Trying to Learn the Ropes, Need Advice Please!

[kytmagic]

I'm about ready to call it quits myself. It doesn't matter what I try, what I research, or where I research, it just never works the way I think it will.

Last night I played a whopping $12 by entering 3 lineups into two contests each. Lost it all! I was very pleased and confident with my lineups going in, but my point totals were only 21.4, 17.9, and 24.4. Probably my worst night yet. I was having fun and have been trying really hard to improve, but in the end I'm always middle of the pack at best.

What contests were you playing? Were you playing with your low ownership lineups?

[Bergy80]

I'm playing the cheaper contests until I can establish higher scoring lineups consistently which doesn't seem to want to happen. I entered these lineups in the $2 2k and in $2 50/50s. I can usually hit in the 50/50s, at least enough to break even, but last night was exceptionally bad. I checked my owner % when the contests started and they were all on the lower side for the most part. Obviously Kane was up there a bit, but looking at the GA for NSH lately it was too good to pass up. I thought I had a decent mix. Guess not.

The lineup with CLS was a throw away line up. Every now and then I toss one of those in hoping to catch fire. I wasn't banking on that one to get me anything, just hoping it would.

So after last night's mess I was upset and threw my lineup together without even thinking about it. I stacked Colorado's 2nd PP unit and and Varlamov (still need to verify he's starting) and I added Tarasenko along with Brouwer and J. Spurgeon. Haven't touched the lineup since last night. Debating if I want to or just leave it as is.

[kytmagic]

To clarify, you spent $12 total?

Going Kane-Toews-Shaw doesn't make much sense to me vs. Kane-Anisimov-Panarin. Also not sure I understand Kucherov-Filppula.

[Bergy80]

Yes, $12 total.

I do usually (as in about 99% of the time) stack linemates or PP unit mates, but I tried something different a few nights ago which worked pretty well with using Kane and Toews. I was hoping for the same dumb luck last night. I was also thinking that Toews and Shaw, who have been playing well lately, would still have lower ownership than the Kane line. I didn't know who I wanted last night where Kucherov and Filppula were. I decided to try Kucherov and at that point money was tight so Filppula was a toss in hoping somehow he'd connect with Stamkos on the PP.

Either way, doesn't much matter. It seems like every strategy I've tried gets the same results.

[kytmagic]

Yes, $12 total.

I do usually (as in about 99% of the time) stack linemates or PP unit mates, but I tried something different a few nights ago which worked pretty well with using Kane and Toews. I was hoping for the same dumb luck last night. I was also thinking that Toews and Shaw, who have been playing well lately, would still have lower ownership than the Kane line. I didn't know who I wanted last night where Kucherov and Filppula were. I decided to try Kucherov and at that point money was tight so Filppula was a toss in hoping somehow he'd connect with Stamkos on the PP.

Either way, doesn't much matter. It seems like every strategy I've tried gets the same results.

LOL. You're always so depressing, Bergy. Like Pengwin, I don't want to come across as condescending at all, but you can't say nothing matters when your strategy still has holes in it. Come on brother! =D

You're better off hoping you get one line right rather than multiple lines. However, your type of strategy could work on certain teams like the Blues and St. Louis where the PP1 is a mixture of L1 and L2.

Play H2H more if you just want the feeling of cashing again.

[Bergy80]

I don't mean to be a downer. It's just irritating as hell seeing everyone else have success with this and I barely break even. I've had to make multiple deposits to keep playing ( and learning ), but really my money could be better used elsewhere.

So... last night was another dud. I woke up to an email congratulating me for winning. I was excited so hurried to check it out. I "won" a whole $.03. No kidding! Out of $8 put in, I got $.03 back. LOL

So, tonight I'm playing in the $.25 contest. If I lose, I'm calling out quits.At least for a while. I may play some free games to see if I can get better. We'll see

[forumname]

I don't mean to be a downer. It's just irritating as hell seeing everyone else have success with this and I barely break even. I've had to make multiple deposits to keep playing ( and learning ), but really my money could be better used elsewhere.

So... last night was another dud. I woke up to an email congratulating me for winning. I was excited so hurried to check it out. I "won" a whole $.03. No kidding! Out of $8 put in, I got $.03 back. LOL

So, tonight I'm playing in the $.25 contest. If I lose, I'm calling out quits.At least for a while. I may play some free games to see if I can get better. We'll see

Not sure why you're forcing it, just quit! 90% of the money on these sites flows to something like 10% of the people playing, so you're not the only one losing. Even those having moderate success will in all likelihood end up losing in the long run. You are playing against sharks, so the sooner you stop feeding them your money the better! A couple dollars here and there to make watching the games more fun is one thing, but it sounds like you think it's a matter of getting better so that you can start making money, and that's just not the case.

[Bergy80]

I'm not forcing it. I'm using the money that has been sitting in my account and redeeming free games to keep playing. I haven't had to make any deposits in a while because I was doing ok with at least the 50/50s to keep me rolling, but even that has fallen. I know that's part of this, going through losing streaks, but I'm definitely not looking to deposit again anytime soon.

I think there is some merit to "getting better at this" at play. Of course some is luck, but some is also skill. I don't have tons of time to look through spreadsheets of stats and tho over analyze info. I just try my best with what I have and clearly it's not my niche. I've also seen many people say hockey is the hardest to win at.

One last thing. I've always said I'm not playing this to get rich. I know I'm up against sharks, but even winning $5 $10 $20, etc here and there, not even every night, would make me very happy and I would keep playing for the challenge.

[draftfuel]

I'm not forcing it. I'm using the money that has been sitting in my account and redeeming free games to keep playing. I haven't had to make any deposits in a while because I was doing ok with at least the 50/50s to keep me rolling, but even that has fallen. I know that's part of this, going through losing streaks, but I'm definitely not looking to deposit again anytime soon.

I think there is some merit to "getting better at this" at play. Of course some is luck, but some is also skill. I don't have tons of time to look through spreadsheets of stats and tho over analyze info. I just try my best with what I have and clearly it's not my niche. I've also seen many people say hockey is the hardest to win at.

One last thing. I've always said I'm not playing this to get rich. I know I'm up against sharks, but even winning $5 $10 $20, etc here and there, not even every night, would make me very happy and I would keep playing for the challenge.

That's a good way to look at things. Treat DFS as entertainment and if you win some money here and there then it's a bonus. Hey, at least it beats losing on slots or on poker tables in my opinion. And if you go into the big contests then you do have a shot at winning hundreds or thousands of dollars. My bro won big the other night when he finished 1st with almost 60 points in a big tournament. He wishes he was in the big $3 contest that night but either way, winning always feels good no matter if there's money involved or not.

[kytmagic]

I'm not forcing it. I'm using the money that has been sitting in my account and redeeming free games to keep playing. I haven't had to make any deposits in a while because I was doing ok with at least the 50/50s to keep me rolling, but even that has fallen. I know that's part of this, going through losing streaks, but I'm definitely not looking to deposit again anytime soon.

I think there is some merit to "getting better at this" at play. Of course some is luck, but some is also skill. I don't have tons of time to look through spreadsheets of stats and tho over analyze info. I just try my best with what I have and clearly it's not my niche. I've also seen many people say hockey is the hardest to win at.

One last thing. I've always said I'm not playing this to get rich. I know I'm up against sharks, but even winning $5 $10 $20, etc here and there, not even every night, would make me very happy and I would keep playing for the challenge.

+1. I agree with a lot of what you said here. I don't know why people are so caught up about the making money part of it when a lot of us here are in $$$ season-long leagues anyways. Are people trying to make tons of money doing that? It's the same thing. We don't necessarily do it to make money. It just adds to the fun.

I've actually been visiting this forum and going through Reddit threads. For the most part, I don't feel that most people are winning and that's how it should be anyways. If you look at my graph, I had to lose over $200 dollars before now being up $600+.

The whole "it's just all sharks" is sort of annoying to me. It's like poker. Poker sites take a rake and you still make money because there are still bad enough players. Based on my experience up to this point, we're not at the point where I feel like I am getting crushed by sharks at all.

[kytmagic]

Is anyone still playing or have people tapped out?

[Bergy80]

I'm still playing. Haven't gone "bankrupt" yet. Winning enough to break even for a while now, some nights were a loss. Last night I saw McDavid was back for EDM and I liked their chances against CBJ so I stacked EDM and ended up with 46pts. I won 1st in the 50/50 contest and finished 150th in the $6k contest. It was good for $10 winnings.

Haven't looked at tonight's schedule yet so I don't know which way I'm going. Will take a look later in the afternoon.

[PensInThree]

I'm still playing the odd $5/$2/$1 tourney entry with the same lineup. Breaking even more or less. Went with Sid/Horny/Letang last night. And some Oilers. Unfortunately picked Hall/Drai rather than McDavid. Still, enough for $23 out on $8. Even with -1 for my goalie. Crosby's 17.2 points is the most I've seen this season. Ridic.

[Bergy80]

Nice points for those people who took him! I did the "late" contests so I couldn't pick him, but likely wouldn't have anyway.

[kytmagic]

I had a pretty good night last night, stacking EDM L2 in one lineup while also having PHI L1 in another. I don't know if you still follow my blog, Bergy. Wrote two new posts that you might enjoy!

http://kytmagic.com/picking-the-best...-for-a-gpp-ii/
http://kytmagic.com/why-should-we-stack/