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7:05 PM
John Ray
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For beginners, it may be a bit overwhelming to choose a league, let alone intimidating. I know a lot of owners out there who joined several leagues and if you’re not good enough it could swamp you. The trick is to choose the fantasy football league that suits you best, a league may work well for another player but not for you. It takes time and patience but you’ll get to choosing that league that will work like a charm for you.When it comes to picking up a real fantasy football league with real fantasy competition, you should know as much as you can about the other fantasy football owners, When someone is recruiting you to their league and you hear a series of statements, here are the things you should be giving a thought:See if the Price is RightStudy a few Anecdotes and learn from itCheck out a list of championsGet a copy of the full scoring systemGet a list of rulesHave a talk with the commissionerThe first question that a person wishing to play in this fantasy sport is “How much is the Entry fee if there’s any and how much is the Prize Money?”There’s a league that has ‘winner-takes-all’ while on the other hand there are leagues that have prize money for the top 3 finishers in a 50-30-20 split. Other leagues that offer weekly prizes for top points or single-play top points also exist. There are a lot of options to choose from but the most important thing is to make sure that the league won’t overwhelm you, the prize money is right and is handed fairly, whatever fits as fair for you and it’s on time. We’re talking about money here, of course we want it on time and that it won’t be delayed.It won’t hurt to listen to stories about the league. Draw some stories from the league members or those who invited you to join. A lot of fantasy football owners love to talk about the past so it shouldn’t be hard for you. You’ll hear great picks and trades that were pulled off greatly and other rueful stories from others.You should also learn who wins each year. Seeing a number of league champions would of course give you a good picture about the league. It shows how competitive they are and you can also learn a thing or two from them.
7:05 PM
John Ray
No comments
Drafting is a serious business for fantasy football managers and if this is your game then it should be your business where you can be good at, being bad is not an option.Once you have prepared everything that you need for drafting and have drafted the best player available and not drafting them by any sort of order then pulling out your cheat sheet is just in time!When drafting with Fantasy Football, keep your beloved cheat sheet to yourself. It doesn’t do you a lot of good to “share” your cheat sheet with anyone else, trust me I learned the hard way. You may also commit the same mistake of sharing it with another manager like I did and he ended up with a better record than I did. So remember to keep the cheat sheet dear to you alone.If you are over 21 years old then you can bring the beer but don’t be tempted to drink it. It is of course common sense that beer is a sort of agent that can poison the functioning of the brain momentarily and be able to use your brain power at 100% here is essential if you want to make a good record. By bringing beer, you can even give it to the others and you will be helping yourself since your opponents won’t be at full speed while under the influence.You should also observe quietly your opponents since watching other drafters can give you a good idea what you should be doing and there are also bad examples of drafters that you shouldn’t be following.When you are in between picks it’s also a good time to give trading a thought. Maybe you’re sure your big sleeper is going to be picked before your next turn, so try trading your next two picks for a higher pick. If you think you have created a mistake about your picks then now is the time to correct it. Come out ahead with trading, you should also check out a draft pick calculator which is available in websites online.Remember that your last few draft picks should be on some long shots. Never waste your time with these old picks on veteran players that have consistently scored a couple of points per game. Why not take a chance on rookie quarterbacks or a backup running back with a big upscale.
7:05 PM
John Ray
No comments
I love playing in fantasy football dynasty leagues and I think I’m pretty good at playing in them. This gives me the privilege to pass along a few very useful tips that may help those who are currently playing in one and for those who are considering playing in one. With some luck and skill and hopefully the use of these tips, you as well can enjoy building a dominant dynasty team.• The Initial DraftThe most common mistake during a fantasy football dynasty draft is either drafting too young or too old. To achieve a competitive team that will not burn out on you, you need to draft a quality mix of both the young and the veterans. Don’t make the mistake of passing on the established veteran who can give you 2-3 more years of solid quality starts over the unproven rookie. The ideal veteran to draft is a player that, if everything goes smoothly, has 3-4 years left in the tank and can still produce at a high level. Once you get some value out of him, you can then look to deal him while he still holds decent value and can get you something in return. Watching your former stud decline or even retire on you is a bad place to be in. When getting rookies only invest a top draft pick on the truly elite—the guys everyone just knows will be true studs in fantasy terms are who you should take the risk on.• In-Season PlayFor the most part, in-season play is the same as your regular redraft leagues. I feel there is a little more importance in doing the little things in a dynasty league compared to a redraft league. A mistake or a missed opportunity can affect your dynasty team for years to come instead of a single season.Don’t burn a top waiver wire priority. Be patient, don’t panic and make sure you get a player of value instead of just filling a minor need. Instead, use your lower waiver priority. Don’t be afraid to use that 9th to 12th priority over and over again. You have nothing to lose so you might as well take a chance. Most dynasties have deeper rosters than a redraft league allowing you some room for adding and dropping players. You have nothing to lose and you may be rewarded with a player who can contribute for years to come for your dynasty team.• TradingTrading is essential and you are more likely to see more blockbuster deals in fantasy football dynasty leagues. Draft picks get involved, and sometimes future picks as far ahead as a couple of years can be thrown into deals, making you think even harder about whether a deal will work for you. There are generally three common kinds of trades. The first is the simple deal, which is more of a straight up trade. There’s also the playoff run, where an owner is willing to sacrifice some of his young players to bone up his roster. Finally, there are trades for the team that just needs to rebuilt, dealing away veterans for younger players or draft picks. The last two are what you can really take advantage of to improve your team.For an owner that is missing that one piece they feel is needed to make a playoff run, they will overpay. If you have that piece, make them pay. And if you are in a position of power, push the limits to see how much you can get. Look over his roster, choose who you want and go get them. Quite often you will get them for a reasonable price, sometimes even cheaper then you thought. Despair is your friend when making deals in fantasy football.
7:05 PM
John Ray
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Daily fantasy baseball games are a great test of skill as the playing field is completely leveled each day, and you only need to handicap a single game or match-up for your team. You simply figure out which players will put up the most daily fantasy baseball points for the day and use your salary cap as effectively as possible to get those essential players on your team. It sounds pretty simple, but there are tons of things to consider when putting together a competitive daily fantasy baseball team. I will try to cover some of the basics here.In the real estate industry, there is principle they follow called location/location/location. In the fantasy baseball world, as well as in real baseball in general, its counterpart should go pitching/pitching/pitching. Pitching is as important in daily fantasy baseball as location is in real estate. A daily fantasy team is basically a baseball team you put together for a single game. If you need to win a single game, what do you do? You send your ace pitcher to the mound. In real baseball, the starting pitcher is a very important factor in winning a game. If your starter throws a shutout, you will need very little hitting to win. If your starter gets shelled and sent to the bench in the third inning, it is unlikely you will get enough hitting to overcome this. Pitching counts for about 1/2 of your chances of winning, and as such counts for about 1/2 of your team's fantasy score. Your selection of starting pitcher is as important as it gets.Ranking Cap GamesFor a ranking cap game in fantasy baseball, you will spend ten times the average fantasy points scored per game for that player. A pitcher who costs 220 points puts up 22 points on average this season. For pitching, a minimum cap value of 140 is used and a maximum cap value of 250 is used. Selecting a stud pitcher with a 250-point value will leave you very little for your offensive players, while selecting a 140-point cap pitcher will leave you quite a bankroll for your position players. Position players have a maximum of 45 and a minimum of 10 points for their caps.Salary Cap GamesWhile ranking cap values are based on performance, salary cap games are based on pay. If pay was equal to performance in baseball, we would have identical systems. Fortunately, that is not the case. The salaries for starting pitchers are their 2008 salary divided by 32, which is the average number of starts. For position players, it is per game salary for 2008. 150K is the minimum salary for a pitcher, 420K is the maximum. Position players use a minimum of 10K and do not have a maximum. What is nice about the salary cap is the values do not change during the year. For salary cap games, you will go through the same process as above, and will end up selecting a rookie or young underpaid pitcher with the minimum or close to the minimum salary. The top-paid pitchers are not better than these types of pitchers to justify blowing most of your cap on them. Once you find the best cheap pitcher available, you draft your position players. You will use the same thought process as above, except you would also want to tend to pick players from the top of the list that is sorted by rank cap value. If a player with a 10K cap is at the top of the list, you simply take them. You will blow your cap on a couple of key performers after gobbling up all of the bargains.No Cap ContestsFor these, you have no salary constraints. You consider the items above and select whoever you think will put up the most fantasy points for each position. Since the lists are sorted by ranking cap value, you are best off selecting from the top or near the top of the list for each position.
7:05 PM
John Ray
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Want to become really good in playing daily fantasy football? Here is an essential guide to follow to be a successful daily fantasy football player.1. Be prepared when you face the drafting circle.What You Should Do: Get a copy of the rulebook of your daily fantasy football league. Know the scoring system and scoring method. Be aware of the prize disbursement in the league. Make a cheat sheet that you can always look at during drafting time. Do your research, especially on NFL players who you think are sleepers in the game.2. Make sure you have your drafting equipment.What You Should Do: Know what you need before you step out of the league. Bring the money you need when you get there. Always have your cheat sheet with you. You worked hard to make that list so you better bring it. Bring resources like NFL magazines and what not that you can use. Bring a pen or a pencil, whichever you prefer. Bring a highlighter. Bring two different colors so you can highlight the name of the players you have in one color, and the players that are not available in another color. Feel like a real NFL team owner or, at the very least, a coach by bringing a clip board. You cannot write on the floor or on your knees for two hours right? It’s torture. Have a cover or folder so that you can keep your sheet private and no one will be able to see your picks. Get a blank draft roster grid.3. Encourage your commissioner to become more innovative in the league’s gameplay and drafting session.4. Be quiet and try to observe.What You Should Do: You should be able to pay attention to what other players in your fantasy football league have chosen. Focus on what others have picked because if people have four running backs while your roster only says two, you have had a bad drafting session. When you keep a low profile, people will not give you a bad label or be wary of you. When you sit down, be quiet and just observe. You will notice a lot about other people and you can learn from the tricks they have and the things that should be avoided.5. Be very wary about the bye weeks.What You Should Do: Never draft a backup quarterback when at the same time as the bye week of your starter. The action kind of defeats the purpose of drafting that quarterback.
7:05 PM
John Ray
1 comment
What is ADP you ask? Well my little fantasy football rookie, it means Average Draft Position and this is very important when dealing with fantasy football if you wish to be a manager of a fantasy team. Websites compile an archive of the results of the internet drafts that took place. Programs are used to take the sum total of the drafts and come up with an independent statistics for where players are being drafted in this year’s draft.These are real drafts with real fantasy owners, so you’re getting the closest thing you can have this time of year to a picture of what your drafts are going to look like.This is a good tool to take certain information from.Some leagues don’t really follow the script entirely according to what the average drafter is doing. More often than not, a few number of those people listed are going to be off the board, but that means a handful of players who are drafted on average by 3.4 spot are going to be available. ADP is not really a science but it does show you the possibilities. It gives owners the reassurance that by looking at a mock draft tells them that they are going to get a player of a certain tier or caliber at a spot.Owners make use of mock drafts but these are different from an ADP since it is entirely in the realm of fantasy. These are draft projections of what you think your draft is going to look like if you are playing.You can make a mock draft of your own if you have been playing in a league for at least 5 years with the same owners. This will give you enough experience with them and have the knowledge of the other owners’ tendencies, likes, and dislikes involving other players. Taking what you know about the prevailing mood of fantasy football owners in a particular year through ADP lists, together with what you’ve seen from fantasy expert’s mock drafts can help you create a reliable mock draft of your own.Mock drafts can help you set up a full draft strategy once you have understood the game and ADPs well. These will help you get an idea what your starting lineup will look like and helps you be prepared. You can ask your friends in a league to help you make one if you are having trouble.
For beginners, it may be a bit overwhelming to choose a league, let alone intimidating. I know a lot of owners out there who joined several leagues and if you’re not good enough it could swamp you. The trick is to choose the fantasy football league that suits you best, a league may work well for another player but not for you. It takes time and patience but you’ll get to choosing that league that will work like a charm for you.
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