The Dictionary of Daily Fantasy Sports
| Term | DFS Dictionary Definition |
| DFS | Abbreviation for Daily Fantasy Sports. DFS is a game where entrants draft a team for one day (or weekend) of games only using a salary cap or multiplier format and compete for real cash prizes. |
| 50/50 | A contest type where the top 50 percent of entrants are paid out the same amount (generally a little less than double the entry fee). |
| Action | Refers to the number of contests or money in play on a given site, i.e. “I have a lot of action on SuperDraft this week”. |
| Bankroll | The amount of money you have available to invest in Daily Fantasy Sports. |
| Cash Game | Generally safe games where you have roughly a 50 percent chance at winning. Head to heads, 50/50s, and double-up league types are all considered cash games. These types of contests are generally the backbone of a bankroll-building strategy. |
| Ceiling | The best possible outcome for a particular statistic. This usually refers to a projected outcome. Ceilings are best used to optimize for tournament lineup construction. |
| Chalk | A player that is widely projected to perform well and be highly owned in a DFS contest. |
| Contest | A Daily Fantasy Sports competition with prizes on the line that comes in many forms. |
| Contrarian | Going against the grain with a selection, in hopes that the player will not be highly used, thus making the selection more valuable in tournaments where your score needs to beat a large majority of entries. |
| Deposit Bonus | The amount that is awarded to a DFS player after they make a deposit on their account. They are always subject to change to give everyone a chance to get their bonus. |
| Double-Up | A contest where winners double their entry fee. Even though you have to finish in roughly the top 40 percent of entries, this is considered a cash game. |
| Entry Fee | The amount of money required to enter a particular league or game. |
| Exposure | The amount of money or percentage of bankroll you have invested in a player. For example, if you put Tom Brady in every one of your lineups, you have 100 percent exposure to him. The more exposure you have to a player, the riskier. |
| Fantasy Points | The points a player earns in a fantasy match based on the stats they accrue in a real-life game |
| Fantasy Sleeper | A fantasy player that has the chance to perform well in their game when not many people are expecting it. |
| Fade | To avoid a certain player or players. This is generally done either because you expect the player to be heavily owned and want to have a contrarian lineup, or because you think the player is simply a bad value proposition. |
| Flex | A lineup slot that can be occupied by more than one position. For example, in fantasy football that would typically be a Running Back, Wide Receiver, or Tight End. |
| Floor | The worst possible outcome for a particular statistic. This usually refers to a projected outcome. Floors are best used to optimize for cash game lineup construction. |
| Freeroll | A game that costs nothing to enter but has cash prizes. |
| FPPG | Fantasy Points Per Game |
| Fantasy Points Per Game | The amount of fantasy points a player scores in each game that they have played on average. |
| Game Script | How a particular real-life game is expected to play out as it relates to the style of play or scoring. |
| GPP | Guaranteed Prize Pool; a contest in which the prizes are guaranteed, no matter if it completely fills or not. These are usually where a small number of entrants (typically ~10 percent) get paid, and winners receive a substantially greater share of the prize money. The term “GPP” is generally used interchangeably with “tournament”, although some “cash games” also have guaranteed prize pools. |
| Half-PPR (0.5-PPR) | A daily fantasy scoring system that awards 0.5 points per reception in fantasy football. |
| Head-to-Head | A contest where you square off against another daily fantasy player for a prize (typically just under double your entry fee minus the site’s rake). Head-to-heads are the safest “cash game”; even if you do poorly you still have the chance to win matchups versus those who did even worse. |
| Late Swap | A site feature where a player may be swapped out of a lineup for another player until his actual game has started, as opposed to lineups locking completely when the first game starts. |
| Lock | A player who is perceived to be a guarantee to perform well and must be in your DFS lineup as a result. |
| Multi-Entry | A contest where multiple entries are allowed. Large GPP tournaments and qualifiers typically allow multiple entries. |
| Overlay | The result of a GPP not completely filling. The prizes will still be allocated out as if the contest is filled, but entrants have to beat fewer players. A daily fantasy site loses money on these. The amount of overlay can be calculated by subtracting (entry fees * entrants) from prizes guaranteed. For example, a contest with a $1 entry fee and $100 guaranteed in prizes would have a $50 overlay if only 50 contestants entered. |
| Prize Pool | The number of prizes or cash given away in a DFS contest. |
| Qualifier | A tournament in which the grand prize or prizes is free entry into another league, usually one with a large prize pool. Many qualifiers payout non-ticket winnings entrants in the same structure as tournaments, but some only award tickets to other contests and no cash prizes. |
| Rake | The amount of commission the site takes off each entry fee. The industry standard rake is 9-10 %, but can be less in higher-stakes games. |
| Shark | A highly-skilled DFS player who uses tactics to take advantage of less experienced DFS players. |
| Single Entry | A contest where only one entry is allowed. |
| Stack/Stacking | A pairing of multiple players from the same team or in the same game. This is intended to provide a competitive advantage. |
| Tournament | A high-risk, high-reward contest where a small number of entrants (typically 10-20 percent) share the prize money, with a higher allocation of prize money going to the top finishers. |
| Triple-Up | A contest where winners triple their entry fee. |
The language used in Daily Fantasy Sports can be confusing. We hope that by learning all of these DFS terms you can use the knowledge to jump in SuperDraft contests and dominate the competition. If you still have further questions, don’t hesitate to our Customer Support team.
