We all know people that tell you only what you want to hear. In my opinion, that doesn’t do you any good. I mean if I’m new I just want to know what it takes and how to do it. Then, turn me loose and watch me kick some ass. If you are like me, then you’ve come to the right place. The more I coach DFS players, the more I want to watch them learn.

I can’t do that, though, without telling it to you straight. It’s not fair to you, and it’s a waste of my time. If we can agree on that, you will get everything I can possibly offer as soon as I read it, think of it, learn it, or create it. In the DFS Army, we don’t give you lineups, and we don’t sell you crap. We offer a community of like-minded players all willing to help you get better. You honestly can’t put a price on that. but if you must attach a number to it, I have one in mind. Tweet me @ChoppoDong or private message me in our VIP Slack channels and I’ll tell you. But, I promise it’s not anything near what you see other sites charging for their “content” or “lineups.”

I’d rather teach YOU how to take control of your own destiny and build your own competitive, perhaps winning, lineups. I want YOU to experience the satisfaction of learning a skill and playing the game you love for yourself. If I can bring you closer to that goal, my head hits the pillow a happy man. (This is beginning to feel like Jerry McGuire’s “Mission Statement.” I hope things end better for me and our site owner at least buys my lunch at Cronan’s.)

What I Will Tell You…

Here is a rough explanation how to get started. This is an exact conversation I had with a new member tonight. And, I want you to see the level of service I offer you inside dfsarmy.com should you be on the fence about joining. I’m not the only one inside willing to help you, either. I might just be the longest-winded one. So, there’s your disclaimer.

Member mentioned he was frustrated with trying other sites and not getting any “real help.” He felt left in the dark and was confused about where to even start. I said….

My Process…

vegasinsider.com is where i go before kevin publishes his column. i also have an app on my phone called “score.” it’s not the best, but i’m used to it.

[8:14]

you understand point spreads, right? and game totals? if not, we can come back to it.

[8:17]

when looking at the vegas lines, don’t overthink it. use what you already know. big spreads (over 6 or 7 points) means heavy favorite and heavy underdog. what do teams do with big leads? RUN out the clock. so, look for a good running back on that team. he will likely be used. and what do teams do when way behind? 2 things. 1- throw like a mutha. 2- give up. look for teams that have a good QB or WRs. kevin always says “road teams give up, home teams fight to the death.” this simple truth means be cautious with road dogs. they might just roll over and play dead. however, home dogs usually will air it out until the clock runs out. sidebar: big faves settle for field goals instead of trying to punch it in and run the score up…..so look for kickers on big faves, preferably indoors.

[8:18]

of course, stick with high totals. 45 and below is meh. 40 sucks. 50 and over is what we are going to get excited about. basically, look for the 3 highest totals for the week/slate and focus on those offenses.

when i’m looking in the beginning, i’m looking only for spreads and totals. i write them down on paper so i can have them right there in front of me w/o needing to log onto a computer. i start at the first game, and after writing them down, i go back to the top. i think of what the line is telling me the game “should” do. and, i write down the relevant players associated with that flow.

[8:20]

example….

[8:24]

WAS …47….22….. cousins, no rbs i like, no wrs i like, reed, no defense

CIN … -3 ……25…. dalton, gio/hill, aj, lafell, no te, nugent, cin d

now that I have those, i’m going to think a little deeper. (oh, the 22 and 25 are implied points. we can cover that another time if you don’t know that one, too. it’s sort of helpful.) CIN is home team and slightly favored, not big enough i think they will be running the ball to grind out clock for very long, but it’s possible. the game should be close most of the way, meaning both QBs should be active and using all their weapons. each team should score about 3 tds and cincy should add a fg. of course, that’s rough guessing but it’s all we have to go on.

[8:29]

i will now start looking at matchups. i want to look at DVP (Defense vs Position) rankings. I want the WAS strength going up against the CIN weakness. honestly, there isn’t much of one here. it’s not a super great matchup, and the vegas total sort of reflects it. if i was grading it, i’d maybe give it a C for average. I don’t want average. I want A+. so, i’m just not that excited about anything washington has to offer here.

i do know the WAS defense is weaker AND they are on the road and should play a little worse perhaps. the spreadsheets on the site will tell you just how bad the defense is. let’s pretend the washington defense ranks 20th against RBs. thats a pretty good matchup for gio and hill. but, it’s a committee. i don’t like committees because they are hard to predict. i think i can find more predictable usage elsewhere and don’t have to guess here. let’s pretend WAS is ranked 30th vs the pass (likely the QB)……i’d be VERY excited about Dalton in that case. let’s also say WAS ranks 28th against WRs. who is the primary target? AJ Green. I’d be seriously contemplating Dalton to Green in a stack. who is the WR2? lafell? i would need to look up his numbers a little better. i want to see targets. targets are opportunities to score points. i want to see receptions, too. a cheaper guy doesn’t need 10 targets a game, but as close as i can get to that the better. i’d take a consistent 6 for a guy like lafell. i’d love to see him being used in the red zone because it leads to touchdowns. (i know he is used there.) but, am i super excited? maybe, maybe not. this is just the first game of 10 this week.

[8:35]

like i said though, we were pretending those DVP numbers were correct. i was only using that to point out a good example.

[8:36]

what i’m doing is going through the whole slate and thinking about each game. i’m evaluating each relevant player. i’m not taking hours and hours. it’s just a glance thing. i am more looking at weeding out the bad. as i go, i’ll know where i get excited.

when i have honest questions about a player, i’ll look deeper at him. when i was new, i looked at almost everyone. now, i don’t need to as much. but, i still run into them, like lafell, and need to make sure they have a good opportunity to exceed value. value is about 2X salary on fanduel and 3X on draftkings. meaning this….5000 for a player, he needs to get me 10 points or 15 points depending on the site. why? well, from experience, it takes about 120 points to hit your 50/50s on fanduel and about 150 on draftkings. fanduel gives you a 60k salary cap. if everyone hits 2X, that is 60 X 2 = 120 and i’m there. same for draftkings…..only its 50k and 3X is 150. scores will fluctuate week to week, and slate to slate, but this is a rough idea/goal.

[8:40]

so, after i’ve gone through the entire slate, i’ve narrowed down a lot of players and have a few i really, really like. that’s my “core.” i will use them most often and fit and fill others i like (just not as much) around them as i can with the cap. i want to mix them up a little so i don’t have 100% of one player in say 3 lineups. if i do, and he gets hurt, i’m done in all 3 spots. no money back. i hate that. some can live with it. i am a much more conservative player because i don’t like losing everything a couple weeks in a row.

[8:42]

that leads to cash games vs gpps. we can get into those down the road (in fact, we have a great series under “strategy” on the site). but, cash is safer and you don’t need to take crazy risky players to do well. gpps require you to go balls out for the win. if you don’t get close, who cares because you aren’t getting paid anyway. two different mindsets. you’ll find you fit one better than the other. but, let’s be honest….both are fun. so, learn both in time.

[8:43]

anyway, once i get through the slate on paper, i go back and try and pick out the best of the best. ideally, i try and get down to 3 QBs, 5 RBs, 15 WRs, 3 TEs, 3 Ks, 3 DSTs. if they don’t make my list, i’m not thrilled about using them.

now, i might start with what i think is the best value on the slate (this week it’s devontae booker) and plug that guy (or guys) in first. then, i can build around that until i get a lineup i like. or, i can start with a QB/WR stack i like (this week it’s winston/evans or ryan/julio or luck/ty or carr/cooper, or wilson/graham or whatever…..there are a lot). from there, i just build around that until i get what i like. but, the whole time i’m using MY list.

[8:46]

i use others like kevin to help confirm what i’m thinking or maybe give me a player i didnt like initially. and, again, in the beginning i exclusively used kevin’s list. i didn’t have any confidence in my own research yet. i use podcasts to confirm what i see. articles, etc. all of it helps. but, once i get things down to a few lineups i like, i cut up my budget for the week and start entering contests.

[8:51]

i devised a system called “the ladder” which imo brings the best of both worlds. there’s an article on the site under strategy if you look for it. i start with double ups, then triple ups, then quintuple ups, then a large league or small gpp….or both. i spend about $10 per ladder. if i make 3 lineups, i make 3 ladders. i like watching my lineup climb those ladders. if i hit the double up, everything is paid for the way i lay them out. and, honestly, that’s a good thing by itself. the best of the best only hit about 6 or 7 of 10 tries. don’t let anyone fool you into thinking they hit 8 of 10 or more….they don’t. but, if my lineup does a little better, it hits the triple up and coughs back some profit. if it does even better, it gives back more. by this time, it’s really close to hitting the cash lines of the gpps/leagues. and i still have room to keep growing should i get lucky and assemble a really good lineup that week. i probably run the table once out of about 5 ladders i put together. that profit mostly goes to cover up the bad ladders that dont hit the double up lines. but, the beauty of the ladder system is you don’t have to hit a double up even 60% of the time IF you go high enough when you do hit. all that profit makes up for all the damage.

when i make 3 ladders, i’m trying to hit double ups with 2 of the three. if i do that, i feel i did well. the goal is at the end of the season to show a profit.

[8:52]

you mentioned you want to make some pretty serious money. well, i’m going to shoot straight with you. it won’t happen overnight. nor should it. this game isn’t easy…….certainly not anymore. people are educated and pretty smart these days. they don’t stack up their favorite team when it’s obvious it’s going to suck. they’ve learned…..or quit.

[8:54]

you can still make good money, but you aren’t going to do it on a shoestring budget. you need a pretty sizable bankroll to kick off sizable income. we have some here that do it. kevin is one. keith is another. some guys have hit for big scores and think they are better than they are. other members are honestly better than they, themselves, realize. we have all levels of experience inside. kevin and i will both tell you never to plan on doing this for your career. keith DOES this as his career. so, again, for the right kind of person it can be done.

[8:54]

i would say to plan on making about 10-15% profit over the long run of a season. so, to make 30k, you would need to wager 300k and make 10% on it. i’m sure that’s conservative. good! plan on that and work on outperforming it.

[8:55]

not a week obviously, over the course of the season.

[8:56]

i see you typing, so i’ll let you digest this. i hope this is more than “the other site” ever gave you. that’s our goal. do whatever we can to honestly tell guys how to get better and show them how. and tell them realistic goals to expect along the way.

My name is ChoppoDong and I write for dfsarmy.com and I coach players needing help in all areas from fundamentals of building lineups to bankroll management. If I don’t know the answer, I know who does. Or, I will research it and find it for you. If you want this kind of access, use my code 10-OFF and become a member of the Army. That code is good for 10% off your subscription for as long as you like what we do. No season-long commitments; you can leave anytime you wish. Now, if you’ve read this far…..

What the hell are you waiting for?!! I hope to see you on the inside.