How To Win the NFL DraftKings Millionaire Maker Contest
By Ben McDaniel
A few seasons ago, I got my first taste of Daily Fantasy Sports by jumping into the NFL DraftKings Millionaire Maker contest. Clearly, I haven’t won the $1,000,000 yet, because I’m not typing this article from the luxury of my 1,000 acre ranch.
However, just because I haven’t actually won, doesn’t mean I don’t know HOW to win. I’ve recently compiled the lineups from each of the 2017 winners to try and notice trends that could help you and I both win big this season. This article is designed to show you the best strategy to build a winning lineup in the million dollar contest. Thanks for reading, How To Win the NFL DraftKings Millionaire Maker Contest! Without further ado, here are 3 tips to help you build a winning lineup!
Target High Upside Players
Jason Witten will go down as one of the greatest tight ends of all time. Even at the age of 35, he was still putting his hard hat on, grabbing his lunch pail, and going to work each week, scoring around 7-10 fantasy each game. With all due respect to Mr. Witten and similar players, they are lousy targets for the Millionaire Maker. To take down a large tournament, you need points. A lot of points! Now, there is a reason some guys are said to carry a high risk/high reward. They might strike out and sink your lineup. But they also have the potential to go off and carry your squad to a big win. The best plays are the Antonio Browns and Todd Gurleys of the world who are both safe, and carry enormous upside. No matter how you construct your lineup, find the guys with the highest ceiling.
Be Different
In the great state of Oklahoma where I live, we have toll roads that can take you all over the state. Without fail, every time I approach a toll booth, there is one lane with at least twice as many cars as the lane next to it. Why is that? It’s because people are sheep. People tend to be followers and just do whatever the rest of the crowd is doing. You’ll have to avoid being a sheep if you want to win the NFL DraftKings Millionaire Maker. When everyone else zigs, you have to find a way to zag!
Do you know what weeks 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,10,11,12,13, and 14 had in common last year? The winning lineup from each of those weeks had a player whose ownership checked in at under 2.2%. Many of those players were actually found in fewer than 1% of all entries. Your lineup needs to be different! Think of it this way – if player A carries a 30% ownership, then each time they score a point, 300 out of 1,000 DFS players benefit. If player B carries 1% ownership, each time they score a point, only 10 out of 1,000 players benefit. It’s okay to use some chalk plays, but if you want to win the top prize, you’ll most likely need to hit on some players with very low ownership.
Don’t Be Afraid to Stack
I see it all the time. DFS contestants are hesitant to use players from the same team. I get it. If that team lays an egg, it’s hard to overcome duds from multiple positions. However, the other side of the coin, is, that if that offense has a great game, multiple players are going to score big points. Here’s a stat you absolutely need to know when constructing your lineup before Sunday’s contest. According to sportsdatadirect.com, In 2017, 13 out of 15 of the winning lineups had at least one stack. Here’s how it breaks down.
- Week 1 – QB/TE and RB/DST
- Week 2 – QB/TE
- Week 3 – n/a
- Week 4 – QB/WR
- Week 5 – QB/TE
- Week 6 – QB/WR
- Week 7 – QB/WR
- Week 8 – QB/WR/WR/TE and RB/DST
- Week 9 – n/a
- Week 10 – QB/RB/WR and RB/DST
- Week 11 – QB/RB
- Week 12 – QB/TE
- Week 13 – QB/RB
- Week 14 – QB/WR
- Week 15 – QB/TE
Stats don’t lie. If you want to win the tournament, you’re most likely going to need to hit on the right combination of players from the same team. It makes little sense to be afraid of stacking. In fact, you should be afraid to NOT stack.
Like I said, I may not have won it yet, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know HOW to win. History shows that it’s a fairly safe bet that the top lineup will include a high upside stack with multiple lower owned players.
So which players should you use in your lineup? I’m glad you asked! Be on the lookout for my lineup advice which will be published a little closer to September 9th. In the meantime, I hope this blueprint helps you as you start to research your options for week 1. Thanks for reading, How To Win the NFL DraftKings Millionaire Maker Contest!
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