DFS Glossary: Common Daily Fantasy Football Terms

DFS has its own vocabulary. This glossary covers the terms you're most likely to see in contest lobbies, strategy articles and lineup tools. Terms are grouped by topic.

Contests

• GPP (guaranteed prize pool): a tournament with a prize pool the site guarantees regardless of how many people enter. Payouts are top-heavy.
• Cash game: a contest where a large share of the field is paid the same amount, such as a 50/50, double-up or head-to-head.
• 50/50: roughly the top half of the field doubles their entry, minus the site's fee.
• Double-up: slightly less than half the field is paid, and each paid entry roughly doubles.
• Head-to-head (H2H): one lineup against one opponent.
• Single-entry / max-entry: the number of lineups one person can enter in a contest, from one up to 150 in the largest tournaments.
• Rake: the share of entry fees the site keeps.
• Min-cash: the lowest paying finish in a tournament.
• Slate: the set of games a contest covers, such as the Sunday main slate.
• Lock: the time a player's game starts, after which he can no longer be added or removed.

Lineup building

• Salary cap: the maximum total salary a lineup can use. $50,000 on DraftKings classic and $60,000 on FanDuel classic.
• FLEX: a roster spot that can hold a running back, wide receiver or tight end in classic, or any position in showdown.
• Captain / MVP: the showdown slot that scores 1.5 times a player's points. On DraftKings the Captain also costs 1.5 times salary.
• Value: fantasy points per dollar of salary, often expressed as points per $1,000.
• Punt: a very cheap player rostered mainly to free up salary elsewhere.
• Stud: a top-priced player expected to score a lot.
• Chalk: a player expected to be very popular.
• Leftover salary: unused salary cap. Leaving some unused can help a lineup stand out.

Strategy

• Stack: two or more correlated players, usually a quarterback and his pass catchers.
• Bring-back: a player from the opposing team added to a stack.
• Game stack: a stack plus one or more bring-back players from the same game.
• Correlation: how much two players' scores tend to move together.
• Ownership: the share of lineups in a contest that include a player.
• Leverage: rostering a player whose chance of a big game is high relative to how many opponents have him.
• Exposure: the share of your own lineups that include a player.
• Fade: deliberately leaving a popular player out of your lineups.
• Contrarian: a lineup or play that goes against the popular choices.
• Ceiling: a player's realistic best-case score. Floor: their realistic worst case.
• Game script: how a game is expected to unfold, such as one team building an early lead.

Projections and analysis

• Projection: an estimate of a player's fantasy points, usually the median or average outcome.
• Implied team total: the points a team is expected to score, based on the betting total and spread.
• Target share: the share of a team's pass attempts directed at a player.
• Snap share: the share of offensive plays a player is on the field.
• Red-zone usage: how often a player is used inside the opponent's 20-yard line.
• Simulation: running a slate thousands of times with random outcomes based on each player's range, to see how often a lineup scores well.
• Optimizer: software that builds the highest-value lineups under a salary cap given projections and rules.
• Late swap: changing players in a lineup whose games haven't started yet after the slate has begun.

Responsible play

Paid DFS contests are not legal in every state, and minimum age varies by state. Only play with money you can afford to lose. If gambling is causing problems for you or someone you know, call or text 1-800-GAMBLER.