FanDuel Reflections

I started with DraftKings, so I have two months and better than 500 contests worth of experience over there.  I feel confident in that I know basically what to do to be, at least, modestly successful.

My experience with FanDuel has been Problematic thus far.

It's not that it's a bad system.  Or a stupid system.  Just a different system.  And I just don't seem to be getting it so far.  My losses thus far are less than 10 dollars.  I win enough Head to Head games to keep myself alive to fight another day.  It's just the differences, when it comes to live matches, are staggering.

I've yet to cash in any tournament.  That's not the end of the world.  But I haven't really finished anywhere near the money.  It's disheartening when you finish 3623rd out of 4200.  Or when you sweep the night on your H2H's winning 26.25 to 24.83, 22.25, 18.75, & 16.50, and you note that your score wouldn't clear the 50% level in a Tournament.

Anyway, after a moment of reflection, I'd like to talk about what I need to improve on at FanDuel going forward.  This should highlight some key differences about playing on that site:

• The Importance of Pitching

I feel I've beat this one like a dead horse.  However, unlike DraftKings, you can get by without the best pitcher of the day (as long as you pick pretty good ones and get hitting support).  But on FanDuel, in Tournaments: if you don't pick the best pitcher of the day, your tournament day is pretty much over right there.  The day's top pitcher generally scores in the vicinity of 25 pts, which would require a 4 HR outing for a batter to catch up to.  And if you pitcher puts up a very respectable 18 points, your batters are going into the match behind by more than a home run.  If a FanDuel tournament is like playing the MegaMillions, then the Pitcher is the Powerball, there's no meaningful money to be had without it.

• Batters start out at -1, Teams start out at -8

A quirky rule in the FanDuel game is the -.25 per at bat rule.  I'm not opposed to it; it's a simple and small penalty for making an out.  However, when it comes to the game it means that functionally you start the game not at Zero but at -8, figuring your 8 batters are going to get 4 plate appearances that day.  It changes the tactic I often use on DraftKings where I look for the batter who is getting the shot at the top of the order.  Not so much on FanDuel.  Sure you want your good hitters to bat as much as possible, but if your filling the last slot on your roster with a less than exceptional hitter, the fewer the At-bats the better.  You'd rather just get a single out of a cheap SS batting eighth than 2nd because the fewer AB's mean higher scores.  Batting position means far less on FanDuel.

• The importance of Home Runs

9 out of 10 of my losses in H2H can be attributed to two things (the remainder is very close games):

1. I picked a bad team
2. Someone rather unexpectedly homers on the other team

Nearly 2/3 of my losses are caused by a player on the opposing team, who isn't known for the long ball, knocking one out of the park.  The 6 point bump on the home run requires that you match it to stay in contention.  It doesn't faze me when it's a Jose Bautista or even a Matt Wieters, but the difference is too often a HR from an Alcides Escobar or a Stephen Drew or a Kevin Pillar.  I'm not saying they are bad MLB players, I'm just saying there are not rostered for their Home Run bat.  A home run is a boon on any fantasy baseball game, but getting a HR from an unexpected source is pivotal on FanDuel.  On DraftKings, you can make up for an opponent's long ball with a good game from a player without a homer.  On FanDuel, you need to be fielding players with HR's explicitly in mind, you can't just settle for a good outing.  You rather take your chances on a Wilmer Flores or a Jung Ho Kang at SS, versus getting a 2 for 5 game out of Elvis Andrus.  You're not simply trying to predict production, you need to consider HR production first and foremost.  One needs to focus on bad pitching and HR friendly venues.