I opened my Fan Duel Account yesterday, with two small games (1 H2H, 1 Tournament), and lost both. I got caught in the All Day slate locking rosters early trap and fielded two hitters who didn't play, Ben Zobrist and Josh Harrison. I lost by 9.25 points, so I probably would have taken the hit either way. But more differences between the two sites became apparent:
- Draft Kings has a beginner section, Fan Duel does not.
When you start on Draft Kings, they create a special section for players of 50 or less contests in a given sport. This allows you a little time when you're just starting to play others who are just starting, increasing your likelihood of having a positive experience starting out. If you play an inferior roster because you're not quite sure what to do, there's a greater possibility your opponent is making similar mistakes within the beginner's tournament realm. I wish I had used this opportunity more strategically, when I started, meaning I wish I hadn't blown through them in 6 days playing a lot of low dollar games. There's leagues and other specialty games available, and you should be less scared to put a higher dollar amount on the line in these games than in ones played in the future versus more experienced teams.
- Draft Kings allows you to cap the number of identical competitors in H2H games, Fan Duel does not.
I set up 3 head to head games at a buck for both the early and all day slate. In each instance, one douchebag took up all the games (Dereku in one set Bocachuu in the other). They smelled blood in the water and hoped to take a few bucks from a new found fish. The rules are the rules are the rules, of course, so there's nothing illegal about their actions. However, on Fan Duel if you lay out multiple games, you must be prepared to be playing one $3 game instead of what you actually wanted. Draft Kings has a pull down bar that allows you to limit your games played versus a single opponent, which helps you encounter more possible outcomes and increases your likelihood of, at least mitigating your losses, with a win or two.
- Draft Kings allows you to create leagues at a $1, while Fan Duel's minimum is $2
This one is more bothersome that one might think at first blush. I've found that some of my better days are fueled by league wins where the payout exceeds the site capped 3x figure. One dollar tournaments, where the winner can win $5 -$9 versus limited competition can really help keep you afloat through the dog days where nothing seems to break your way. When you roster a team, the possibilities are that (1) your team stinks, (2) your team is fairly average, or (3) you team's awesome. As this game is mostly luck, you can never know when the big games are going to happen for you and it's nice to have the possibility to win better than normal without risking very much. At the $1 threshold almost anyone will take a shot at winning $10. It's why lotteries are priced here. Raising the minimum not only means that it will cost you more to lose, but probably means the competition within these contests will be a bit stiffer.
- Strategically, Fan Duel may very well be more HR-centric than Draft Kings
My assumption was that the Draft Kings 14 point for a HR would make the the Fan Duel Site less HR-centric. So I fielded a team of really good hitters without considering the power concept. My opponent put up Evan Gattis and Giancarlo Stanton and those two alone beat the sum of my hitters (I was playing 2 down remember). Now this is a one day reaction, but it seems that since a guy who goes 2 for 6 with two basehits scores only 1.25 that isn't a particularly useful day. It's better than a zero, but fielding a team of these guys will only get you to about 25 even with a stellar pitcher, which is about half of where you want to be. On DraftKings, the 6 points you'd get would thrill you, but it would be a decent outcome from someone you paid very little money to roster. If you got 6 points out of a Tuffy Gosewich, which freed up the money to field an Anthony Rizzo, you'd consider it a well played decision.
- FanDuel is OBP centered, Draft Kings is Batting Average centered
It's kind of obvious, but because Fan Duel treats BB and 1B equally, On Base Percentage should rule on that site. I like the Draft Kings formula better because a walk is only on some occasions as good as a base hit. This difference must be noted if one wants to have a complete picture of the differences between the two sites.
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