A Tale of Two DFS Sites.

Been playing more on FanDuel, still down a small amount but the amount has gotten smaller.  It takes a while to make up $20 when you're just playing $2-$5 a night. I know I have a ton more experience on the Draft Kings site, so it's natural my difficulties are greater on the other DFS site.

However, I've noticed a trend that I find kind of fascinating:

I have only had winning nights on both sites once.

Just once.

I usually win on one and lose on the other.

Why is this?  What is the difference between the sites that causes this?  What important information can I glean from this phenomenon?

The most important revelation is that one shouldn't field lineups to both sites in tandem.

The differences between the two sites is not simply theoretical, it is tangible for four reasons (listed here in what I think is reverse order of importance)::

• Scoring on FanDuel is more Home Run focused

I've heard some people focus on hitting stats like wOBA (weighted on base average).  I think that Fan Duel's hitter scoring is much more reliant on the Home Run.  There's nothing wrong with wOBA, for either site, but going forward, I am going to spend time understanding trackable statistics surrounding the Home Run.  Most notably, Home Runs allowed by Pitcher and Team & Ball Park home run factors.  I feel I was surely missing something important because I didn't know this information (numbers are as of this entry and subject to change):

Best Ball Parks for Home Runs 2015		Pitchers Allowing most Home Runs 2015
Miller Park (Milwaukee)		Kyle Kendrick (23)
Oriole Park at Camden Yards (Baltimore)		Kyle Lohse (19)
Yankee Stadium (New York)		C.C. Sabathia (19)
		Phil Hughes (19)

And considering that Lefties mash at the short porch in Right Field at Yankee Stadium, a deeper study of Home Run occurrences versus batter handedness is something I must look at--soon.

• The greater positional flexibility of Draft Kings changes the nature of your lineups

There's a substantive lineup construction difference because of Draft Kings relative generosity when it comes to positional eligibility. Lineup construction should be different because of this.  Earlier this week, for example, I wanted to play Mitch Moreland because he was hot as hell at the plate.  It was pretty easy to get him into the lineup on Draft Kings where he was one of three OF, but on Draft Kings, he's only a 1B, and playing him for $4100 and passing of Paul Goldshmidt for $5100, who I have a hard time passing on, if the day's lineup costs allow.  There's a number of other players who are easier to get into lineups on Draft Kings due to multi-positional eligibility: Justin Turner, Hanley Ramirez, Miguel Cabrera, etc.  This is a big reason why lineups ought to be different on each site.

• Fielding two pitchers is both a blessing....and a curse.

The one pitcher format of Fan Duel means that if one hurler has a stellar night, you need to field him or you are pretty much going to lose.  Earlier this week, I correctly identified that Jon Lester would have a terrific outing versus the team who cannot hit know as the NY Mets.  And he struckout 8, allowing no runs over 7 innings for a very nice 15 points.  On the same night, Carlos Carrasco pitches a nearly perfect game versus the Devil Rays to outscore Lester by more than a Home Run's worth of points.  I scored 46.75 points that night and didn't win a single game nor place in a 50/50. On Draft Kings, I was able to field both pitchers and crushed my competition that night.  Of course, fielding two pitchers doubles your odds of getting one wrong enough to end your evening.  And those were the nights FanDuel paid off instead of Draft Kings.

• There's significant differences in pricing structure.

Since value players are so crucial in DFS, the pricing structures are far too important to be dismissed by fielding functionally the same lineups on both sites.  They give you  $15,000 less to build a roster with on Fan Duel, so they appear to be more generous with many of the hitters just to make fielding a roster you might like rooting for possible.  During this week, Fan Duel offered such bargains as Jonathan Lucroy at $2700 and Kole Calhoun at $2200.  Since the pricing on the other site doesn't match in so many cases, using one set of research to field both lineups is purposely hamstringing yourself.

The lesson, as was stated before, is that one should not field lineups on both sites simultaneously.

Going forward, until I learn greater discipline, I am going to alternate play between the two sites.  Simultaneous play will necessitate me doubling my preparation time, which at this moment I'm unwilling to do.  I will get better at Fan Duel Lineups, so somewhere in the future I will be able to play both on the same night.  But, for today, I would be nothing if I wasn't one to take my introspections seriously.