Glossary
DraftKings DFS glossary
Plain definitions for NFL Showdown, cash games, tournaments, lineup building, and golf on DraftKings. Use a term to read a contest, then follow the research and the plans.
NFL Showdown
Showdown (Captain Mode)
Showdown, also called Captain Mode, is a DraftKings contest on a single NFL game. You build a six-player lineup under a $50,000 salary cap: one Captain and five FLEX players.
The weekly Showdown research starts from that one game, and an NFL plan is how you get the lineups.
Captain
The Captain is the one Showdown player who scores 1.5 times the normal points and costs 1.5 times that player's normal salary.
It is the spot that moves a lineup the most, so the strategy notes start from the game script before that choice is made.
FLEX
FLEX is a normal Showdown roster spot. A FLEX player scores at the regular rate and costs the regular salary.
Five FLEX spots share the salary the Captain leaves from the $50,000 cap, which the beginner guide walks through on the lineup screen.
Salary cap
The salary cap is the most a lineup can spend on players. NFL Showdown uses a $50,000 cap for six players, and golf Classic uses a $50,000 cap for six golfers.
The prices have to fit before a contest is worth entering, and that check is part of every lineup on the plans.
Cash games and tournaments
Cash game
A cash game pays a similar prize to about half the field, so a steady lineup that finishes in the paid places is the goal.
Clearing the cash line is the job, and the double-up research is written for that result.
Double-up
A double-up pays roughly twice the entry fee to every lineup that finishes in the paid places, which is typically a bit under half of the entries.
You need the right side of the cash line, and the double-up notes show where that line landed on slates we entered.
50/50
A 50/50 pays the same prize to the top half of the field.
It is a cash game with a flat prize, so the useful lineup is the steady one the cash-game research is built to find.
Head-to-head
A head-to-head contest has two entries, and the higher score wins.
You want a lineup that can beat one other good lineup, the same steady goal as the double-up research.
GPP (tournament)
A GPP, short for guaranteed prize pool, is a tournament. Most of the prize money goes to the top finishers.
You want a high ceiling that differs from the crowd in the right places, and the post-mortems say which slates favored that.
Cash line
The cash line is the score a lineup must reach to finish in the paid places.
In a cash game, clearing it is the whole job, and the Showdown strategy notes are written around that line.
Min-cash
Min-cash is the smallest prize a contest pays, going to the last finishing places that still get paid.
A min-cash still counts as a cash, and many of those prizes are small, which is how the results page separates cashing from profit.
Top-heavy payout
A top-heavy payout puts most of the prize money in the first few places. Contests with thousands of entries usually pay this way.
Read the prize list before you pay an entry fee, which is the step the how-to-play guide puts ahead of any lineup.
Lineup building
Chalk
Chalk is the player, or the full lineup, that the largest share of the field is using.
The Showdown strategy research treats that popular build as the benchmark in cash games.
Ownership
Ownership is the share of entries in a contest that roster a given player.
It shows where the field already is, which changes a tournament decision more than a cash-game one, as the strategy notes discuss.
Leverage
Leverage is the gain from rostering a less popular player than the alternative, so a strong score pulls ahead of the field.
It belongs in tournaments, while the build method pairs correlated players so the group shows up in the set.
Contrarian
A contrarian lineup is built to differ from the most popular build on purpose.
That difference can win a tournament, and the post-mortems look at whether it helped after the games were final.
Stack
A stack is a group of players who benefit from the same scoring outcome, usually teammates in one game, such as a quarterback and his pass catchers.
On a Showdown slate the stack is the game you are riding, and the build page explains how those groups are used.
Bring-back
A bring-back is a player from the opposing team added alongside a stack, so the lineup still scores if that side produces the points.
One game has two offenses, and the Showdown research says which version of the game the builds are on.
Correlation
Correlation means two players’ DraftKings scores tend to rise and fall together.
Shared outcomes are the starting point of the build method, before a lineup is entered.
Game script
A game script is the version of the game you expect: which side scores, how the points arrive, and which players are involved.
The Captain should be the player who benefits if that script plays out, which is the approach in the FAQ and the strategy notes.
Late swap
Late swap is a DraftKings option on some multi-game contests that lets you replace a player whose game has not started, after other games on the slate are already underway.
It is a tool for news after the first kickoff on a full-day slate, while a Showdown contest locks with its one game, so the pre-lock check in the FAQ is the one that matters there.
Golf DFS
No-cut event
A no-cut event is a golf tournament in which every golfer plays all four rounds, so a missed cut cannot end a golfer’s week early.
Ceiling matters more, and the crowd tends to share the same names, which the golf FAQ explains.
Made cut
Made cut means a golfer survived the cut and plays the rest of a standard tournament. A golfer who misses the cut stops playing and does not earn points for the later rounds.
That early exit is the risk a no-cut event removes, which is why event format sits with course fit in the golf FAQ.
Course fit
Course fit is how a golfer's game matches the course, including length, grass, and the shots the layout rewards.
It sits with recent form and the event format when six golfers are chosen, and the lineups that follow are on the plans.
Strokes gained
Strokes gained is a public golf statistic for shots gained or lost against the field, often split into driving, approach, short game, and putting.
It is a plain way to see which skills a course rewards, and the plans are where the golf lineups for that course live.
Golf Showdown (single round)
Golf Showdown is a DraftKings contest on a single round of a tournament. It uses a different roster construction than the six-golfer Classic lineup for the full event.
Check that contest's roster rules on DraftKings before you enter, and use the plans for the six-golfer Classic lineups.
DraftKings basics
Classic contest
A Classic contest covers a full slate: many NFL games on the same day, or a golf lineup of six golfers under a $50,000 salary cap, with no Captain and normal scoring for every golfer.
The plans cover both Classic formats, and the beginner guide shows the golf lineup screen.
Multi-entry and max entries
Multi-entry means one person may submit more than one lineup to the same contest, up to a maximum the contest posts. A single-entry contest sets that maximum at one.
Check the max on the contest before you upload, and read the results to see which contest types the record includes.
Entries file
An entries file is the DraftKings CSV you upload to fill entries. You download the DraftKings template, put one lineup on each row, and upload that file.
Subscribers get a file for the week and match it to the current template, which the upload steps show.
Duplicate lineups
Duplicate lineups are entries that use the same players in the same spots.
Copies share one result, so confirm the contest rules before you upload, and read how a set is built for the method behind the lineups.
See the results, then the plans
The record shows how the entries finished, including the weeks that went badly. The plans are how you get this week’s lineups.