Yahoo Bankroll Challenge, Week 27: Analyzing Very Specific Contests

For more information on the Yahoo Bankroll Challenge and to read the recap from each week, click here.

There hasn’t been much to report over the last month or so of the bankroll challenge. I’ve fallen into the daily routine of “wake up, enter Yahoo MLB contests, create MLB lineups, check results, repeat” for weeks.

Fortunately, I’ve continued to grow my bankroll, and we’re north of $200 now. It’s a massive accomplishment after starting with literally no money, but we’re still only 2% of the way to the ultimate goal.

The MLB All Star break provided a nice respite from the daily grind, and it also allowed me to dig into some contest-specific research across all sites.  

Here’s where we sit after 27 weeks: 

Week 22 starting $ balance: $138.22
Week 26 ending $ balance: $234.72
Week 22 starting YSRP balance: 444
Week 26 ending YSRP balance: 719

Here are some of the strategies I used this week with advice on how to implement them on other DFS sites:

Strategy #1: Reviewing an often-played contest

Despite our best efforts to be agile in our contest selection, we inevitably end up playing the same contest (exact name, entry fee, and contest size) frequently throughout the course of a season. For example, I often play the Triumphant Warrior ($333, 100 entries) in LOL, the Knockout Special ($555, 100-200 entries) in MMA, and the Ball Four ($250, 350 entries) in MLB on DraftKings. On Yahoo, I’m pretty much always playing the $5 No Veterans and $1 3-max No Veterans.

When you play a contest frequently, you see many of the same usernames every day. This gives you an excellent opportunity for an edge by examining the specific traits of these contests to see if there are high-level trends you can implement in your lineups. 

So even though I’ve been dominating Yahoo to the tune of a 39% ROI in MLB since the challenge began, it’s still a good idea to investigate my frequently played contests to determine if there’s an even bigger edge that I’m missing.

During the ASB, I dove into each $5 No Veterans contest I entered, and while I didn’t find any groundbreaking data, my beliefs were confirmed: due to the pricing (or inexperience), people aren’t fully stacking anywhere close to the optimal amount.

Just looking at the most recent contest before the break, just two of 23 lineups 5 or 6 stacked an offense (I was one, of course). My initial hypothesis believed fully stacking, even in a small contest, would be optimal for Yahoo’s MLB product. The results were great, but it’s always important to confirm the underlying data by examining individual contests. 

Sometimes, you’ll find a nugget that will completely change how you build lineups and take your results to the next level. 

How to implement this on FanDuel or DraftKings: If you find yourself entering the same contest on a regular basis, take some time and see if there any quirks related to that specific contest: average ownership for winning lineups, types of stacks being used/are winning, popular plays being more popular than larger contests, etc.

Week 27’s Pivotal Moment

On July 7, I cashed every lineup I entered for a total profit of $42 and soared above the $200 bankroll level.

Next Steps

Beg Yahoo to create NFL preseason DFS contests.

For any questions about the bankroll challenge, hit up Brian on Twitter. For more information on bankroll management, contest selection, and long-term DFS strategy, read our flagship e-book, The Ultimate Guide.