$2000 NFL Snap – $2 entry fee, field limited to 1111 teams.  Top 104 places get paid.  $250 for 1st, $200 for 2nd, $150 for 3rd.

$2500 NFL Dive – $1 entry fee, field limited to 2778 teams.  Top 250 places get paid.  $300 for 1st, $200 for 2nd, $125 for 3rd.

$3000 NFL Scramble – $10 entry fee, field limited to 333 teams.  Top 25 places get paid.  $750 for 1st, $500 for 2nd, $350 for 3rd.

$3000 NFL Spike – $5 entry, no field limit.  Top 62 places get paid.  $600 for 1st, $350 for 2nd, $250 for 3rd.

$5000 NFL Punt – $5 entry fee, field limited to 1111 teams.  Top 99 places get paid.   $600 for 1st, $500 for 2nd, $375 for 3rd.

$7500 NFL Touchdown – $50 entry fee, field limited to 167 teams.  Top 16 places get paid.  $1800 for 1st, $1000 for 2nd, $800 for 3rd.

$10000 NFL Bomb – $25 entry fee, field limited to 444 teams.  Top 36 places get paid.  $2200 for 1st, $1400 for 2nd, $900 for 3rd.

$15000 NFL Blitz - $100 entry fee, field limited to 167 teams.  Top 16 places get paid.  $3500 for 1st, $2000 for 2nd, $1600 for 3rd.

Today on Fanduel.com:   

$1000 Wednesday MLB Bunt Tournament  $5 entry fee, unlimited teams with the top 21 places being paid.  $225 for 1st, $160 for 2nd, $110 for 3rd.

$3000 Wednesday MLB Home Run Tournament  $10 entry fee, limited to 333 teams.  Top 25 places get paid.  $750 for 1st, $500 for 2nd, $350 for 3rd.

$5000 Wednesday MLB Blast Tournament  $50 entry fee, limited to 111 teams.  Top 10 places get paid.  $1600 for 1st, $1000 for 2nd, $600 for 3rd.

Today on Draftstreet.com:

MLB $400 Guaranteed Tournament  $2 entry fee, field limited to 220 teams.  Top 15 places get paid.   $100 for 1st, $70 for 2nd, $50 for 3rd. 

MLB $1000 Guaranteed Tournament  $11 entry fee, field limited to 100 teams.  Top 9 places get paid.  $300 for 1st, $210 for second, $150 for 3rd.

Fanduel.com is having a $25,000 Fantasy Baseball Tournament on Friday, April 1 to kick off the season.  I’ve got one team in the tournament.  I’m not a fan of these huge multifield ‘lotteries’.  What the hell, it’s only $10 for the lottery ticket, maybe I’ll get lucky.

As for this season’s bankroll, I’m starting with $1000 on Fanduel, $500 on FSL and $300 on FantasyFactor.  I’ve got a $1oo on Draftstreet, but might add more later.  I’ll be posting my bankroll progression throughout the season.

I’ve actually spent about 2 weeks putting my stats notebook together for fantasy baseball.  Hopefully, it will get me off to a solid start for the first month of the season before I have to update it.

Good luck to everyone playing this season and I promise I’ll try to post more often.  Sometimes things just get hectic around here and blogging gets pushed to the back burner.

Play Ball!!

I’m doing something a little different with the blog this season.  This year I will be focusing strictly on daily fantasy baseball games and posting my thoughts and strategies for various daily fantasy sites.  I’m probably not going to be blogging every single day, but I hope to at least try and put something up 4-5 times a week.  I’m also going to do a running account of my plays with profit and loss for each site,  just to see what kind of financial potential is available from the daily fantasy baseball games.  Hopefully the strategy and bankroll information will be interesting and helpful to guys playing the daily fantasy scene.  I’ll also be offering up a few fantasy baseball roster selections each day.

We’ve still got about three weeks until the season starts and I look forward to picking up the posting pace as opening day approaches.

For all you guys who followed our nightly pre-game fantasy NBA Report and fantasy picks last season, we are now offering a site dedicated year round to fantasy basketball.  This season at Fantasy Basketball Daily we will be focusing on daily fantasy cash games with daily advice and strategy to set your best daily roster.

We have already started breaking down the 2010-2011 NBA season and putting up our rankings, so join us over at Fantasy Basketball Daily for everything fantasy basketball.

Tippy

David Lowitz runs 365FantasySports and he’s a good friend of Fantasy Sports Handicapping.  You guys should really check out the site if you like variety in your fantasy games.    There is truly something for everyone at 365FantasySports.  I asked David to give me a quick rundown of the fantasy baseball games they would be offering this season and here are a few early examples of what they have planned:

• Hardball – 8 to 10 draft rounds, each with 4-6 very closely rated players of any position.  Choose one from each round.
• Positions- 9 or 10 rounds each with several closely ranked players BY position (we purposely leave guys like Pujols out from time to time as he would be the “automatic” choice in that round, thus rendering that round useless.)  The players we list are so closely matched that players will be scratching their head wondering “Wow… who should I take?” 
•  Positions with Point Cap – Same as above, but now we will list every player playing that day at their position… from the top guy all the way down to the scrubs.  Each is assigned a point value.  The contestant must stay below the set “point cap” (think salary cap) when choosing one player from each draft round to comprise their roster. Player point values are re-calculated every night as players’ stats change throughout the season.
• All Star Challenge - Play with the Stars!  Ten rounds, 2 players in each draft round, both competitively matched All Star caliber players… often times from different positions… sometimes playing against each other that day… sometimes pitcher vs hitter… you never know what you will find.  Whoever you choose, your roster will be filled with 10 studs.
• Threesome - This is our version of  ”Speed Fantasy Baseball”.  Three draft rounds, each with 15 – 20 “B” level players.  Select one from each round to make up your best three man team.  This is always played as the three contestant game, winner take all.

David also added, ”In addition to everything above, our site visitors may find any and all of these with different variations (Day or Night games only, AL or NL only)  We will build new contest types throughout the season and into the playoffs based on participation and suggestions from our players.  All of the contests above are available with $6, $11, $22, $33, $44, $55 and $110 buy-ins and all are available in 2, 3, 4, and 6 man formats (except Threesome which is always a 3 man game).  Every so often we will run fee free, 100% payout contests.”

 
Registering for games is a big factor when deciding where to play, just as table selection is important for winning poker.  As fantasy players, often times we want to find the best opponents to play against.  David offered the following about entering contests at 365FantasySports,   “At our site the players have the option of entering contests with two different mindsets.  If you are the first player in a contest you are essentially saying, “I’m entering this contest and I don’t care who else joins me, I’ll take on anyone!”   The second option is choosing whether or not to play in a contest based on who the other competitors are.  For example, if you see a contest that has 5 of 6 players, you’ll be able to see who the first five players are and then decide if you want to challenge (join) that contest or not.  You are essentially saying, “I see who I’m up against and I’m ready and willing to play against you.”  We’ve noticed some interesting “rivalries” forming between several of our contestants. Additionally, since there are no ’set draft times’ for our contests you can select and change your roster any time you want prior to the start.” 

 
If there is some kind of game that you guys want that you can’t find at 365FantasySports, you can always get in touch with David and ask him about creating it for you.  The customer service there is very responsive and they will accommodate most requests if there is enough interest in a certain type of game or buyin amount.

 
Also, he has a great promotional tool for all you website owners and bloggers out there who want to create games just for your readers.  He’ll set you up with a private, password protected game that you can use for competition between you and your readers to build the social aspect into your site.  It’s definitely something worth checking out.

 
For the record, I’ll tell you guys that I play at the site under the name ‘Tippy’ and you will find me there this baseball season.  Also, Fantasy Sports Handicapping does get referral fees if you guys decide to sign up, so please enter “tippy” in the Promo Code box when you register.  Doing so will get you your FIRST GAME FREE and a 15% deposit bonus.  Referral fees are our only source of income for providing all the free handicapping information here at FSH and we appreciate all the help we can get!

See you guys at 365FantasySports.com this fantasy baseball season.

POINT GUARD:

• Toney Douglas is a great bargain bin, minimum salary PG roster filler if you want to use salary at another position.  He matches up against another nice roster filler, Jrue Holiday.  Both of them should be fine plays Friday.
• If you want to gamble, Acie Law could have another big night filling in for Derrick Rose.  He’s minimum salary, but I feel more comfortable going with Douglas or Holiday.
• Rodney Stuckey could return Friday, although I wouldn’t use him.  Just make sure you also avoid Will Bynum, since his minutes will probably get sliced with the return of Stuckey.
• Not sure of Stephen Curry’s status for Friday night, but if he can’t go, C.J. Watson could make a nice play.
• Jose Calderon and Jarrett Jack are still getting unpredictable minutes and can’t really be depended on.
• Andre Miller has a good matchup against Foye/Livingston and the Wizards and should earn his mid-priced salary.
• Steve Nash should be a dependable play in a game against Utah that both teams really need to win.  I doubt he gets much rest in this one.
• My favorite PG play today is Russell Westbrook.  He should completely dominate Jose Calderon, who’s defense is just horrible.  Actually, the whole Toronto defense  is horrible, so a big night should be in store for most of the Thunder players.
• Tyreke Evans has also been hot lately and has a decent matchup against Milwaukee.
• I’m passing on Deron Williams, he’s just got too many nagging injuries which make his high salary a big risk.
• Avoid Rodney Stuckey (uncertain minutes), Deron Williams (shoulder), Stephen Curry (ankle), Jonny Flynn (bad matchup), Aaron Brooks (tough matchup).

SHOOTING GUARD:

• Bill Walker is minimum salary and could get the start with Wilson Chandler out with a groin injury.
• Be careful using Wes Matthews as a cheap roster filler, he’s dealing with a knee injury.
• Jamal Crawford should continue his hot run if Joe Johnson can’t go tonight for Atlanta.  Check Johnson’s gametime status before starting Crawford.
• Manu Ginobili is my favorite mid-priced SG play with a prime matchup against the Warriors.
• Rip Hamilton has a favorable matchup against Indiana.  He’s the same price as Ginobili and I’d recommend Ginobili, especially with Rodney Stuckey maybe taking some of the scoring from Rip.  You could use them both and apply your salary cap money somewhere else.
• Kevin Martin and Trevor Ariza both have a tough matchup with the Celtics.  Their salaries are just too high to gamble on them.
• Kobe Bryant and Monta Ellis sit atop the SG board.  Bryant matches up with Milwaukee, while Ellis gets the tougher matchup with San Antonio.  Kobe should be worth the money.  If Stephen Curry does indeed miss the game due to his ankle problem, then the Warriors may lean on Ellis, which might make him worth his salary even against the good SA defense.
• Brandon Roy and Stephen Jackson are similarly priced, but I’d go with Roy over Jackson.  Jax has a good matchup against the poor defense of Bibby/Crawford, but he missed practice Thursday with a right heel problem which may slow him.  Roy has a good matchup with the Wizards.
• Avoid Joe Johnson (achilles), Carlos Delfino (injury).

SMALL FORWARD:

• SF will require some salary on Friday.  There are  a lot of injuries and there just aren’t many decent low priced options.  Stephen Graham has been one of my favorite low priced roster fillers this week, but Gerald Wallace says he’s going to play, which really kills Graham’s value.
• Richard Jefferson gets a matchup with Golden State.  He’s a possibility if you want a lower mid-priced option.
• Tayshaun Prince against Indiana, Hedo Turkoglu against Oklahoma City and John Salmons against Sacramento are all similarly priced, neutral options, although I like Salmons the best.
• Paul Pierce’s salary has dropped enough to meet his rising health condition, once again making him playable.  He’s got a matchup with Houston and could put up a nice number.
• Andre Iguodala has been frustrating this year.  His salary is expensive and he can drop duds on you at any time.  He can also put up some really big nights and a matchup against the Knicks is one of his better opportunities.
• LeBron James and Kevin Durant are the class of the SF board.  Durant is still about 20% cheaper than James.  Durant matches up against Toronto, while James matches up against a depleted Chicago team.  For the salary value, I’d go with Durant.  The Cleveland/Chicago game could be a blowout without Rose and Deng in there.  Toronto’s defense is horrible and it should be a very high scoring game, so Durant should light it up in that one.
• Avoid Danny Granger (injury), Gerald Wallace (ankle), Luol Deng (injury), Andrei Kirilenko (calf), Wilson Chandler (groin), Andray Blatche (injury), Thaddeus Young (thumb). 

POWER FORWARD:

• James Johnson is minimum salary and should get a start in place of the injured Luol Deng.
• Jason Maxiell’s run may have come to an end with Ben Wallace expected to return against the Pacers.
• DeJuan Blair could be a sneaky good play tonight against the Warriors.  If this game goes according to plan, Tim Duncan could get some rest while Blair piles up the garbage time stats.
• Carl Landry is a solid mid-price play who will get you enough stats to justify his salary.
•  I’ve been riding the Luis Scola bandwagon for the last couple of weeks and he’s been producing, but what may not have been noticed is that almost every team he has faced in that span has been without their starting PF.  Kevin Garnett is playing and the Celtics defense is tough.  Temper your expectations for Scola.
• I’ve been avoiding LaMarcus Aldridge lately, but he’s got a good matchup with the Wizards, especially if Andray Blatche can’t go tonight.
• Antawn Jamison has a great matchup against a weak Chicago interior.  I wish he didn’t have the injury concerns and the high salary.  He’s a risky play at the elevated salary.
• At the top of the PF board, Carlos Boozer againt Phoenix, David Lee against Philadelphia and Chris Bosh against Nenad Krstic and the weak Oklahoma City interior are all good plays.
• Tim Duncan against the Warriors could be a trap play.  He’s been getting inconsistent minutes and could get some rest if this game turns in to the expected blowout.  DeJuan Blair could give him a breather tonight against the Warriors who will likely start the inexperienced Chris Hunter.
• Avoid Pau Gasol (tonsil/throat problems), Al Jefferson (tough matchup), Kevin Love (inconsistent minutes/tough matchup), Jeff Green (finger), Taj Gibson (plantar fasciitis/tough matchup).

CENTER:

• JaVale McGee is minimum salary, but has a tough matchup with Portland.
• Brad Miller has a matchup with the Shaq-less Cavaliers.  He’s low priced if you want to go cheap at Center.  Somebody has to score with Rose and Deng out.
• Kendrick Perkins could have one of his better nights against a smallish Houston team.
• Andrew Bynum could get big minutes if Pau Gasol can’t go due to his tonsil problems.
• Al Horford is an excellent play against a very weak Charlotte interior.  With Joe Johnson out, Atlanta could pound it inside with Horford.
• Andrew Bogut should completely destroy Spencer Hawes and the Kings.  Bogut  the most expensive Center going tonight, but he should be worth it.
• Avoid Ben Wallace (knee), Spencer Hawes (inconsistent/tough matchup).

I’ll try to make this a normal feature every Thursday.   Roster selections are due Friday afternoon for the Food City 500 /qualifying game.  Roster selections for the Bristol Nationwide/Sprint races game are due around Saturday lunchtime.  Good luck.

• Food City 500 Driver Rankings, Cheatsheet and Fantasy Picks from USAToday.com.
• Driver Performances at Bristol over the last 5 years from FantasyCup.com.
• Food City 500 Preview from FantasyCup.com.
• Video:  Fantasy Showdown from Nascar.com.
• Bristol Fantasy Preview from Nascar.com.
• Fantasy Driver Recommendations from Chad’sFantasyNascar.com.
• Video:  Food City 500 Fantasy Picks from Yahoo.com.
• Food City 500 Fantasy Picks from KFFL.com.
• Food City 500 Fantasy Preview and Picks from OnPitRow.com.
• Food City 500 Driver Rankings from FFToolBox.com.
• Bristol Fantasy Picks from FantasyNascarPreview.com.
• Nascar Wives and Girlfriends Photos from NBCSports.

POINT GUARD:

• A couple of good low priced roster fillers going tonight with Jrue Holiday against Miami and Darren Collison against Phoenix.  Both are decent plays if you want to use your salary at other positions.  Enjoy Collison, this could be his last week of fantasy relevancy with Chris Paul likely to return soon.
• Andre Miller is a good mid-priced option against Toronto.
• I’m a little worried about Steve Nash.  At some point Phoenix is going to start giving him some time off.  I could see him sitting some fourth quarters now that Goran Dragic is healthy.
• Deron Williams is the highest priced PG, but he’s fighting a nagging shoulder injury and I’d probably avoid him.
• Russell Westbrook is my favorite PG play Sunday.  Good matchup against Utah, especially with a banged up Deron Williams opposite him.

SHOOTING GUARD:

• Wes Matthews is a good minimum salary roster filler if you want to plug him into a SG spot.
• Marcus Thornton is more expensive than Matthews, but still low priced given his recent production.  Feel free to use Thornton.
• Lou Williams, Vince Carter and Jason Richardson are all equally mid-priced, but each of them are very inconsistent.  They are the only available mid-priced options tonight.
• Dwyane Wade is the most expensive SG, but if you have the money you should probably use him.
• Steven Jackson and Brandon Roy are upper middle priced and similar in salary.  I like Roy’s matchup against Toronto better than Jackson’s matchup against Orlando.

SMALL FORWARD:

• SF is absolutely bare tonight and you are going to have to roll with expensive players.  Using Darren Collison at PG and Marcus Thornton at SG should leave you enough salary cap room to go with Kevin Durant and Andre Iguodala at SF.  It’s really the only play tonight.
• If you don’t want to use those high priced guys, then you will be using overpriced, inconsistent players like Thaddeus Young, Matt Barnes and/or Hedo Turkoglu.  Not good.

POWER FORWARD:

• Andrei Kirilenko and Mehmet Okur are likely out Sunday, so Paul Millsap should get a little extra run which can make him worth his salary.
• Carl Landry is always a dependable option and he has a nice matchup against a Minnesota team that may be withouth starting PF, Kevin Love.
• Jeff Green is priced similarly to Landry and has a matchup with Utah.  Green turned in a good game in his last one and could continue to streak.
• David West is another player who has been riding a hot streak.  He’s a little on the expensive side, but I would recommend using him against Phoenix.
• LaMarcus Aldridge continues to be a little  sluggish.  He’s similarly priced to West and I think I’d definitely go with West.
• Higher up the pay scale you can find Amare Stoudemire.  He’s got a matchup against New Orleans and he’s been playing really well.  Probably a safe play if you have the salary cap.

CENTER:

• Robin Lopez is a low priced option, but he is such a tease.  Predicting when he will actually have a good game is maddening.  Do you feel lucky?  I don’t.
• Emeka Okafor is mid-priced and has a good matchup against a Utah team who may be without Mehmet Okur.

POINT GUARD:

• Jrue Holiday is king of the PG bargain bin at a near minimum salary.  He’s getting big minutes and that’s all you can ask for out of a minimum salary roster filler.
• Jameer Nelson has been playing much better lately and has a fairly low priced salary.  Give him a look if you need a cheap PG.
• Aaron Brooks is an excellent mid-priced selection against Washington.  The presence of Kevin Martin has pulled defenses off Brooks and he has responded by averaging nearly 24 points over his last 9 games.
• I’m not crazy about Derrick Rose tonight.  He’s a little banged up and his rebounding has been weak and his assist numbers have  been off.  He’s about 15% more expensive than Brooks.  He also has the burden of chasing Deron Williams around all night.
• The Celtics have been leaning on Rajon Rondo over the last couple of weeks, as they have been dealing with injuries, and now Rondo’s salary has crept up to price in that value.  Now that he Celtics are healing, he’s having a hard time earning the lofty salary, so you may want to spend your money elsewhere.
• Deron Williams is equally priced to Rondo and should have a much better chance of earning that rich salary.
• Avoid Baron Davis (inflated salary/bad matchup), Brandon Jennings (bad matchup), Beno Udrih (ankle).

SHOOTING GUARD:

• Wes Matthews is probably the only near minimum guy I’d play tonight.
• Lou Williams is a good mid-priced salary play with a favorable matchup against Indiana.
• Vince Carter against the Clippers  and Ray Allen against Milwaukee are decent  plays if you want mid-priced options.
• Kevin Martin is a good upper middle priced play against Washington.
• Stephen Jackson is a good upper middle priced play against Miami.
• Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade are high priced options tonight.  Bryant has the better matchup against Toronto, while Wade has to face a slow paced, tough Charlotte defense.  Given their very expensive salaries, I think you probably get better value avoiding them both and going with Kevin Martin and one of Williams, Carter or Allen.
• Avoid Trevor Ariza (hip), Eric Gordon (leg), Mike Dunleavy.

SMALL FORWARD:

• Al Thornton could be a nice low priced play.  He had a nice game against Boston and could continue to roll tonight.
• Andray Blatche is a must play until FSL adjusts his salary.  He’s got a good matchup against a smallish Houston team.
• Thaddeus Young had a great game in his last one and might keep it rolling.  He’s a risky play, but his salary is low due to his recent slump.
• At the top of the board, Gerald Wallace could be a decent play against Miami.  He’s usually a safe bet to earn his salary and can sometimes give you a huge night.
• Avoid Paul Pierce (thumb), Andrei Kirilenko (back), John Salmons (bad matchup), Omri Casspi (could be inactive again).

POWER FORWARD:

• There is nothing in the low priced range on the PF board today.  The cheapest player I would play is Taj Gibson, but even his matchup against Millsap/Boozer/Okur isn’t that good.
• Drew Gooden has been a good low priced play, but he’s got a bad matchup with Orlando.
• Luis Scola has been hot lately and gets Washington tonight.
• LaMarcus Aldridge is an excellent upper middle priced play against Sacramento.
• Carlos Boozer is high priced, but has a good matchup against a weak Chicago interior.
• Pau Gasol is another good high priced play against Toronto.  He should be able to dominate Andrea Bargnani.
• Avoid Kevin Garnett, Jason Thompson.

CENTER:

• JaVale McGee is an excellent minimum salary play against a small Houston team.
• Mehmet Okur is a good mid-priced option against Chicago.
• Avoid Andrea Bargnani, he’s still dealing with a head injury and has a really bad matchup against the Lakers.
• Andrew Bogut has a tough matchup against the Celtics and Chris Kaman has a tough matchup against Dwight Howard and the Magic.
• Dwight Howard is the most expensive player on the Center board, and he’s probably the best bet to earn his salary.