Review of DraftKings Daily Fantasy Sports Site
DraftKings Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) is the most popular and successful DFS operator at the present time. Usually, at odds with their fierce competitor FanDuel for the top spot, DraftKings always seems to be number one. DraftKings seems to outdo its competition in every way possible. This rings true for every single part of the DFS’ operator’s business. They have a multitude of options to please every daily fantasy sports player. Their website is easily accessible and has an extremely simple layout for smooth navigation. Annual payouts for their customers are expected to top one billion dollars. That’s a clear sign of just how many options they have available for their players to participate in. DraftKings hosts more than 20,000 public contests per day and has millions of users worldwide.
A company doesn’t get to that level without having a following of loyal customers. And customers are loyal because they’re satisfied with the services they receive by DraftKings. Our DraftKings review will break down all of the information you’ll need to make the most of your daily fantasy sports experience with the best company out there and, hopefully, we can help you get some of that multi-billion-dollar prize money in the process.
Their title of the number one DFS company in the world is very fitting, as DraftKings pioneered and perfected several innovations that have come to be dubbed industry standards. These special features include a salary cap model that puts players on a level playing field by giving every fantasy participant a certain monetary amount to work with when recruiting their lineups (that’s where the “draft” part of DraftKings’ moniker came from) , as well as the ability to monitor your fantasy team’s performance live via a computer or your mobile device. Additionally, the sheer variety of sports available for fantasy contests at DraftKings is borderline staggering – though the NFL is by far the biggest draw, attracting players from around the globe by the hundreds of thousands, DFS contests are offered for MLB, NHL, NBA, golf, NASCAR, mixed martial arts and several other sports of global interest.
DraftKings Basics:
| DraftKings Website: | www.draftkings.com | |||||||||||
| DraftKings Location: | Boston, MA USA | |||||||||||
| Where is DraftKings Legal? | All US States, Except: Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, Montana, Nevada and Washington | |||||||||||
| DraftKings Deposits: |
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| DraftKings Payouts: |
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| DraftKings Bonuses: | Get a $15 Free Play | |||||||||||
| DraftKings CS: | csupport@draftkings.com | |||||||||||
| DraftKings Telephone: | No Telephone Support | |||||||||||
How To Use DraftKings
This review of DraftKings will give insight to the multiple areas within the website and the features that they offer all of their DFS players. Not only will those be highlighted but other key details such as how to choose your games, make deposits, request withdrawals, check for promotions and downloading their app to use on any mobile device with internet capabilities. The legalities of DFS will be discussed and some of the most frequently asked questions regarding DraftKings and the how-to of DFS, in general, will be covered in this review.
Getting Started On DraftKings
DraftKings, which was founded in Boston, Massachusetts back in 2012, has one of the easier-to-use websites in the DFS industry, buts it’s not just easy to use - it is also thoroughly well thought-out in terms of aesthetics, giving everything a very “slick” look. This only bolsters the impression that DraftKings is a high-quality, professionally managed website. Good looks aside, you’ll find everything you need laid out in a very logical manner, so locating the sign-up menu is a cinch.
In fact, prior to actually creating your free account, practically every button you can click on will take you to the sign-up menu. You’ll be prompted to enter information like a username, email address, password, location (either in or outside the United States) and your date of birth (you’ll need to be at least 18 to participate in DFS contests in most states). Once you’ve successfully signed in, your account will be credited with $50,000 of in-game currency – be aware that this is strictly to be used for recruiting athletes to your fantasy team lineup and is not real-world money.
Picking A DraftKings Contest
After you’ve logged in and received your $50,000 recruitment credits, it’s time to pick the contest you want to participate in. DraftKings offers numerous options under the contest lobby dropdown tab located at the top of the main page. As of this year, the list of sports available for daily fantasy contests includes NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, golf, NASCAR, mixed martial arts, Canadian Football League (CFL), various soccer leagues including EPL, MLS, La Liga, Liga MX, and Champions League. A recent addition is fantasy eSports, though for now play is limited to League of Legends only.
DraftKings uses a live scoring system whereby players can monitor the progress of the contests they’ve signed up for, with up-to-the-minute score updates. This system makes it easy to keep up with the on-field action as it happens in real time. As you probably already know, each sport uses a different scoring system, so it behooves you to be well-versed in the particulars of the sports you’re participating in before you lock in your fantasy lineup.
DraftKings Contest Types
No review of DraftKings would be complete if we didn’t cover one of the more exciting aspects of this daily fantasy sports site’s offerings: multiple contest types. Picking a sport is only half of picking a contest, as DraftKings keeps things interesting by making numerous contest types available to players, some of which are industry exclusives. As of this year, DraftKings offers the following contest types:
Beginner – everybody has to start somewhere, and the beginner contest type is suited for you if you’re in that category. That’s because DraftKings will match you with other newbie players, enabling you to work on perfecting your strategy without having to worry about facing more advanced players. You can still win money in these contests, but usually not as much as in other types.
Guaranteed Prize Pool – often shortened to GPP, these are tournament-style contests with a large number of entrants. The bigger cash prizes are available the higher up in the tournament bracket you make it, but usually, the top 10 percent of entrants will win real money.
50/50 (Double-Up) –these contests are popular with more skilled players, as they enable entrants to win amounts worth twice the entry fee for finishing in the upper half of all contestants.
Multipliers – these are basically the bigger, badder version of 50/50 contests and are usually dominated by very experienced players. Entrants can expect to win anywhere from three to ten times the initial entry fee if their lineup does well in a given contest.
Head-to-Head – these contests are great for players who want to go mano-a-mano with a friend, and many a daily fantasy sports rivalry was played out using this contest type as well. That’s because this is a winner-take-all contest, in which the victor wins double his or her entry fee.
Qualifiers/Satellites – think of these contests as stepping stones to more prestigious and more profitable tournaments. Qualifiers, also known as satellites, give winners and players that finish in the upper echelons of DraftKings contests to advance to other contests that may be worth some truly high-dollar prizes.
Step Tournaments – this contest type is similar to the previously discussed type, except that winners advance in rank from very low entry fees (a minimum of $2) through four successive levels, vying for the chance to win cash prizes of as much as $200.
Leagues – this is one of the newest additions to the DraftKings contest type list. In essence, players can form their own private daily fantasy contest to play amongst friends on an invitation-only basis. Real money can still be won in these games, but the limits may be lower than contest types open to all players.
FreeRoll – these free-to-enter contests are the polar opposite of every other type we’ve mentioned so far. Winners don’t receive real money for picking the best lineups. Instead, they win DraftKings Dollars – a form of token that can be exchanged for various things on the main DraftKings (entry into other contests, for example), but not redeemed for cash. This is the only form of DraftKings play available in some states.
How To Choose A DraftKings Lineup
So you’re all signed up, and you’ve decided what sport and what contest type you’re interested in, but you still aren’t sure how to choose your DraftKings lineup. Fortunately, this is not too arduous a task, and it’s actually one of the most enjoyable parts of playing daily fantasy sports. As we previously mentioned, DraftKings uses a simulated salary cap system wherein players are given $50,000 with which to draft their fantasy lineups.
This is where a lot of the strategy involved in DFS comes in, because better athletes with higher stats will accordingly command higher “salaries,” so you’ll have to decide which positions to emphasize in order to get the best players possible while not going over your salary cap. Once you’ve decided on your lineup, lock in your roster by clicking the enter button and join the contest you selected earlier. From then on, it’s all up to your chosen athletes, so be sure to keep a close eye on how your fantasy team is doing in case you need to make a substitution, which is also allowed at DraftKings provided you don’t exceed the limit of your salary cap.
Making A DraftKings Deposit And Collecting Payouts
DraftKings makes depositing money to enter a paid contest a breeze thanks to widespread acceptance of most common credit cards (American Express, Discover, Mastercard and VISA) used by American players. The company also offers alternative forms of payment, namely via a certified PayPal account. There is no limit on deposit amounts, but you will need to be careful about locking in your funds, as there is no option to get a refund. Contact DraftKings’ excellent customer service department if you should ever need to increase your deposit limit, but be sure to play responsibly.
Withdrawals are similarly simple. After you’ve won a few daily fantasy contests and want to withdraw your winnings, you will only need to click through a few screens in which you’ll be asked whether you prefer to be paid via Paypal or the credit card with you made your deposit. DraftKing usually requires 48 hours to process a payout, but in some instances, this may be extended out to seven full business days. All payouts are processed during regular business hours (9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Eastern Time), Monday through Friday.
Special Events And Promos At DraftKings
Fantasy football is the crown jewel for business at DraftKings, and the NFL season brings with it tons of great promotions and other special events for DraftKings players. Prizes are not exclusive to just money, things like tickets to big-time sporting events are also on the line for participants willing to throw their hat in the ring. Still, all these exciting special events can be found easily by clicking the “Promos” tab at the top of the main DraftKings homepage.
One of the promos during the NFL season is the DraftKings Team Pick’Em. For each week of the NFL regular season, you choose the outright winner of the game. If you are able to get more than half of the winners correct by the end of the season, you have a chance to win huge cash prizes. The contest is completely free, and you can win your share of a $1 million prize pot if you get far enough. In addition to special contests, there are the traditional DraftKings fantasy football contests, where you draft a lineup and enter it against others to see who comes out on top.
Besides football, there are plenty of NHL and NBA contests happening at this time because all three sports are not only highly popular, at one point in the year, they all coincide with one another. Depending on the season, players will find plenty of promotions on other sports such as MLB, tennis, MMA, NASCAR, and the PGA. Whatever sport is in season is the one that will have current promos listed on the website.