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If you’re starting to grow tired of the typical salary cap formats, give SportsTradex a try. Every fantasy sports site is trying to set itself apart from the rest of the industry, and SportsTradex seems to have found its niche. This site is really one of a kind, offering unique “draft” leagues and a pick’em format in addition to the survivor and trading contests. It’s an entirely different animal then what we’re used to in daily fantasy! SportsTradex’s Pick’em style games are a little different then the format you saw on DraftStreet; instead of just picking between two players, you are picking between two teams, which are usually made up of 3-4 players per team. Let’s get into the specifics, but don’t forget to use our SportsTradex referral code “GRINDERS” (all caps) when signing up to get a 150% bonus on your deposit:

Game Offerings

The two most popular game types on SportsTradex are the “Draft Contests” and the “Pick’em Contests”. These are two very fun and easy ways to draft, and can be easily added to your daily repertoire even if you are regularly playing on other sites.

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What are the “Draft” Contests?

Draft a team of 7, 8 or 9 players in this tiered fantasy draft game (it’s probably better to play a few free games to get used to this format and see which strategy you like best). The number of players you will draft from each tier varies depending on the strategy option you select in the dropdown menu in the draft lobby. For example, a 7-player team allows for three players from tier A but only one player from tier B and C respectively. A 9-player team allows for only one player from tier A but 3 players from tier B and C respectively. Full player distribution for each strategy is listed in the strategy dropdown menu. Here’s where the strategy comes in from an MLB standpoint, and it can vary day-to-day depending on the strength of the pitchers on the hill that day. Going with a 7-player team let’s you select 3 players from tier A, which typically consists of a group of the top starting pitchers on the bump. If you like to load up on top-tier pitching, this is your best option most nights. An 8-player team can still allow you to roster a nice group of SP’s, as you are allowed to select 2 players from the A, B, C and D tiers. This is thought of as the more balanced roster approach; you are deciding more between mid-tier SP’s and top-tier bats with 2 tier B selections while still being able to roster two high-end SP’s in tier A. The 9-player team can be a nice option when there isn’t much to like in the way of high-end pitching, since you’ll be relying more heavily on hitting with this team.

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It’s tough to pin down a way to approach this game on a daily basis, as things can change dramatically depending on the pitching options each day. As far as time goes, drafting a team is something you can do pretty quickly if you’ve already gotten some research under your belt. I’d like to see them offer some more of these games in the lobby, and think this could be a fun way to play early or late-only slates if the roster size was shrunken for those contests.

What are the “Pick’Em” Contests?

This is my favorite pick’em contest in DFS with DraftStreet no longer in business; if you liked that format, this game can even be thought of as an improvement if you like a challenge. It’s a tougher format in that you are selecting between teams of players instead of selecting between players head-to-head. SportsTradex provides you with 10 match-ups to choose from, and you must make (generally) 8 selections out of that group.

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It’s really nice to be able to bypass a few of the match-ups, since there aren’t typically many match-ups on the board that you can chalk up as easy decisions. The difference between the pick’em and survivor contests are that the pick’em contests last just one day. Whoever selects the highest number of correct match-ups wins (if multiple people tie for first, they split the prize pool). If two teams tie in a match-up, the team that has the individual player that scored the most points wins. For example, suppose Team A and Team B scored 100 fantasy points. Team A had a player that scored 50 points (with the other players scoring 50 points cumulatively) whereas Team B had a player that scored 35 points (with the other players scoring 65 points cumulatively). Team A would win the match-up. If both teams highest scoring player scored the same amount of points, then the tie breaker goes to the second highest player and so forth. If both teams are identical in what their individual players scored (for example, each team had a player score 10 points and the rest of the players all scored 0), then both teams are considered losers.

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What are the trading contests?

The trading contests basically mimic a stock market for the world of sports. In the real-world prediction contests, you make predictions as to who will win real-world events, such as The Masters or the NBA Playoffs. For example, in a NBA Playoffs trading contest, people would buy or sell shares of different NBA teams, and the ones that bought shares of the eventual winner would do well. The real-world prediction markets are always free to enter and never require a buy-in or a deposit. In the fantasy sports trading contests (both paid and free), players make predictions which fantasy team will score the most points, with the teams usually consisting of between 3 and 4 players.

When joining a contest, all players are given a fixed amount of fake money (SportsTradex dollars) with which to trade in the contest. The goal of the contest is to increase your balance of fake money as much as possible by making good predictions. You make a prediction by buying or selling a certain team or player. If you think the event will occur (for example, you think a team will win), you will make a buy order. If you think the event won’t occur, you will make a sell order. The prices for each team are displayed as 0-100. If a team ultimately wins, their price will be set at 100. If the team loses, it will go to 0. If the team hasn’t played yet or is currently playing, the price they are currently trading at reflects what the market believes their percentage chance of winning is. For example, a team trading at 65 is viewed as having a 65% chance of winning. This type of contest also keeps you involved during the game in a more interactive way. Instead of just watching the action unfold after roster lock, you actually can still trade during the game. For example, if a player on a fantasy team scores a touchdown, you can make predictions as to the increased likelihood of that team winning the contest. In addition to the trading contests, survivor contests also put a different spin on your typical pick’em style game…

What are the survivor contests?

In a Survivor Contest, a list of match-ups are displayed to the user, and then each user must make a selection of which teams will win their match-up. The format is very similar to pick’em, but it lasts multiple days. The goal of the contest is to the end by never making an incorrect selection. For example, if a contest is set at 5 days, then you must select the winner of a match-up on all 5 days. If you select the winner on day one, then you move on to day two, etc. If you make an incorrect selection on any day, your entry is eliminated. If you select the winner every day of the contest, then you win the prize pool.

REFERRAL CODE: “GRINDERS” (all caps) – 150% BONUS

If you’re ready to get started, click here to get the 150% bonus!

Software & Interface

The SportsTradex Software & Interface is intuitive and is fairly easily to navigate. You’ll see several tabs at the top of the page that you’ll use for most of your navigating:

Overall, the interface could use some beefing up on the graphics side of things, but it’s simple enough for new users to quickly acclimate to and I like the crisp/clean feel of it.

Scoring Systems

NBA

NFL

MLB (Hitters)

MLB (Pitching)

Cashier

Deposits can be made any time through PayPal or with any major credit card. Once a contest is complete, payouts are reflected almost immediately in your account balance. Withdrawals may be requested via PayPal or check. As usual, PayPal payouts are usually processed within 48 hours. You can also track your own referrals to the site here as well, and you can also find your personal referral code here. Use our SportsTradex referral code to get a 150% bonus on your deposit.

Rake

Note – Rake is subject to change.

Customer Service and Player Rewards

The team at SportsTradex is committed to making their site one of the industry’s best, so they strive to keep their customers happy. To contact a customer service representative, scroll to the bottom of any page on the SportsTradex website and you will see a customer service tab. Click on ‘contact us’ and you will be given a form to fill out regarding your issue, and a team member will get back to you via email. In my experience with this, the team is very quick to get back to you if you have any concerns.

SportsTradex also has a great rewards program. Players earn points if they enter a contest, as well as when a contest fills. For example, if you enter an $11 GPP, you earn 10 points. If the GPP fills, you get an additional 30 points. So there’s an added bonus if your contests fill.

Players can redeem their rewards points for cash or more bonus money. According to the SportsTradex team: “If a player redeems for cash, they typically receive an effective rakeback of 14-16% for contests that fill. If a player redeems for bonus, the effective rakeback is closer to 20-25%.”

So if a player has little to no bonus money, it can make sense to buy a bonus. However, if a player has taken advantage of a signup or reload bonus recently, they can decide to just take the cash instead. Either way, this is a robust rewards program that players should take advantage of!

Freerolls for new players

Want to learn the ropes on how to play SportsTradex? The site offers freerolls on a nightly basis, which gives newer DFS gamers the ability to get a feel for SportsTradex, while still having a chance to make some cash. And did we mention that their deposit bonus is one of the best in the industry? If you use our SportsTradex referral code, you’ll get a 150% deposit bonus. While this deposit bonus isn’t received upfront, it has a player-friendly leak-in rate of 4% of each buy-in.

Click here to get started on SportsTradex and receive your 150% deposit bonus! Just use referral code GRINDERS.

About the Author

SBK
Stephen Keech (SBK)

Stephen Keech (aka SBK) is a Penn State graduate from the city of Champions. He is a Projections & Alerts Manager at RotoGrinders, monitoring player news, projections, and lineups for NFL, MLB, and NBA. He is currently the #1 ranked NBA expert on the Action Network app. Follow SBK on Twitter – @StephByronKeech