DFS Lineup Explorer is an interactive tool for building winning lineups for your Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) contests.
This documentation explains the features for version 8.400 of this application as of December 13, 2020. The current version of the app is 17.390. We update this information from time to time but might not always add descriptions of new features or application changes immediately.
In addition to describing features, there is an introductory explanation of strategy for various contest types near the bottom of the page.
Projections update every 60 minutes. When projections update, all on-going processes stop. If your previous settings are still valid after the update, you will not lose any of your settings (such as locked players, pro-options, custom projections, and so forth), and you can continue to review your last lineup based on the previous projection values.
If you want to make a request that you know will take some time, such as NBA with auto team stacking, keep an eye on the update timer before making your request. If it is getting close to the next update, it is better to wait until after that update completes.
Use the Sports League, DFS Provider & Slate dropdowns to select the sports league, DFS contest site, and contest that you are entering. These options change during the day as contests open or complete. In rare cases, if there has been a game schedule change you might want to also select Slate Start Time or Slate End Time. You can also remove players from specific teams using the pro-options settings as explained in Setting Pro Options below.
Select this option when you want to prevent the optimizer from selecting defenses on the opposing team of offensive players, and from selecting offensive players on the opposing team of defensive players. The optimizer runs slower when this feature is enabled, so it is recommended to leave it off if you are just exploring possible lineups, but then to turn it on, when you want a final lineup or set of lineups for tournament contests.
For more about why you might want to do this see the Basic Daily Fantasy Sports Strategy section.
To force the optimizer to select several players from the same team into your lineup, select the team to stack and the minimum number of players to stack with the Team Stacking and No of Players dropdowns. The Auto team stacking option generates a stacked optimized lineup for each team available for your contest and returns the lineup that gives the highest fantasy points. We don't directly support double and triple team stacks. However, we offer Auto Stack, which we feel is more powerful and is explained in Setting Pro Options below.
For more about why you might want to do this see the Basic Daily Fantasy Sports Strategy section.
By default, the app provides an even mix of all projection provider sources. Click Edit Blend to create custom blends. Select the percentage of each provider to use in your custom blend. It’s not necessary that all the percentage values add up to 100. Your custom blend uses each projection source in proportion to the values you select.
When you finish setting the blend mix values, click Build Blend. Your settings are used for all contests of similar type as long as your leave your browser session open. So you can change sports and contests, and if you come back to a previous contest type where you set blended projections and the same projection providers are available, your settings will still be active.
To set custom projections or salaries for any or all players click Custom Projections and then Generate Template to download a template CSV (comma-separated value) file that you can read into a spreadsheet application such as Excel. Then set the player projections you want in the first column and the salaries you want in the second column. Then save the file in CSV format and then upload it. Your custom projections and salaries will then override the default projections and salaries.
The CSV file shows you the current projections. In an application such as Excel, you can write your own formulas generating custom projections from existing ones or from your own set of data. However, to read it back in it must be saved as CSV which will lose your formulas, so you might also want to save it in a format such as .xlsx for Excel to preserve the formulas. Leave any projections blank that you don't want to override. Each player name contains an identification number inside parenthesis. These player identification numbers are necessary for reading the file back in correctly. Custom projections will remain in your browser session for as long as you keep your browser tab open. If you want to reset them, read in a custom projections file with none of the players set, and all the projections will be reset to their default values.
Click the Lock/Unlock, Exclude, and Select icons to customize your lineup based on your own judgement. The Select icon appears as a two-headed arrow (indicating “switch” out a player with another). When you click Select, a pop-up appears with more information, which you can sort by column. You can use the search box to more quickly find a player.
DFS Lineup Explorer has perhaps the most powerful set of features for helping to build winning sets of multiple lineups. To use the options, click Set Pro Options and then click Generate Template. This creates a template CSV file in your downloads folder. CSV stands for "comma separated values". It is best to open in a spreadsheet application like Microsoft Excel. If you don't have such an application, you can edit it as a text file, understanding that the commas are what separate the fields that the optimizer reads. (A more user friendly graphical interface is on its way.) Once you open the template, then decide your settings, and save the file. There is a description in the pop-up of each setting and another brief descriptions in the template to help remind how each setting impacts the multi-lineup generator. Our auto-features are generally recommended, but not always the best for each contest. When the multi-lineup generator runs it produces a log showing the stages of optimization and the high level results. It is important to understand and check this log.
Important: Always examine the log to check the value of total fantasy points before and after the lineups are generated. If the value goes down a lot, then the settings are too restrictive and you are likely to lose more than you win. For example, this might happen in a single game contest where one team is much stronger in the match than another. In cases like this, reduce the lineup generator's constraints. For example, you can try running with only Auto-Max Exposure but not with Auto-Min Exposure, or vise versa. You could try shutting off all the auto features and run with Diversity % set to 75%. Keep trying various settings until you like the results in the run log such as a small lose in total lineup value but a high number of total unique players.
Here is a description of each of the Pro Options:
Auto Max and Min Exposure: This sets a maximum and minimum exposure for all players based on our secret sauce formula! In single game contests, Captains and MVPs are considered a different player than the utility player, so maximum and minimum exposure is set separately on the Captain or MVP versus the utility player. This can sometimes generate impossible constraints to be met. This is okay, as the lineup generator will still do its best to meet the constraints, and lean to maximum fantasy points when it can't.
Auto Team Stacking %: This causes the lineup generator to bump up a player's fantasy point projection by the percent you specify when there is another player in the lineup that is on the same team and has a positive performance correlation. For example, NFL receivers generally have a positive performance correction to NFL quarterbacks because the more passes a quarterback completes, the more receptions the receivers of that team make. For NBA, NHL and MLB all offensive players are considered to have positive correlation. For NFL, only the receivers and tight ends are considered to have positive correlation. Quarterbacks don't get a bonus because they are the anchor player. The higher you set this team stack bonus, the more the optimizer will try to align players of the same teams together. In single game contests, this feature has no affect because there are only two teams in the lineup, so basically all players are equal with respect to team stacking. To understand why team stacking might help you win, read the Basic Daily Fantasy Sports Strategy below.
Auto Diversity %: This causes the lineup generator to bump up a player's fantasy point projection by the percent you specify if he hasn't been selected for any other lineups. This enables you to encourage the lineup generator to add diversity, but to control the overall cost of that diversity. Diversity is generally good for increasing your probability to win, but not if it forces a lot of players with low fantasy point projections into your lineups.
Min fantasy points: This setting excludes players below the fantasy point threshold that you specify. A higher floor causes the optimizer to run faster. Always rerun Generate Lineup after you set this because it seeds the multi-lineup function.
Max Exposure Percentage %: This sets a ceiling to the number of times a player can be used as a percentage of the number of lineups you generate. MVPs and Captains are considered separate players compared with utility players. So if you set this to 50%, it might generate half your lineups with a particular player as MVP and the other half with that same player as a utility player.
Diversity %: Sets a goal to include the number of unique players in your lineups as a of percentage of the number of lineups you generate. This is a helpful setting if the auto settings are causing too much cost to the total value of your lineups. Move this setting higher and lower to get a maximum diversity without losing a lot in total fantasy points.
Min difference: This specifies the minimum number of players that must be different between any two lineups. Setting this to anything other than 1 is not recommended unless you are only producing a handful of lineups.
Exclude GTD, OUT, and teams: These settings can be used to exclude players with a game-time-decision (GTD) or out status, or on particular teams. Delete the team name from the list of teams to remove all players of that team. These settings are generally not recommended. It is better to check the latest status from the DFS site you are playing on and manually exclude players that are out or are questionable and not expected to play. Always check your lineups one last time before contests start and substitute out any players manually that aren't playing.
Max/Min Exposure %: These allow you to control directly the maximum and minimum exposure of every player in the contest and these settings override the auto-settings and the global maximum exposure settings, so you can use in combination with the global or auto settings. The setting specifies percentage of lineups, not total lineups. The log shows total lineups. So if you set a maximum exposure on a player to 25% and are producing 150 lineups, that lineup generator will try to prevent that player from being used in more than 38 (150 x 0.25) lineups and the log that is generated will show the maximum exposure setting of that player as 38.
This feature is helpful if you are playing in DraftKings or Fanduel leagues and want to enter multiple lineups. If you generate multiple lineups without setting the player list, the multi-line generator will produce a file where you can easily read the lineups that it generated, alone with the fantasy point and salary total for each lineup. Once you load a player list CSV file, multi-lineup generation produces a CSV table that you can upload into DraftKings or Fanduel to set your lineups. You receive further instructions when you click Use DKSalaries.CSV or Use Lineup CSV.
Click Generate Lineup to cause the optimizer to generate an optimized lineup based on your selected contest, options, and player settings.
Generate multiple lineups from the bottom of your optimized lineup table where there is a Multiple Lineup CSV label. Enter the number of lineups you are requesting in the No. Lineups box and click Save.
If you have uploaded a DKSalaries.CSV or FD Player List CSV file, the multiple lineups are generated in a format that you can load directly into your DraftKings or FanDuel contest.
While it runs, it will show a pop-up that shows a run status. As you explore different strategies, watch the impact to the total fantasy point value of all your lineups. If it drops significantly from the initial value, you might be setting restrictions too tightly for an optimal set of lineups.
Click Get Projection CSV to download a CSV (comma-separated value) file that you can read into a spreadsheet application such as Excel.
If you want to clear your player exclusion list, click Reset Exclude List that appears below the lineup.
Up to three player tables appear at the bottom of the application, Available Players, Unavailable Players and Excluded Players. Only players that enable you to build a complete legal lineup appear in the Available Players table. As you lock players, available players move to the Unavailable Players table if they cannot be used to build a complete lineup. There are many reasons this can happen, especially if you opt to exclude opposing defensive players and stack a team. To see why a player is no longer available, click the question mark in the Status column of the Unavailable Players table.
Important: The application keeps track of what slots a player can still be locked into to make a complete lineup. A pulldown list in the first column of the Available Players table enables you to select which slot to lock a player into. This can matter in some cases because of FLEX positions and team stacking. When you lock a player into a slot, you remove degrees of freedom for how to complete your lineup, so consider the impact your choice has on the remaining degrees of freedom when selecting what slot you lock a player into.
The optimizer has two modes of operation, Explore and Optimize.
Explore mode: In Explore mode, you can add and remove players to your lineup and only the player tables update as you make selections. A partial lineup appears at the top of the application view to show what players you have locked, total fantasy points and used salary.
Optimize mode: In Optimize mode, your lineup is automatically recalculated as you add and remove players.
The application remains in Explore mode until you click Generate Lineup. It then remains in Optimize mode as long as you keep making changes from the lineup tables. It returns to Explore mode if you change any of the optimizer control options, such as Slate or team stacking, or if you make a change from the player table.
The lineup and player tables provide links to show where a fantasy point projection came from, when it was last checked, and when it last changed. For blended projections, the fantasy point link shows how the projection was calculated.
If a player is a game-time-decision or has an injury status, the lineup and player tables provide a link to give you more detail about the status. Player status varies from different sources. This app just reports the information and the source. You might need to do more research to understand which source is most current.
There are various Daily Fantasy Sports contests types, and the strategy to achieve the highest win probability varies depending on the contest type and the sport. This section is not intended to give you advice about the best strategy, but to merely explain why some of the features of this application exist and how they are used.
The two extremes of contests are the single-lineup 50/50 contests where you only need to rank in the top half of the contest to win, the chance to win with an average lineup is 50%, but the winnings are relatively small – thus these contests are relatively low-risk/low-reward. The multi-lineup tournament contests require you come in near the top of the pack and are on the opposite end of the spectrum compared with a single-lineup 50/50 contest. The chance of winning in a tournament style contest with an average lineup is 0%. To win, you must have a result that is very high, so some of your players must do better than they are projected to do. However, the reward for winning is several times greater than the contest entry fee – thus these contests are relatively high-risk/high-reward.
Generally, if you are in the 50/50 contests, enter the lineup that seems to produce the most fantasy points at the salary cap. Some players will do better than they are projected, and some worse, but as long as you end up better than the mid-point of all results, you win.
If you are in a tournament contest, where you must come out near top of all contestants, you need several players to do better than their projections. Depending on player position, and the sport, there is a correlation between the different players on the same team, where their performances all tend to rise and fall together.
In baseball, when a player gets on base, he gives the chance for another player in the lineup to have a chance at bat. The more players that get on base, the more at-bats all the batters have, and the greater opportunity they have for RBIs and other stats that score fantasy points. Thus, if you want to win one of the tournament contests, you have a better chance if you stack your players on one team. If the team does better than expected, a large portion of your lineup improves. However, if you don’t stack your team, each player has uncorrelated odds of doing better or worse than their projection.
So, a strategy for winning is to stack players to the same team, and to enter multiple lineups based on stacking different teams. For example, if you create four lineups, each with a different team used for stacking, perhaps one team underperforms, two teams perform at about where they were projected, but one team outperforms its projections. The first three lineups will not win, but perhaps the fourth one will, and since the reward is several times the contest entry fee, the loss of the other three is offset if the fourth team wins. This strategy is often referred to as “GPP” which is helpful to know if you want to search for more information about it.
Another strategy for winning tournament contests is to put some "contrarian" lineups in. What happens if the star player that is in 80% of the lineups has a bad day? Will you have a lineup or two that would do well in that situation? The pro-option features related to maximum, minimum exposure and diversity are designed to help you build a set of multiple lineups that gives you the best chance that at least some of your lineups will do well under a very varied set of game day results. Even if one lineup of 100 does very well, it can mare than cover the entry fee of the other 99. The goal is to have a distribution of results that are near the win threshold, but with a large spread in the spectrum of results so that one might hit near the top of the contest.
Use the pro-options settings to generate different sets of multi-lineups. See how the total fantasy points, stack bonuses and number of unique players are impacted by the different strategies. If the number of unique players goes up, and the stack bonus goes up, but the total fantasy points doesn't go down a lot, this is the sign of a good set of lineups. If you set constraints too aggressively to try to get too much diversity, the total fantasy points will fall a lot. Think of that distribution of results. You want to keep it high, but spread out. Low and spread out means you will probably just lose a lot of money quickly. High and not spread out means you will likely never nail a high scoring result, and in fact if one or two players miss, you can lose a lot in one contest.
One thing to keep in mind is that breaking even is winning. If you break even, then you have the chance to try again. The more times you try, the more times you have the chance to hit that big win. So the most important aspect is to find settings that give you a shot at winning big, but more importantly keep you from losing money quickly, or better yet to consistently produce small gains.
Another option to consider is whether to exclude players on an opposing defenses. If you are in a 50/50 league, then this is not very important. Since the optimizer is considering both fantasy points and salary, it’s not always a bad thing to have an opposing defensive player if that defensive player has a low salary and hence good value. However, for tournament contests, you want to have as many players as possible have an opportunity to outperform their projection as possible. Opposing defensive players generally don’t outperform their projection when the related offensive players outperform their projection, and this is why it is good to set exclude opposing defenses in tournament style contests.
If you are new to playing Daily Fantasy Sports, we recommend you start off in low entry-fee conservative contests, for example, 50/50 $1 contests. After you are comfortable, then slowly move to the more aggressive or higher entry-fee contests. Think of Daily Fantasy Sports as a form of entertainment. You are willing to pay money to see a movie. What is your budget for Daily Fantasy Sports for a particular sports season. Put that money in an account, and see if you can make it grow. Don't spend more than 10% of that budget on any one contest. If you have a losing streak, but only entering 10% in any one contest means your budget lives to see another day and you have more chances to win for a longer period of time. At the end of the season, if you had a good season, take some of the money out and enjoy your winnings. Treat each sport season as a separate entity, with its own budget and promise to yourself you will take your winnings and do something at the end of that season.
Again, this is only a rudimentary explanation of how the strategy changes depending on the contest, and there is no guarantee that by following such strategies you will have an overall profitable cash flow from playing Daily Fantasy Sports. However, if you understand, and are careful, over the long run, you will win more often with mathematically better strategies and this will make playing more enjoyable.
We appreciate receiving feedback from you. If you have ideas or just want to let us know how we are doing, click the support link at the top right of the application.