The NFL season is right around the corner, less than 10 days from kickoff, featuring a Thursday night divisional matchup between the reigning, defending Super Bowl champion Eagles taking on “America’s Team,” the Dallas Cowboys. Now is around the time to start planning for the upcoming season, more specifically DFS and figuring out how much of your bankroll to allocate towards large field tournaments versus cash games. Although cash games don’t offer nearly the same return on investment (ROI) as finishing towards the top of the leaderboards in GPPs, they’re a great way to ensure profit on a week-to-week basis as long as you know what you’re doing.
- Fantasy Football Draft Kit
- 2025 Fantasy Football Expert Rankings
- Fantasy Football ADP
- Fantasy Football Trade Tools
Fantasy Football DFS Cash Game Strategy
The Basics
Cash games are often referred to as “double-ups” or 50/50 contests where as the name suggests, you nearly double your entry fee by scoring more points than a little over half of the field. Head-to-head contests are also considered cash games where you only need to outscore one opponent. There isn’t a right or wrong way to play cash games, but the best approach would be to try to reduce variance as much as possible by sprinkling in a mix of both 50/50 and head-to-head contests. Although it isn’t necessarily a requirement, single-entry contests typically provide the best bang for your buck, minimizing the risk of running into “cash trains” or duplicated lineups.
Ownership & Value
Ownership plays a critical role in cash games with a handful of players appearing on most, if not all, teams in your contest. Unlike GPPs, it does not matter where you finish with the payout being the same across the board as long as you’re in the green. As a result, you almost want to hold hands with the field and “play the best plays” that are likely popular for a reason. Usually, the highest rostered players are those who are mispriced for their role and projection for the upcoming week, standing out as price-per-dollar values. A lot of different factors can contribute to a player being mispriced, such as a backup drawing the start, or simply just a mistake by the platform. In Week 1, you’ll notice that a lot of the best values are rookies, who have to play a real NFL game with a wide range of outcomes. Pricing becomes more efficient as the season goes on making it harder to find value outside of late-breaking news and/or a sudden change in situation.
Floor vs. Ceiling
When constructing a cash game roster, it’s important to understand the volatility of projections and the risk associated with some of the boom/bust archetypes. The safest way to build cash teams is by prioritizing floor over ceiling and limiting your pool to players with a track record of consistency and/or in line to see significant volume.
Goal
The goal for cash games is to build your bankroll week-to-week and come out of the NFL season with a profit. You won’t always win but consistently is key as long as your process is sound. Bad stretches happen, but if you find yourself constantly losing money for an extended period of time, it may be time to make an adjustment and use a new source for ownership and projections.
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