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How DraftEdge.io works
A short path from “I have never used DraftKings” to entering a contest with research from DraftEdge.io. Ten steps. You must be 21 or older in most states, and you should set a spending limit before you deposit.
The words on the DraftKings screens are defined in the glossary.
21+. Play responsibly. DraftEdge.io is independent research. We are not affiliated with DraftKings. Daily fantasy can lose the entry fee. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER.
Step 1. What daily fantasy is
Daily fantasy is a contest built on real games. You fill a lineup of athletes for one slate, which means one game or one tournament. They earn points from what they actually do. Your lineup is ranked against the other people who paid the same entry fee.
You can win a share of the prize money. You can also lose the entry fee. Nothing on DraftKings, and nothing on DraftEdge.io, makes a win likely.
DraftEdge.io is the research. Each week we write up the NFL games and the golf tournament. Subscribers get the lineups and the reasons behind them. You still enter the contest yourself on DraftKings.
Step 2. Create a DraftKings account
DraftKings requires you to be 21 or older in most states. A few states set a different age, and paid contests are not offered everywhere. During sign-up, DraftKings tells you whether you can play where you live.
Open DraftKings Fantasy. In the bar across the top, click the green Sign Up or Log In button.
Signing up is three short steps. Enter your email, then a username, a password, and your mobile number. Leave the promo code box empty unless you already have a code you want to use.
Step 3. Set a deposit limit, then add funds
Set the limit first. That is the smart first move, before any money moves.
In the DraftKings header, click the shield icon labeled RG. That opens the Responsible Gaming Center. Open Limits, then Deposit Limits, and set a number you are comfortable spending in a day, a week, or a month. Contest limits are on the same screen if you also want a cap on how many contests you enter.
Only after the limit is in place, add money. Click the green + next to your balance at the top of the page. Choose an amount you already decided on, check the payment method, and click Accept Terms And Deposit. Deposit only what you can afford to lose.
DraftKings explains its tools on the Responsible Gaming Center. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER.
Step 4. Find a contest and read the prizes
The Lobby is the list of contests you can join. Pick a sport along the top. NFL is football. Each row is one contest. The ENTER button joins it. Read the fee and the prizes before you click it.
Showdown is DraftKings’ name for a contest on a single game. In the Game Style filters, choose Showdown Captain Mode when you want one game instead of the whole day’s schedule. DraftKings also offers Classic contests, which use many games on the same day. The NFL plan on DraftEdge.io covers those too. A single game is the simpler place to start, so that is what this guide walks through.
Three columns matter before you join:
- Entry fee is what you pay to enter.
- Total prizes is the money the contest pays out.
- Entries is how many lineups are in, or how many spots the contest holds.
A contest with thousands of entries usually pays a large share of the money to first place, and very little to most other spots. A smaller contest spreads the money across more finishing places. Read the prize list and pick the shape you want.
Click the contest’s name for the details. Prize Payouts shows what each finishing place wins. DRAFT TEAM opens the lineup screen. You are not charged until you submit a lineup.
Open Rules & Scoring before you draft. In a single-game contest, the Captain is the one player you choose to score more: 1.5 times the normal points. Everyone else scores at the normal rate.
Step 5. How a single-game lineup works
A Showdown lineup has six spots and a $50,000 salary cap. Salary is the price DraftKings puts on each player. The six prices, added up, have to stay at $50,000 or less.
One spot is the Captain, marked with a crown. The Captain scores 1.5 times the normal points and also costs 1.5 times that player’s normal salary. The other five spots are regular players. DraftKings labels them FLEX. In this contest, FLEX just means a normal spot: normal points, normal salary.
Use the tabs above the player list to add the Captain or a FLEX player. Fill the crown slot, then the five FLEX spots. The green ENTER button submits the lineup and charges the entry fee. Click it only when the team is the one you want.
After the Captain is in, Rem. Salary is the remaining salary: how much of the $50,000 is left. The Captain’s higher price comes out first, so the other five spots share what is left.
Step 6. How a golf lineup works
Golf uses the same lobby. Click GOLF, then ENTER on a contest you want to read. Check the entry fee, the total prizes, and the size of the field the same way you did for football.
Open the contest name and read Prize Payouts. DRAFT TEAM is where you build the lineup.
A standard golf lineup is six golfers under the same $50,000 cap. There is no Captain in this format. Every golfer scores at the normal rate. Fill all six spots. ENTER submits the lineup and pays the entry fee, so wait until the salaries fit.
When you add a golfer, that player lands in your lineup and the salary comes off the budget. Rem. Salary is what you have left for the open spots.
Step 7. Use DraftEdge.io for the research
You now know the DraftKings screens. DraftEdge.io is where you decide what to enter. These pictures are our own pages. Player names are covered so this public guide does not publish a lineup.
Where this week lives
- NFL this week. The games we are writing about. Subscribers fill the entries they already joined. We place our lineups, best first, into that file.
- Golf this week. The tournament and when the lineups release. Subscribers fill them into the entries file they upload.
- Research. The written notes. The opening explains the week. Subscribers also get the lineup inside the note.
- Results. After the games are final, we post how our entries finished, including the weeks that went badly. Read this before you subscribe.
- How it’s built. The research, the script, and the filters, without a player name.
Plans are NFL, Golf, or both. Compare plans when you want the lineups. You can look at the free openings and the results before you pay.
Step 8. Upload lineups from a spreadsheet
You do not have to type every lineup by hand. DraftKings can take a spreadsheet.
Open Lineups in the top menu, then My Lineups. UPLOAD LINEUPS adds many lineups at once. EDIT ENTRIES, next to it, changes lineups you have already entered.
On the upload screen, choose the sport, the style (Classic, single-game, or golf), and the start time. Click Download to get DraftKings’ template. That file is the shape DraftKings expects. A CSV is a plain spreadsheet file. Excel, Google Sheets, and Numbers can open it.
Save the file as a CSV, not as an Excel workbook. To use our lineups, upload the DKEntries.csv DraftKings gives you for contests you already joined. We fill those rows for you. You do not get a separate lineup file.
Fill entries you already joined
DraftKings can also give you a file of contests you already entered. That file is usually named DKEntries.csv. It lists each entry and the players in that contest.
On DraftEdge.io, open Fill my DraftKings entries. The same link is on NFL this week and Golf this week. Upload the file. The first time, confirm your DraftKings username. After that, fills stay linked to that name. You get our top lineups in order, best first, up to your entry count for each contest. We fill entries for slates we have published, and we leave every other row the way you uploaded it. If a contest has more entries than lineups, the extra rows stay blank. Download the filled file we give back and upload it to DraftKings.
Take that file back to DraftKings and upload it where you change entries you already joined. The file’s own notes say DraftKings reads the player ID, and that you can send only the entries you are changing. We keep the file you upload so we can learn which lineups members played. We do not ask for your DraftKings password.
Step 9. Track your entries
My Contests is where you follow what you entered.
- LIVE is contests in progress.
- UPCOMING is contests that have not started.
- HISTORY is contests that have finished.
Football contests usually finish scoring a little while after the game ends, once DraftKings marks the game final. Golf contests usually settle after the last round. If you won anything, it shows in your DraftKings balance. If you did not, the entry fee stays spent.
DraftEdge.io posts its own results after we have standings we trust. That can be later than the moment DraftKings marks your contest complete. The record, including losses, stays on our results page.
Step 10. What to do next
You have the screens. From here:
- Read how our entries have finished, wins and losses.
- Open this week’s NFL or this week’s golf.
- When you want the lineups, compare plans and subscribe.
You must be 21 or older, or the legal age where you live, to play paid DraftKings contests. DraftEdge.io is independent research and is not affiliated with DraftKings. Nothing here is a promise of profit. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit the DraftKings Responsible Gaming Center.
Questions
Is this legal where I live?
Daily fantasy is allowed in many U.S. states and not offered in others. DraftKings checks your location when you sign up and blocks deposits where paid contests are unavailable. DraftEdge.io does not run the contests and does not decide whether you can play.
How much should I start with?
Only money you can lose without it changing your week. Set a deposit limit before you add any money, then stay inside it. A few small entry fees are enough to learn the screens. There is no amount that makes a win likely. The results we publish are a record of contests already played, not a forecast of what you will win.
Do I need to know football or golf?
You need the lineup rules on this page, and you should read a contest’s scoring before you pay an entry fee. You do not need to do the weekly research yourself. That is what a DraftEdge.io subscription is for. You still decide whether a contest is worth entering.
What if I have never played?
This page is for you. Follow the steps in order. You can create a DraftKings account and open the lobby before you deposit anything. Set a limit before you add money, read one contest’s prizes, and only then decide whether to enter.