What started out as a potential feel-good story for DraftKings and the daily fantasy sports industry turned into a potential headache quickly.
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- DraftKings is one of the biggest and most highly respected daily fantasy sports sites out there, but are they really worth all of the hype and are they Legit? Bottom line: YES. DraftKings is a great site for daily fantasy sports and they have a lot to offer. Recent changes in U.S. Laws also imply that the site will be offering a lot more in the future.
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A former contestant on television’s ‘The Bachelor,” Jade Roper Tolbert, took down the biggest contest in fantasy football at DraftKings this weekend, the Millionaire Maker. That came with a top prize of a million dollars.
That was initially greeted as great news:
- It was good publicity for the company from a minor celebrity and the industry.
- A woman won the top contest in DFS, which is overwhelmingly played by men, according to surveys and studies.
- The new season of The Bachelor starts tonight, for good measure.
But the initial excitement turned into potential concern when details about her victory came to light. Notably, her husband also plays daily fantasy sports, and the two of them could be in violation of DraftKings’ terms of service and an array of state laws that deal with DFS contests.
Those concerns led to a lot of consternation on Twitter, national media attention, from the likes of TMZ and The Washington Post and a short statement from DraftKings:
“We take the integrity and fairness of our contests very seriously and are looking into this matter.”
And DraftKings CEO Jason Robins even addressed it on Twitter:
We released a statement that we are investigating the allegation that the millionaire winner violated our multi-accounting policy. I understand everyone wants answers and we are trying to work quickly, but I personally just learned about this within the past hour or two.
— Jason Robins (@JasonDRobins) January 6, 2020
So what exactly happened? And what happens next?
Details of the Millionaire Maker at DraftKings
Here’s a quick rundown what we know:
- Tolbert took the top spot in the Millionaire Maker, the DraftKings contest with the biggest prize pool for the NFL’s wild-card weekend. She confirmed it was her via a tweet.
- Tolbert entered the maximum amount of entries allowed in the contest — 150 entries at $20 each.
- Her husband, Tanner, also entered the maximum number of entries allowed.
- In its largest contests, DraftKings has an entry limit of 150. Both DraftKings’ terms of service and a variety of state laws concerning DFS codify this limit.
So what’s the potential problem with the contest?
Just two people from the same household or who know each playing in a contest is not necessarily an issue in and of itself.
The issue comes from the possibility that the Tolberts were working together to circumvent the maximum entry limits. Again, both laws and DraftKings prevent a single person from entering the Millionaire Maker more than 150 times.
Collusion of this type is a difficult thing to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt. But several years ago DraftKings launched a “game integrity unit” where collusion and attempts to circumvent the entry limit would not be tolerated.
Here’s more from DraftKings on its guidelines of unacceptable behaviors:
Team-building complementary lineups which serve to work together AND executing a strategy that may create any unfair advantage over individual play.
- Example A: You and 2 of your friends coordinate the makeup of the lineups you build AND coordinate which contests you enter using them.
- Example B: You and a group of friends collaborate in NFL contests to each draft different QBs and WRs, to guarantee you aren’t competing as directly with each other.
Entering the maximum number of entries in a contest, type of contest, or event, and having a 3rd party, regardless of their relationship, put in additional entries for you.
- Example: A contest has a maximum of 10 entries. You put in 10 entries but want to play more so you give your friend 10 additional lineups to play in the contest.
So was there a problem with the DraftKings contest and the Tolberts’ entries?
That’s the million-dollar question, and right now there’s a lot of speculation. It’s hard to make a determination on beyond a shadow of a doubt, at least with information we currently have on hand.
But to think that a married couple entered contests — to the maximum allowed — entirely independently of each other also takes a bit of suspension of belief. Can it be proven? That’s up to DraftKings and perhaps state regulators.
Since lineups are publicly available information, DFS players started looking at the lineups of the Tolberts. The fact that there is little overlap between their Millionaire Maker lineups at the quarterback position has given people pause.
This is absolutely insanity and is the the clearest collusion ever. Check the QBs lmao pic.twitter.com/JudoCAT0JQ
— William Bierman (@williambierman) January 6, 2020
If the husband and wife weren’t working together, how would you arrive at the quarterbacks having very little overlap between the two users, the argument goes. (There were only four games and eight starting quarterbacks available in the contest.)
There’s also this response/nugget about Jade Tolbert playing Seattle receiver D.K. Metcalf that raised some eyebrows:
https://twitter.com/jadelizroper/status/1213988873287585793
“He told me not to start Metcalf” = 88% exposure lol
— Human Capital Glock (@AndyGlockner) January 6, 2020
Is that the smoking gun that will lead DraftKings to say their terms of service were violated? We’ll have to wait and see.
What do state laws say about collusion?
Every state has slightly different laws. But most of them have language that limits the number of entries to 150, or different levels depending on the size of the contest. Here’s New York, for instance:
Each Operator must restrict the number of entries submitted by a single authorized player for any contest to 150 entries per player per contest, or by a maximum of three percent of the total number of entries by all players for any contest, whichever is less, or as determined by the Commission. Operators must take reasonable steps to prevent authorized players from submitting more than the allowable number of entries per contest.
Does the apply to this situation? That’s in the eye of the beholder, or perhaps regulators. A determination would have to be made if one Tolbert was making entries for the other to get around the entry limit.
Many state laws also mention collusion specifically. Here’s Delaware:
Registrant shall prohibit the use of third-party scripts or scripting programs for any contest and ensure that measures are in place to deter, detect and, to the extent reasonably possible, prevent cheating, including collusion, and use of cheating devices, including use of third party software programs that submit entry fees or adjust the athletes selected by an authorized player.
Again, that’s pretty vague, but may apply.
What will DraftKings do?
This is another big question. DraftKings is clearly not ignoring the issue, but it’s not clear it will actually take action. DFS laws have existed for years, and there are no known cases of a law being applied to a collusion case.
DraftKings also doesn’t usually publicly comment about these types of situations, but it’s so high-profile that it has to deal with it somewhat publicly.
The company has at least two variables that may affect whether it acts on the situation:
- DraftKings is going public, and the situation is difficult to just ignore as a company that will need to be more transparent in its dealings.
- DraftKings has gambling licenses in a variety of states, and is seeking more. Having regulatory action pending in states on the DFS front might be less than ideal.
Still, taking action against the Tolberts potentially opens up a can of worms for DraftKings that it would rather keep closed. At the same time, if complaints get logged in states around the country, it may not be up to DraftKings.
DraftKings is one of the biggest and most highly respected daily fantasy sports sites out there, but are they really worth all of the hype and are they Legit?
Bottom line: YES. DraftKings is a great site for daily fantasy sports and they have a lot to offer. Recent changes in U.S. laws also imply that the site will be offering a lot more in the future.
If you want to learn more about DraftKings, you’ve come to the right place. Here, we will give a brief overview of the site, what they offer, and highlight some of the specific contests they offer and give some insight into how to effectively play those games. We’ll even talk a little about where the site is headed. Here is a look at Draftkings in 2018-2019.
Draftkings Top 2020 Promotion
If you are new to DraftKings, they are currently running a promotion for a free $3 contest entry when a first time deposit of at least $5 is made. The ticket is worth $3, and eligibility restrictions apply. See the website for details.
History
DraftKings is based out of Boston, Massachusetts. The company was founded in 2012, and soon surpassed other DFS sites offering similar games in terms of popularity. The company has inked deals with Major League Baseball, Fox Sports, and the National Hockey League over the last few years. These partnerships have helped the company to continue to grow and eventually become the biggest name in fantasy sports.
It is estimated that there are about 8 million users of the site. The site currently has several different types of contests and continues to expand its offerings and audience.
Legality
One of the big questions about fantasy sports is, “is this legal?” For the most part, yes. Daily fantasy sports are legal, even when money is put at risk, in most of the U.S. There are a handful of states that do not allow this. These states currently include Alabama, Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, Nevada, and Washington. Residents of these states cannot win cash prizes at DraftKings, or any other DFS site. In some of these states, residents can open accounts, they just can’t win cash prizes. If you have more questions about the legality of DFS in your state, feel free to get in touch with a legal expert on the matter.
Other than that, sites like DraftKings are completely legal. In fact, there are changes coming that will lead to even more features from DraftKings. Things like sports betting can now be decided on a state by state basis, so it is expected that DraftKings will offer this feature in the near future.
What You Will Find
DraftKings offers a number of exciting contests, spanning a wide variety of sports. Current sports offered include MLB, NHL, NBA, NFL, PGA, NASCAR, Soccer, WNBA, CFL, League of Legends, and MMA. These do change from time to time, but you will find that DraftKings is at the forefront of the industry when it comes to sports offered. They have more sports than any other major DFS site out there. Automatically, this puts DraftKings at the front of the pack when it comes to a potential audience.
As far as the games that are offered, the vast majority of contests offered come in a similar form. You have a certain number of roster spots that need to be filled, and a certain amount of salary cash that you can use. This naturally restricts the quality of the athlete that you can draft, especially after you have started filling roster spots. This, obviously, requires a very specific strategy. This topic will be covered in its own section.
Beyond that, there are some unique differences between the games and the sports that are covered. For example, in a PGA or MMA tournament, all of the athletes are on the same standing. They all do the same thing during their performance time. In a baseball game, that’s very different. Because of this, you can’t draft a team with nine first basemen. Depending on the sport, you will be restricted by position played, too. Each sport also offers its own unique scoring system. Again, to maximize your ability to score fantasy points in your contest of choice, a very specific strategy will be necessary. Keep reading to learn more about this.
When it comes to specific contests offered, DraftKings has a few different options. One of the more popular contests offered is called a Showdown. Here, you will see fantasy team managers draft a team and compete for a small number of cash prizes. These tend to have really low entry fees with proportionally higher payouts. For example, you might pay a quarter to win a top prize of $35. Or, you might pay $33 to win a top prize of $135. The number of entrants can vary, depending on the specific contest. This might be as few as ten people, or it can go up into the thousands.
DraftKings also offers Pick ‘Em contests. With these, you are asked to select players from specific tiers. There’s no salary cap in these leagues, like there are in the previously described in this section. For example, in an MLB contest, you will select one player from Tier 1, one from Tier 2, and so on, until you have filled up all of your roster slots. This is a different type of contest because of the lack of salary but is very similar and easy to understand if you’ve mastered a salary cap approach to drafting teams.
Prizes
Most prizes are in cash form. What you need to do to win a cash prize will vary depending on the format you’re in.
This is not the only prize structure that’s offered, though. There are satellite contests out there, where you can win a ticket for free entry into another, bigger tournament. These can be quite exciting, especially if you don’t want to pay for some of the larger entry fees, but still want access to the biggest prizes offered at DraftKings.
Prizes range in size. A first place finish can return as little as a couple bucks, or as much as over a million dollars. Lower ranked finishes can return a fraction of the entry fee, to many thousands of dollars. Again, these prizes depend on the size of the contest, the payout structure, and the entry fee that you paid. Typically, the more you pay to enter, the higher the payout will be when you win.
Strategy
There are a lot of different strategies that you can use to effectively win DFS contests at DraftKings. There’s not nearly enough space on this web page to go into all of those strategies, but we can highlight a couple here for you. But, if this is something that you are interested in learning more about, we do have more information available for you. Feel free to search around on the site to go into more detail on this very rich topic.
Value
Is Draft Kings Legit
In a salary cap league, value is one of the biggest factors in determining success. This concept is a fairly simple one and can be transferred over to other aspects of life, like shopping at the grocery store or buying shares of stock in a company. Think about it like this: would you pay $4.00 for a loaf of bread when you can get the same thing at another store for $1.50? Of course not! Not if you have the choice, anyway. No one wants to pay more than they need to for something.
Value is similar in a fantasy league. If you can get a strong Quarterback on your roster for $8,000 of your salary, why would you pay $9,000 for another QB that is expected to return the same results? When you go with the cheaper QB, you are expecting the same results, but you save $1,000 that can then be applied to another position that will eventually help you to score more fantasy points as a result.
There are many different ways to approach value, but however you do, these basic principals will guide your decisions.
Tier Systems
In their Pick ‘Em leagues, DraftKings employs a tier system for ranking players. In these leagues, team matchups are extremely important. For example, if you are looking to draft LeBron James as a top tier player, but the Cavs are playing the top defensive team in the NBA, then James might not be a good choice here. Sure, he’s a great player, but in this particular instance, his point scoring capability is limited just because of who he’s playing.
Is Draftkings Legitimate
This same concept can be applied in a salary cap league. If you have two players of similar quality and price range, the one who has the most favorable matchup will end up being the better choice. In fact, sometimes the more expensive player will be better, or sometimes the player with a lower fantasy point expectation will be the better choice. Matchups can account for variations in expected fantasy point total, and that ultimately influences what they will do come game time.
Now, it’s important to remember something. The end goal of a fantasy sports contest is to score as many points as possible—not save money or choose good matchups. Sometimes you will need to take these things into account, but they are only methods of achieving your overall goal. If you remember this, then whatever strategy you employ will have more efficacy when it comes to winning your contest.
The Future at DraftKings
DraftKings is currently the biggest daily fantasy sports site on the web. FanDuel, the next largest DFS site, was once the leader of the industry, but DraftKings passed them a few years ago, and has kept growing since then. The question is, what does this growth say about the future of DraftKings?
Well, for one, it’s safe to say that DraftKings is not going anywhere. This is especially true considering that the U.S. government recently ruled that sports betting is an issue that must be addressed on a state by state basis. It’s likely that the states mentioned above will continue to restrict the use of DraftKings by its residents. However, because it is a state decision, the status of DFS, and now sports betting, will be determined by the state. One single decision by Congress cannot overturn this now. DraftKings, and DFS in general, is now more protected than it ever has been. Thanks to their strong reputation and increased security when it comes to data, DraftKings is safer to use than every before. That’s a big win for the fantasy sports fan.
Next, we can look forward to an expansion of services from DraftKings. Sports betting is going to be added in the near future, and this means that more people will be coming to the site. This will only help as the site continues to grow and add more features to help benefit their clientele. It’s still unclear exactly what the DraftKings sports betting platform will look like, but it will be a strong one. The site has been working on this platform since 2016 when they were able to introduce sports betting in the UK, so we can be assured that when it comes to the U.S., we will have a strong product.
Finally, advances in technology will help to make DraftKings a better overall site. The blockchain technology is quickly being integrated into industries beyond the Bitcoin business and has helped companies like IBM and beyond to increase security on their sites. This will be beneficial to any site that has financial transactions conducted on them to be safer and faster. DraftKings will likely incorporate this technology in the coming years and speed up cash transfers, all while making them even more secure. They are already one of the safest sites on the web, and this will only make them stronger.
Draftkings Frequently Asked Questions
- Does it take a long time to get your Money from Draftkings?
- We’ve seen payouts within 24 hours and we’ve seen it take over a couple of weeks. This will all be dependent on how secure everything is when you signed up and the method you are receiving your money. With so many factors these days, just be sure to have everything in order to receive your payout quick.
- Is DraftKings better than FanDuel?
- In essence they are very similar. The objective is the same for both DFS sites. It will come down to which interface you like more and the customer service factor. A lot of people will end up with accounts at both sites, so that helps you pick which will be better for your needs. As a whole we like DK better, but FanDuel is still a great site.
- Is playing on Draftkings legal?
- Yes, There has been a lot of chat over the past couple of years whether daily fantasy sports is legal or not. It turns out that there are many different factors when it comes to DFS. Now that the US Supreme Court has left it up to the states to make their decision in sports betting, things should get a lot easier. Currently, there are nine states in the United States that forbid DFS. Will this change for those states; is still unknown. With the latest ruling, you would think most states will allow it for revenue purposes. No matter where you live, make sure you follow all laws when it comes to these activities.
- Are there strategies someone can follow to make them a better player?
- There are defeinitely strategies you can use when it comes to making selections. No matter the sport, it helps to have some kind of method to the madness. Learning about DFS strategies may not be the most exciting thing, but if it gives you some help compared to just guessing you may be better off.
- Does Draftkings offer a cryptocurrency deposit method?
- Currently there is no deposit method for Cryptocurrency. We’ve heard rumors of a Bitcoin deposit method or other coins. Sportsbooks around the world do offer some kind of Bitcoin payment, but until this is fully announced by DK, there is nothing you can do with this method.
- When will the DraftKings Sportsbook Open to residents in the US?
- This is what DK is banking their future on. As soon as states give the green light you can be sure they will jump on it. The platform and customer service is fully in the works, but they do have to follow the laws. A Draftkings sportsbook is what a lot of fantasy players are looking for to go on top of their fantasy play.
- Are there sites or apps that help make picks on Draftkings?
- Yes, currently there are dozens of services and apps to help you make a better lineup. The growth of DFS has also grown widely in the development of all kinds of new technology. If you can search for these things you will see the top 10 makers offering all kinds of methods and strategies.
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Final Thoughts on DraftKings
DK is the leader in the world of daily fantasy sports. Whether you’re a casual sports fan, or a diehard stats geek, DraftKings has something to offer you. Playing fantasy sports can help us to enjoy the sports that we already love even more by helping us to get more into the games. If you’re looking for a great, safe place to play fantasy sports, DraftKings is one of the first places that you should be looking. We hope this Draftkings review will help you make the right decision. Be sure to check out the latest look at FanDuel vs. Draftkings.