is currently enrolled in the Georgia
State Sports Administra.on Masters
Program. He is also a huge Fantasy
Football addict and has been playing Daily Fantasy Sports for years.

With experience as both an actual football player and a successful fantasy owner,
Davis has the know-how to help you win in fantasy. In addi3on to his coursework at
Georgia State, he oversees a service to help people be as successful as he is at
fantasy football.

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Fantasy Football: The Basics

What is fantasy football?
Unless you live under a rock (pardon the clich), you have heard about fantasy
football. Its pervaded our culture so much theres even a TV show en#rely about a
fantasy football league.

So what is it? In fantasy
football leagues, a group
of people, usually around
a dozen, create virtual
rosters of NFL players and
compete against the
other teams in their
league.

Scoring
For fantasy, it doesnt ma+er which teams win or lose in real life, because fantasy
teams consist of players from dierent teams, and individual stats are the only thing
that ma&er, not wins and losses.

Each fantasy league has a dierent key for transla'ng real-life stats into fantasy
points. For example, a league might award 6 points for every rushing and receiving
touchdown, 4 points for every passing touchdown, 0.1 points for every rushing and
receiving yard, and 0.04 points for every passing yard. Again, every fantasy league
has dierent scoring, but the propor$ons are usually similar to the gure listed
above.

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So, the real-life stats are translated into fantasy points, and if the cumula3ve fantasy
points added up from the outcomes of your star2ng lineup of fantasy players is
bigger than the cumula/ve fantasy points of your opponents star/ng lineup, you
win the game.

Rosters
A fantasy team consists of players of dierent posi3ons; the exact number of
players per posi+on diers for every league. For example, some leagues require
every star)ng lineup to have 1 quarterback (QB), 2 running backs (RB), 3 wide
receivers (WR), 1 !ght end (TE), 1 kicker (K), and 1 defense/special teams (D/ST). In
addi$on to the starters for a dierent week, teams also carry backups that allow
them to account for injuries, bye weeks, and poor matchups (more on matchups
later).

Many leagues also allow a FLEX op+on for star+ng lineups. A RB, WR, or TE can be
used in the FLEX posi0on, allowing fantasy owners more control over which player
is allowed to start in a given week.

The Dra(
We just went over all the posi2ons,
but how do fantasy leagues decide
which teams get which player?
Season-long leagues use a dra(, not
unlike the system that NFL teams use
to pick players coming out of college.
The dierence is fantasy dra0s involve
all NFL players, not just rookies.

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The Dierence between Season-Long and DFS

Now you know the basics of fantasy football. Lets delve into the deeper sub:tles of
this strange new world, because you need to know that not all fantasy football
leagues are equal. There are season-long leagues and there are daily fantasy sports
(DFS) leagues, and its important to know the dierence.

Season-Long Leagues
In season-long leagues, each player can only be owned by one owner, and youre
pre$y much stuck with the team that you select in the dra5 before the season
started. You can trade players with other teams in your league, and you can pick up
players that werent dra/ed in exchange for one of your dra/ed players through the
waiver system, but for the most part, the fate of your fantasy team will decided by
the success of the players you dra0ed. An injury or suspension to a key player in
your fantasy league can ruin your chances of making it to the playos.

Theres another dis(nc(on: the play-os. In season-long leagues, each week you
face a single opponent and through 13 weeks you compile a record of your wins
and losses. The teams with the
best records at the end of 13
weeks advance to a single-
elimina'on playo. For
example, 6 teams in a 12 team
league you make it to the
playos. Usually only the top 2
teams receive a prize in cash
leagues.

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DFS Leagues
In DFS leagues, the en&re contest only last for a weeks slate of games. Owners
choose a new team every week. The obvious advantage to this is that you wont be
aected by injuries and suspensions in the long-term. Also, if you win you get paid
a"er just a week, instead of wai2ng for an en2re season.

In DFS leagues, there is no dra4. Instead, for each contest every owner has a virtual
sum of fake cash (FanDuel, for example, allots owners $60,000 for each contest)
and picks players who are assigned salaries that match their projected produc6on
(Peyton Manning will have a high salary, around $10,000, and someone like Ryan
Tannehill will have a salary closer to $6,000).
Each player can be owned by as many owners
that want to pick them in a given week, in
contrast to season-long leagues where a
player could only be owned by one owner.

The salary system ensures that teams are
balanced, because you dont have enough
money to make a team full of elite players.
You can either aord a few elite players by
selec%ng some low-prole players, or you
can stack your team full of middle-of-the-
road players.

In DFS, you can go head to head against
one person like in season-longs, or you can
compete against many teams at once for a
shot at a higher payout.

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The Dierent Types of DFS Contests

There are 3 dierent types of DFS contests: head to heads, 50/50S leagues, and
tournaments. The dierence between these contests is the payouts and the
number of people that par/cipate in them.

Head to Head
In these contests, you are only playing against
one person, and if you win, youll get a li4le less
than twice the entry fee you put in.

50/50
50/50s are like head to heads: if you win you get
a li%le less than twice of what you put in. But
instead of 2 people, these contest involve tens or
hundreds of people, and the top half with the
highest scores win the prize.

Leagues
Leagues oer bigger payouts than head to heads and 50/50s. But these rewards
come with more risk: instead of 50% of par1cipants being winners, only 15-30%
win.

Guaranteed Prize Pool (GPP) Tournaments
Leagues and tournaments are similar, the only dierence being that leagues
features less people (3 250) and tournaments more people (250-100,000).

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DFS Site Guide

There are a lot of DFS sites out there, with new ones popping out every day to take
advantage of this hot new trend. Lets take a look at the two most popular sites,
FanDuel and Dra+kings.


FanDuel
Youre seen their commercials on ESPN, or
on a major network during a NFL game. The
undisputed world leader of DFS, FanDuel is
by far the most popular DFS site, projec5ng
to pay out more than $400 million in 2014.

The most a*rac-ve aspect of FanDuel is that
its popularity draws in a lot of newbies, so
youll be up against players with rela2vely
li#le experience.

Dra$Kings
This is the second-most popular
DFS site. One advantage is that,
unlike FanDuel, you dont have to
select a kicker, whose produc2on
is dicult to predict and can ruin
an otherwise good lineup.

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The Most Important Key to Win: Matchups

In the Rich Fan Poor Fan guide, were going to ignore season-long leagues and
instead focus on teaching you how to win in DFS leagues. The single most important
thing to know is how to use matchups to your advantage.

Remember when we said you can
pick up some elite op-ons,
maybe the Broncos Peyton
Manning as your QB or the Lions
Calvin Johnson as one of your
wide receivers, if you make room
in your salary by taking some low-
prole op(ons? This is always a
good strategy, and you can make
it work by paying a.en0on to the
matchup a player faces in a given
week. A bad defense can make an
average oensive player look like
an elite player.

For example, as of now, Washington has a terrible secondary (a secondary refers to
the defensive unit of cornerbacks and safe2es that are responsible for covering
wide receivers and some .ght ends and running backs who go out for a pass). A
cheap quarterback op.on like, lets say, the Texans Ryan Fitzpatrick, generally is not
worth considera.on for your fantasy team. But when Fitzpatrick plays a weak
secondary like the one featured in Washington, he is more likely to be throwing to

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poorly covered wide receivers, which should result in more passing yards and
touchdowns.

Every player has a matchup. In the example we just listed, it was a quarterback vs. a
secondary. There is also running back vs. front 7 (a defenses defensive line and
linebackers), wide receiver vs. cornerback, and 3ght end vs. linebacker or safety.

But matchups are not always as simple as they appear. For one, quarterbacks dont
just face a secondary: they also have to deal with an opposing teams pass rush. A
team can have a terrible secondary, but if they have a good pass rush (defensive
ends and linebackers that go a1er the quarterback), they are going to put pressure
on the quarterback, giving him less 5me to throw and forcing him to make
mistakes. A good pass rush can compensate for a poor secondary, so ideally you will
pick a quarterback matched up against both a weak secondary and a weak pass
rush.

Another example on how matchups are
not straigh+orward: you may think that
you should never take a teams top
wide receiver when they face Sea0le
because of the presence of star
cornerback Richard Sherman. But
actually, in Sea-les defensive scheme
Sherman covers one side of the eld instead of tracking No. 1 receivers.

It will take a lot of research to know what defensive schemes are used by each
team, but that research will reveal what matchup your players truly face. This is an
invaluable advantage in DFS leagues.

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An#cipa#ng How Your Opponents Will Act

If you know your enemies and know
yourself, you can win a hundred
ba#les without a single loss. Those
are the words of Sun Tzu, author of
The Art of War and ancient Chinese
expert at kickin ass.

Youll want to follow Sun Tzus advice
about knowing your enemies in DFS
leagues, because it is absolutely
crucial to use your opponents
beliefs and ac,ons to your
advantage.

Remember, one of the biggest dierences in DFS leagues from season-long leagues
is that an individual player can be owned by many dierent people. If youre just
playing head to head matchups, it doesnt ma4er much if you share a couple
players with your opponent. But if youre playing tournaments with thousands of
par$cipants, youll want the most unique lineup possible.

Why is this? Because possible produc4on in a player is amplied if rela4ve few
people own that player. Generally, youll want less than 10%, ideally less than 5%, of
people in your tournament to have the same player you picked. Then if that player
goes o, youll be one of the few that benet. By the same logic, if a player is 20%
owned and has a good day, the posi0ve eect of this on your lineup is diminished

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because there are many other people who received the same benet. In
tournaments, youll want to stay away from good players with an obviously good
matchup. This seems counterintui1ve, but youll be be8er o because you dont
want the same player thats picked by a quarter or more of all the people in your
tournament.

How can you get a gauge on how
popular players are in a given week
among fantasy players before you
get your Sunday lineups locked in?

The answer is Thursday Night
Football.

Most DFS sites, such as FanDuel and
Dra$Kings, show what percentage
owned each player is once the
contest has started and the lineups
are locked in. Every week, you should enter a tournament with thousands of players
on Thursday night just to see what percentage owned each player will be. The
percentage rates you see in Thursday night contests will generally be carried over
into Sunday night contests, so can determine with players are unpopular for the
weeks and pick the ones that are unpopular yet have a good matchup and decent
chance of pu+ng up some good produc1on.

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Managing Your Bankroll

One of the most important aspects
to winning at fantasy football is
managing your bankroll. Your
bankroll is the ac/ve balance in your
in your account on a DFS site, and if
you use it right, you can put one
lump sum of $100 or so and play o
your prots for an en(re season
without deposi,ng any more money.

Previously, we went over the
dierent type of DFS contests. You
can play leagues and tournaments to get a shot at a huge payout, but if you play
those exclusively youre risking losing your bankroll quickly.

Conversely, if you only play head
to head matches, you dont the
poten&al to make a lot of
money. Its unlikely youre going
to win all your head to heads
and 50/50s, even on a good
week youre going to win 70
90% of those matches. Thats
means on a good week you
make about 130% of what you
put in, and on a bad week you

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can lose most of what you put in to it.

So, as with everything in life, youre
going to aim for a balance. Play about
80% head-to-head and 50/50s in your
weekly contests. Then take a chance
on a 20% of your contests and enter
leagues and tournaments. Your
winnings from the 50/50s win
compensate for the losses in the
tournaments, and every so o/en youll
hit it big in a tournament.

Now that were talking percentages,
lets talks about what percentage of
your bankroll you should be playing
each week. Obviously you dont want
to play your en,re in a single week,
because then youre se/ng yourself up
to lose everything from a just a few bad picks.

Instead of risking everything in one week, you need prac3ce some discipline and
put only 10-20% of your bankroll in to play each week. This is enough to make you
some signicant prots if you have a good week, but not enough to ruin you when
things dont go your way.

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Do Your Homework: Where to Research

What separates fantasy football from things like slots and roule0e is that there is
more than chance allowed. In fact, the en2re reason that playing DFS fantasy
football for cash is legal (in most states) is that it is considered a game of skill
instead of straight-up gambling.

The skill involved is derived directly from having more knowledge over the teams
and players in football, which helps you be5er predict which players are going to
produce on a given week and which are due for a dud.

You can a(ain this knowledge by studying from the many football analysis sites you
can nd online. Avoid mainstream sites like ESPN and NFL Network, as their content
is wri&en for the lowest common denominator and is likely to contain insigh0ul
analyst and more likely to focus on controversial gures like Johnny Manziel or
Michael Sam. Those are stories worth reading about, but they wont help you win
fantasy football.
Pro Football Focus
There are no former pros on the sta at Pro
Football Focus. Actually, its just a bunch of
nerds.

But nerds are what you need to understand
which players to pick for your weekly fantasy
rosters.

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The good people at Pro Football Focus scour through every pro game and record
every single player on every single snap: who was ac&ve on the play, and if they
performance posi-vely or nega-vely on that play. They take these recording to
compile player grades for each player.

Simple stats dont tell the whole story. Take an incomplete pass for example. Now,
that incomplete pass could be an errant throw by the quarterback, or it could have
been a great pass that a receiver whied on. The box score will record this as a
nega%ve play for the quarterback. Pro Football Focus player grades are more
nuanced: if a pass is on target its reected posi-vely for the QB, regardless if the
WR catches it or not. This is why Pro Football Focus player grades can give you a
more accurate view of players than the actual stats.

Football Outsiders
Alright, so Pro Football Focus will help
you determine how individual players
are performing. What if there was a tool
out there that revealed how an en.re
defense is performing?

There is. The DVOA rankings provided
by Football Outsiders will show you
which defenses are weak and where,
which is incredibly valuable when
determining the best matchups for the
week.

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Thank You!
Thanks for reading our guide! A reminder: this took a lot of 2me and eort to
create, and we would appreciate it if you would not share this book with anyone
without rst receiving our permission. We hoped you enjoyed our wri+ng and that
it helps you earn countless prots in fantasy football.
But before you see those prots youll have to take the rst step and sign up at a
DFS site. Register for FanDuel and use the promo code edav6618 to start your
fantasy football career today. (Please make sure to use the promo code so that I can
receive credit for referring you email me if you have any ques5ons.)
h"p://www.fanduel.com/?invitedby=edav6618&cnl=da