Why Do DFSers Mass Enter Tourneys?
In order to understand why I never mass-enter tourneys, we need to first explore the thinking behind those who do mass-enter tourneys. And before we go any further, let me pause and say this:
My approach is not the correct approach.
Here, wait. Let me try that again. Let me repeat that statement, with emphasis strategically added:
My approach is not the correct approach.
No. My approach is simply one correct approach. Some people achieve great success in DFS by mass-entering tourneys. They have mastered the art of that approach, and they have figured out how to make it work for them. What’s more – there are plenty of combinations of the two approaches that work for DFSers, and there are even variations of the single-entry approach that work for others.
It’s important to recognize this before moving any deeper into this course:
There is no one correct approach! Different things work for different DFSers, based on a variety of factors, ranging from risk tolerance to personality to simply the way your mind works best in terms of seeing things and breaking things down and “finding an edge.”
The great thing about a course such as this one, however, is that even if my approach does not resonate with you – even if you read this course and realize that this is not the approach that best suits you – there is still plenty you can take from my approach and incorporate into your own.
Over the years, I have done exactly that myself. I have learned from mass-entry players, multi-entry players, limited-entry players, and single-entry players. I have gathered thoughts and information from a variety of sources in my effort to constantly develop and improve on the approach that works best for me.
The question to ask is not, “What is the best approach?” The question, instead, should be: “Is this particular approach profitable for me?” After all: That’s what DFS is all about. Profit!
I’ve said in other places, of course, that not everyone plays for profit. Some people – whether they realize it or not – play for entertainment. Some people play for the thrill of playing. If you are reading this course – if you are making the effort to deepen your knowledge on the strategy side of things – you probably don’t fall into the “play for entertainment” category. Nevertheless, it’s important to recognize that this is the reason some people play…and what’s more, it’s important to recognize that those of us who do “play for profit” can sometimes slip into a place where we are instead “playing just to play,” or are “playing for the thrill of it.” When you recognize that this is a hole you have fallen into, you will want to climb out of that hole immediately!
Hopefully that little detour was valuable to you. I’ll warn you: there will surely be plenty more of those throughout this course – that’s sort of an occupational hazard of reading something written by me. The good news, however, is that these detours tend to offer value. You paid for this course, after all; I might as well make sure you get the absolute most out of it that you can!
Wait. What were we talking about in the first place?
Oh, yeah – that’s right: the reason people mass-enter tourneys.
I should note, first off, that there are two main groups of people who mass-enter tournaments. The first group consists of those individuals who mass-enter tourneys and are profitable doing so; the second group is far larger, and consists of those individuals who mass-enter tourneys and lose money doing so.
We’ll look at the second group first, in determining why these people mass-enter tourneys. We’re looking at this group first because the explanation for this group is pretty simple:
For the most part, those who mass-enter tourneys and consistently lose money doing so choose to mass-enter because of their mistaken belief that all it takes to generate profit in DFS is enough money to enter a bunch of lineups at once. Because of the “mass-entry myth” (If I buy up enough entries, I’m guaranteed to make money over time), these individuals attempt this approach without understanding the nuances of it or recognizing what it takes to succeed with this approach.
The first group, then – the group of DFSers who make money by mass-entering tourneys – do this because it enables them to create a “large sample size” at once. Ultimately, the concept of “sample size” is one of the great, misunderstood elements of daily fantasy sports from the perspective of outsiders.
Those who argue against daily fantasy but defend season-long often point out that the athletes picked for a season-long team have the benefit of a larger sample size (an entire season) to prove the knowledge of the individual who selected them. These same people would argue that the sample size in daily (one day) is too small to demonstrate “skill.”
The reality, however, is that fantasy owners in a season-long league have the opportunity to select players only once. They have one opportunity each year to demonstrate their skill at properly selecting players, and they must do so before the season begins, when there is far less knowledge and information available to help them make informed decisions – thereby bringing a far greater element of luck or “chance” into play. Furthermore, a single injury can ruin a fantasy owner’s entire season.
On the other hand, those who play daily fantasy sports have an opportunity every single day to demonstrate their skill at properly selecting players. Those who are able to process fresh knowledge and information more quickly and more accurately than their competition are able to do so gain an edge.
Those who argue against daily fantasy err in thinking that the appropriate sample size for assessment of “skill” is “one single day.” In reality, the appropriate sample size in DFS is dozens or even hundreds of slates. In the same way an unskilled season-long player may stumble into a great draft that takes them all the way to the championship in their league, an unskilled DFSer may be more profitable than a skilled DFSer in the small sample size of a single day – but an excellent DFS player will almost always be more profitable than an unskilled DFS player over a couple dozen slates, and an excellent DFS player will always be more profitable than an unskilled DFS player over a couple hundred slates.
If a skilled DFS player – who is also skilled at creating and properly leveraging a couple dozen entries at once – goes out and creates a couple dozen entries on one day, this individual effectively creates a sample size on that one day of “a couple dozen slates.” While this skilled mass-entry DFSer might still be unprofitable some days, most days will bring profit their way, as they are effectively using one slate to create a large sample size at once, hedging their use of various players based on a variety of game theory elements. And while these successful mass-entry DFSers might only have an ROI of a few percentage points most winning days, they’ll also avoid any big losing days. Over time, these players are likely to gradually gain ground, and will then eventually hit a big win that jumps their bankroll up a whole bunch at once.
In case you didn’t gather this from everything you just read, I’ll go ahead and state one of the points I’m trying to make here:
The reason successful mass-entry DFSers take the mass-entry approach is NOT because it’s “an easy way to make money.”
Successful mass-entry DFSers take this approach because they have studied and developed the skills required to succeed with this approach. Trust me when I say: it’s not easy(!), and it’s not something that just anyone can do.
Let’s take a look at what I mean…