The final lesson in his course will focus on the fundamental differences between cash games and tournaments, as well as provide tips that are specifically tailored for each league type.

Let’s start with the basics: we should not employ the same type of lineup building strategy in cash games and tournaments because the payouts in the two types of leagues are vastly different. In a cash game, generally half of the field gets paid. In a tournament, only those who finish at the very top are paid. Our daily fantasy golf strategy should directly coincide with the type of league in which we are playing.

Cash Game Strategy

Cash games and leagues such as 50/50’s typically pay out roughly half of the field, where the prize for first is the same as the prize for the very last spot that cashes. That’s an important thing to point out because it doesn’t matter how high you finish in cash games; it only matters that you finish high enough to cash. Without a need to beat out 95 percent of the field, our strategy in cash games should focus on creating the “optimal” lineup that increases our floor and our chances to have all six golfers make the cut.

To put it simply, we want to maximize our expected value from each of our six golfers so that we put ourselves in the best possible position to finish in the top half of the field. In cash games, we are not concerned about player ownership levels as it hurts worse to fade the obvious play than it does to target him. All we care about in cash games is increasing our floor, and if you follow the lessons on Vegas odds, course history, current form and PGA statistics, you will easily be able to pick out the optimal plays for cash games each and every week.

Tournaments

Tournaments are a completely different animal. They typically have a much larger player pool, and they typically only pay out the top 10 to 20 percent of the lineups, with most tournaments having a very top-heavy payout structure.

Our goal in tournaments is not to finish in the top 50 percent; it’s to finish in the top one percent, and to do that, we have to be willing to take a few more risks. That’s’ not to say that a cash game lineup can’t take down a big tournament, but it’s hard to differentiate your lineup when all of your players are highly-owned. Here are a two tournament strategies that I’ve found to be successful in daily fantasy golf.

Each week, you are going to be able to identify who the popular picks are going to be. They may be underpriced, have a great record at the course, or be on fire coming into the event. One tournament strategy that I like to employ is to fade the popular play and to target another golfer at his exact price point. This accomplishes two things. First, you are fading a highly-owned player, which can really pay off if he misses the cut. Second, you are targeting a player who is assured a low-ownership level because everyone else will gravitate toward the popular play whom we’ve decided to fade.

The other tournament strategy that I often employ is to go with a stars-and-scrubs lineup approach. With the way that DraftKings’ scoring is set up, you basically need to have the winner of the tournament on your roster if you want to take down a big tournaments. We want to give ourselves a good chance to pick the winner, which is why it makes sense to load up on the big names in the field. This obviously isn’t a sure-fire strategy because picking scrubs who are going to make the cut is very difficult. However, it will give you a better chance of picking the winner of the tournament.