Contests
- GPP
- Guaranteed prize pool: a tournament whose prizes are paid even if it doesn't fill. Top-heavy payouts reward lineups that are both high-scoring and different from the field.
- Cash game
- A contest where roughly the top half of entries win about the same amount: 50/50s, double-ups and head-to-heads. Consistency (a high floor) matters more than upside.
- 50/50 and double-up
- Cash games where about half the field wins. In a 50/50 the winners roughly double their entry fee after the site's fee; in a double-up they exactly double it, with slightly fewer winners.
- Head-to-head (H2H)
- A one-on-one contest against a single opponent.
- Single-entry and max-entry
- Single-entry contests allow one lineup per player. Max-entry (often 150) lets one player enter many lineups, which is why optimizers build lineup sets rather than one lineup.
- Min-cash
- The smallest prize in a contest, usually about the entry fee or a little more.
- Overlay
- When a guaranteed contest doesn't fill, the site covers the gap; the prize pool is larger than the entry fees collected.
- Rake
- The share of entry fees the DFS site keeps (commonly around 10–15%).
Slates and formats
- Slate
- The set of games a contest covers, such as an NBA main slate or an NFL Sunday slate. Each slate has its own player pool and salaries.
- Main slate
- The slate with the most games and the largest contests for the day.
- Classic
- The standard format: a full roster under a salary cap from a multi-game slate, for example nine players under $50,000 on DraftKings NFL.
- Showdown and single game
- One-game contests. On DraftKings a Captain scores 1.5x points at 1.5x salary; FanDuel's single-game format uses an MVP slot with a points multiplier. See the Showdown optimizer guide.
- Salary cap
- The budget every lineup must fit under. Cheap players who outscore their price free up money for stars.
- Lock
- When a game starts and its players can no longer be swapped. Most sites lock each player at his own game's start.
- Late swap
- Changing players in games that haven't started after the slate's first lock, usually to react to news.
Projections
- Projection
- An estimate of a player's fantasy points for the slate, usually his median or average outcome. Projections are estimates, not guarantees.
- Floor and ceiling
- A low and a high outcome for a player (for example his 10th and 90th percentile). Cash games lean on floors; tournaments are won by ceilings. See DFS projections.
- Value
- Projected points per $1,000 of salary. Value is what lets a lineup afford its most expensive players.
- Implied team total
- The points a team is expected to score, worked out from the betting spread and total. High team totals tend to mean more fantasy points to share.
- Usage and minutes
- How much of the offense runs through a player and how long he plays. In the NBA, projected minutes drive most of a projection.
Ownership and strategy
- Ownership
- The share of lineups in a contest that roster a player. Projected ownership is an estimate made before lock; actual ownership is published after.
- Chalk
- The most popular players on a slate. Chalk is often popular for good reasons, but it doesn't separate you from the field.
- Leverage
- Being over- or under-exposed to a player relative to the field. If a popular player fails, lineups without him gain ground on everyone who used him.
- Contrarian
- Choosing players or combinations the field is unlikely to use, accepting more risk for a more unique lineup.
- Fade
- Deliberately leaving a player out of your lineups, usually because he is popular.
- Pivot
- Swapping a popular player for a similarly priced, less popular one with comparable upside.
- Punt
- A minimum-salary or near-minimum player used to afford stars elsewhere.
- Exposure
- The share of your own lineups that include a player. Exposure limits stop one player or one game from dominating a lineup set.
Stacking and correlation
- Correlation
- When players' outcomes move together. A quarterback and his receivers score together; a pitcher and the hitters he faces move in opposite directions.
- Stack
- Several players from the same team in one lineup, to benefit when that team has a big game. Common in NFL (QB plus receivers), MLB (hitters in a row) and NHL (a line).
- Bring-back
- Adding a player from the opposing team to a stack, betting on a high-scoring game for both sides.
- Game stack
- Players from both teams in one game, for slates where a shootout seems likely.
- Mini-stack
- A smaller secondary stack, such as two hitters from a second MLB team.
Tools
- Optimizer
- Software that finds the lineups with the highest projected score (or another objective) under the salary cap and roster rules, and can build many lineups at once. See the DFS optimizer guide.
- Simulation (sims)
- Playing a slate out thousands of times with random outcomes drawn from each player's range, to see how often a lineup finishes near the top rather than just its average score. See the DFS simulator.
- ROI
- Return on investment: winnings minus entry fees, divided by entry fees. Simulated ROI is a model estimate, not realized profit.
- Upload file (CSV)
- A spreadsheet of lineups in the site's format, so many lineups can be entered at once instead of one at a time.
Questions
What is the difference between a GPP and a cash game?
In a cash game about half the field wins roughly the same amount, so you want a safe, high-floor lineup. In a GPP (tournament) the prizes are concentrated at the top, so you want upside and a lineup that differs from the field.
What does chalk mean in DFS?
Chalk is the most popular players on a slate. Using some chalk is normal; the question is where to differ from the field so a good result separates you from it.
What is leverage in DFS?
Leverage is how your exposure to a player compares with the field's. Being lighter than the field on a popular player who fails, or heavier on an unpopular one who succeeds, gains you ground on most of the field.
How much does StatWarrior cost?
One plan, $29/month, with every tool included: the optimizer, projections, simulations, props and betting analytics. Cancel anytime in two clicks.
Is StatWarrior a sportsbook or a DFS site?
No. StatWarrior is a research and analytics tool. You build and export lineups here, then enter contests or place bets on DraftKings, FanDuel or wherever you choose, under their rules and the laws where you live.