DFS
Updated February 6, 2024

Ranking the Best DFS Sites: Our Comprehensive Guide for 2024

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If you want to play daily fantasy sports (DFS), choosing the best DFS site for your needs is crucial. DFS is a great way to enjoy the action of gambling on sports in a different way than traditional sports betting. 

DFS enables you to play against the field in a peer-to-peer game rather than trying to beat the house as in standard sports betting. In addition, the game can have more nuance, lending itself to analytical minds and those that dig deep into statistics.

Here we have looked at the various features that make a DFS site great to present the top options throughout the industry. These include the game format, number of sports offered, size of contests, loyalty programs, and more. Let's start by looking at how to sign up for a DFS site.

How To Sign Up for a DFS Site

  1. First, click any of the links on this page to our top recommended DFS sites.
  2. You will be taken to a registration page where you must enter personal details like your full name, email address, phone number, physical address, the last four digits of your Social Security number, and create your username and password.
  3. Agree to the terms and conditions of the DFS site and complete your registration.
  4. You will generally receive an email with a link to click to verify your account.
  5. Deposit funds into your account and use applicable promo codes to receive your maximum deposit bonus.
  6. You can now start playing DFS games. Be sure to verify your final details, such as a copy of your ID and proof of address, as these will generally be needed for you to be able to withdraw funds.

Chalkboard

An application that has been gaining a lot of traction in the Daily Fantasy Sports world is Chalkboard, which combines statistical and game analysis features with social networking in real-time. One of the attractive features of Chalkboard is that there are thousands of communities that users can join, and if none of those communities is enticing enough, players can always create their own. Then, these groups can be either kept private or opened up to the public. 

Chalkboard boasts a statistical tracker that helps players stay on top of their picks in real-time, and lively game hubs that narrate the game play-by-play. The real money game application of Chalkboard is Chalkboard Streaks, in which users select from two to eight statistical player projections, which need to be composed of at least two players from different teams. Potential payouts through Streaks are very attractive, as users can win up to 50x their money depending on how accurate their predictions are.

Overall, Chalkboard offers very attractive contests, and covers most of the popular leagues such as the NFL, NBA, MLB, College Football, and College Basketball. 

What Is Daily Fantasy Sports?

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You might want more details on what daily fantasy sports are all about. Various DFS sites throughout the industry have slightly different formats. Some are closer to traditional sports betting than others.

Yet, at its core, daily fantasy sports (DFS) is a peer-to-peer game in which you create lineups of individual players that will play on a given day in a sport. As they accrue statistics, fantasy points are scored according to the site's scoring system. The goal is for your lineup of players to score as many points as possible and accrue more than your opponent's lineups.

Typical sportsbooks set their lines and odds so that it is challenging to beat them. Even if you find an edge, you will often be limited or banned from the sportsbook if you are deemed a profitable bettor. 

DFS is an excellent choice as the "house" (DFS sites) in the traditional DFS format gains nothing from you winning or losing. The sites make money from management fees on all game entries, and who wins or loses doesn't matter to them. You are simply playing against your opponents: other DFS players.

What Is the Best Daily Fantasy Sports Site?

Of course, most people looking to play DFS want to know the best site. This question is not easy to answer, as it depends on what you are looking for from the game. In today's DFS landscape, there are a lot of newer sites offering different types of formats that may appeal to certain players.

For the largest prize pools in the traditional DFS format, DraftKings and FanDuel can't be beaten, while Yahoo is a competitor. Yet, if you are interested in newer DFS formats more similar to prop betting, you may enjoy sites like PrizePick and Monkey Knife Fight. Here we will get into the specifics of the industry's top DFS apps and sites.

The Top DFS Apps and Sites

Please remember that all of our top recommended DFS sites also have native mobile apps for iOS and Android. You will be able to enjoy all the action via desktop, laptop, mobile site, or native app, depending on your preference. Let's get into the best sites, reviewed based on a wide range of essential criteria to give you the inside scoop.

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1. DraftKings

If you are looking for the best in daily fantasy, it is hard to argue with DraftKings. DraftKings is one of the longest-standing sites, has the largest prize pools, the most generous loyalty program, the most sports offered, the best customer service and more.

You'll find million-dollar-up-top prize pools every NFL Sunday with reasonable buy-ins. Typical largest-field NBA contests offer up $100,000 to first daily, and MLB contests are not far behind.

Plus, you can play a wide range of sports, from more popular options like Golf, NHL, MMA, Soccer, and NASCAR to niche choices like esports, F1, and more. DraftKings offers up to $500 as a deposit match bonus for new sign-ups.

2. FanDuel

If you want to play traditional peer-to-peer DFS, where you build a roster of players under a salary cap to compete with the field, FanDuel is right up there with DraftKings as a top option in the industry. It is one of the longest-standing sites, and you won't find bigger prize pools or more choices for sports outside of DraftKings.

While top prizes are not quite as large on FanDuel as DraftKings, buy-ins are lower, making FanDuel an excellent site for those wanting to win a lot for an extremely minimal investment. FanDuel offers a free PGA entry for a deposit of $25.

3. Yahoo DFS

After DraftKings and FanDuel, Yahoo is the top choice if you want to play DFS using the standard roster construction format. Prize pools are not as big as you will find on DraftKings and FanDuel, and it can be more challenging to enjoy tracking your lineups based on Yahoo's interface. Yet, there are some significant benefits to playing on Yahoo.

For one, their contests are less likely always to fill, meaning chances for overlay or at least rake-free play. Yahoo is sometimes known for hosting contests with no management fee, and professional DFS players focus more on DraftKings and FanDuel, meaning the potential for more casual competition. Yahoo currently offers $10 in site credit with an initial qualifying deposit.

4. PrizePicks

As more and more states legalize sports betting, many sports fans in states where it is not legal are looking for something more similar to traditional betting. Sites like Prize Picks can offer a format similar to prop betting while still staying within legal guidelines as DFS providers.

Available in almost 30 states, Prize Picks offers multiple forms of prop-style DFS. You can make selections based on over/unders on both player statistics and fantasy points and pair together multiple picks for higher and higher payouts. Prize Picks offers up to $100 as a deposit match bonus for new users.

5. Monkey Knife Fight

Like PrizePicks, Monkey Knife Fight provides prop-based daily fantasy in 30+ states. This popular DFS site offers stat-based props and fantasy point scoring over/under options.

Proprietary game types include rapid fire, more/less, star shootout, and fantasy challenge, and all involve pairing multiple DFS player props together. Monkey Knife Fight offers a generous 100% deposit match bonus up to $100 for new sign-ups.

6. SuperDraft

SuperDraft is a newer DFS platform by the famous betting brand Caesars Sportsbook. Unlike some of the other trendy, up-and-coming brands, SuperDraft is not prop-based, but a unique twist separates the format from that of standard DFS. Rather than staying under a salary cap, athletes are assigned a fantasy point multiplier based on their values.

This means you can pick whatever players you want, yet, the multiplier will be less for a better player versus a worse one. This adds an interesting wrinkle to DFS. In addition, SuperDraft offers other types of contests, although the player multiplier game is its hallmark. SuperDraft offers a 50% deposit match up to $500 for new sign-ups looking to try this engaging DFS format.

7. Underdog Fantasy

Underdog Fantasy is known mainly for its famous "Best Ball" contests, also offered by top sites like DraftKings. These season-long fantasy contests function more like a traditional fantasy football league. Yet, like DFS, they involve substantial prize pools and playing against the public rather than a group of co-workers, friends or family.

While Underdog is mainly known for best ball, you will also find daily snake drafts and "pick 'em" contests that function like other prop-based DFS sites. Underdog offers a deposit match of up to $100 for new users to the site.

8. Thrive Fantasy

Another upstart brand in the prop-based DFS market is Thrive Fantasy. Thrive offers a similar product to other providers like Monkey Knife Fight and PricePicks and is a good option for those looking for a more straightforward format than standard DFS.

Multiple types of contests are offered, including a traditional format involving pairing together several player props and "versus matches," which pit the performance of one athlete against another. Thrive Fantasy offers a 100% deposit match up to $100 to new sign-ups.

How Does Daily Fantasy Sports Work?

With daily fantasy sports, you are depositing real money with the chance to win and withdraw just the same. In traditional formats, you are competing against a field of other DFS players. Some newer DFS sites offer something more akin to standard prop betting at a sportsbook.

In all instances, you can win real money on entirely legal and legitimate sports gambling sites. These sites are available in states where regular sports betting is not legal and where online sportsbooks are regulated and legal. Top online sportsbooks like DraftKings and FanDuel are also the largest providers of DFS.

How to Build a DFS Lineup

The process is simple when building a standard DFS lineup for a site like DraftKings or FanDuel. Let's take a look step-by-step.

  1. Sign in to the site using your username and password.
  2. Navigate the sports menu to a sport you want to make a lineup for.
  3. You will see a selection of "slates," which is DFS parlance for a collection of games, or even single-game slates, also known as the "showdown" format. You will see what time each slate starts.
  4. Find a slate you would like to play, and you will see a list of contests you can enter with their buy-ins. You will also see how many entries are in the contests and their overall size.
  5. Select a contest, and you will see the players you can choose from, their salaries, positional eligibilities, and your salary cap. Start selecting players, and they will be added to your roster.
  6. Once you have filled all your roster spots and are under the salary cap, you can submit your lineup. The DFS site will tell you if you are over the salary cap or if any other aspect of your lineup is otherwise ineligible for entry.
  7. Once you have submitted your lineup, you can track the fantasy scoring and your position in the contest in real time. For contests marked as eligible for “late-swap,” you can also make edits to your lineup after the slate starts for games/players that have not “locked” (before game time for that game).

Where Is DFS Legal?

Daily fantasy sports regulations vary significantly from state to state. Some states have made DFS explicitly legal, and others have more nuanced rules. The vast majority of states allow DFS in some capacity. What states in which you can play also varies from operator to operator. The biggest DFS sites, like DraftKings and FanDuel, are available in many states.

While all sites vary, going by the most prominent operators gives you the best idea of where DFS is generally available. DraftKings and FanDuel DFS are unavailable in Arizona, Alabama, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana (DFS is available in select parishes), Montana, Nevada and Washington state while operating in all other states.

Please keep in mind that because DFS sites or particular DFS sites are not available in a state, that does not mean that DFS is illegal in that state. There are many specificities to state laws, some involving operation of sites, some involving participation, leading to operators being unavailable in said states.

Top DFS Sports

Here we will look at some of the most popular sports for DFS. While the general concept of DFS is essentially the same regardless of the sport, it can be helpful to understand some of the individual subtleties of each.

NFL Football

NFL football is by far the most popular DFS sport, mirroring that football and fantasy football are the most popular overall in the US. With football DFS on sites like DraftKings and FanDuel, you build a lineup of players while staying under the salary cap. 

You must have players from all required positions, such as a quarterback, two running backs, three wide receivers, a tight end, and a defense. You should generally pair your quarterback with at least one wide receiver when making NFL tournament lineups.

NBA Basketball

The NBA is one of the more popular sports in the US, and for DFS it is no exception. For those who can't get enough, it is a plus that there are big NBA DFS contests almost every day throughout the regular season and into the playoffs. 

Like football, you must stay under the salary cap and fill all required positions, including guards, forwards, and centers. There is less correlation involved, and it is not necessary to pair players from the same team; in fact, it can be a negative depending on their positions and roles.

MLB Baseball

Of the four most popular US team sports, the MLB is right behind NFL and NBA in popularity. DFS contests are not quite as large but are still sizable. 

You must fill all required positions in your roster while staying under the salary cap. This will include a standard baseball roster including one-to-two pitchers, depending on the DFS site, and all infield positions plus three outfielders. Correlation is significant in MLB DFS, and it is wise in tournaments to "stack" at least four hitters from one team.

NHL Hockey

NHL hockey may not be quite as popular of a DFS sport as some, yet it is one of the most fun and enriching. While staying under a salary cap, you must feel standard hockey roster spots like centers, forwards, defensemen, and goalie. 

Like baseball, correlation is crucial since skaters tend to skate together and accumulate stats while sharing the ice. It is generally wise to use players who skate on the same line together since when goals are scored, they usually come with assists.

PGA Golf

While golf is not a team sport, golf and the PGA are very popular for DFS. In fact, contest sizes for big golf DFS tournaments are generally only rivaled by NFL GPPs. 

Golf is a unique game for DFS in that it is not played by a team, meaning you are not tied to positionality. Pick the golfers you think will do well and stay under the salary cap. There can, however, be some correlative factors, such as weather concerns and at what point during the day different golfers will be playing.

Other Sports

While we've covered some of the more popular DFS sports, you will find lovely prize pools for others like MMA and NASCAR and perfectly viable contests even for more niche options. Here we will list some other sports you commonly find on DFS sites, particularly DraftKings. Remember that sports are continually added and removed based on seasonality and popularity, but this is a good general list of commonly available options.

  1. Australian Rules Football
  2. esports (COD, CS:GO, League of Legends, Valorant)
  3. EuroLeague basketball
  4. Formula 1
  5. MMA (UFC)
  6. NASCAR
  7. NCAA basketball
  8. NCAA football
  9. Soccer
  10. Tennis
  11. WNBA

Types of DFS Games

It is essential to have a basic idea of what kinds of contests exist in DFS. Let's discuss the various types of DFS games you will find throughout the industry. 

GPPs

GPPs (guaranteed prize pools), or tournaments, refer to DFS contests on sites like DraftKings and FanDuel with a gradient payout structure. An example would be an NBA contest with 27,000 max entries, $100,000 to first, $30,000 to second, $10,000 to third and so on. 

These contests generally pay out around the top 20-25% of finishing positions. This is the most common form of DFS for casual players, and a great example of a popular GPP is the weekly "Milly-Maker" NFL Sunday contests offered by DraftKings and FanDuel.

Cash Games

"Cash Games" refer to contests that pay out roughly the top half of the field. They pay approximately double your entry fee regardless of the finishing position within that top half. This poker vocabulary has been extended to DFS games such as head-to-heads, 50/50s, double-ups, and even contests that payout a lower percentage of entries, like triple-ups and quintuple-ups.

Not counting triple-ups and quintuple-ups, which function somewhat differently, the goal in a cash game is to come in roughly the top half of entries. For this reason, there is less purpose in taking risks with your lineups, and it is more important to make as optimal of a roster as possible.

Classic

While the classic format applies to both GPPs (tournaments) and cash games, it is worth delineating between classic and showdown. In the classic format for DFS on sites like DraftKings and FanDuel, you are picking players from a slate of multiple games for the sport.

Showdown

Showdown refers to single-game slates. These are very popular in NFL but also prevalent in NBA, MLB, NHL and more. Here you are only selecting players from one game, although you must have players from both teams.

Prop-Based

Prop-based DFS is a newer format offered by sites like PrizePicks and Monkey Knife Fight. This type functions unlike traditional DFS, where you create a roster of players from various teams and your success is gauged by overall fantasy points. 

Instead, you are pairing together multiple prop-style DFS picks and win based on their success. Some prop formats also involve pitting one player’s performance against another.

How To Win at DFS

Many factors go into winning at DFS. In their simplest form, they can be broken into four categories: projection, ownership, correlation, and leverage.

Projection: First, you will want to make sure you are using quality player projections. These are available throughout the industry; some are even free. Projections are a means of gauging approximate player performance before sporting events occur.

Ownership: Ownership is significant in DFS tournaments as you want players on your rosters that others do not have. Sharing points with the rest of the field does not gain you relative value. It is even essential to understand ownership for cash games since you will tend to want higher-owned players on your rosters.

Correlation: Positive correlation involves using players together that will usually do well based on each other's performances. An example would be a quarterback with a wide receiver. You will also generally want to avoid negative correlations like a pitcher against an opposing batter.

Leverage: Another critical factor in tournaments is leverage. You should consider gaining relative value against your opponents using leverage. An example is if a running back with little involvement in the passing game is extremely popular in a contest, you could play his quarterback and a wide receiver instead. 

DFS Banking Options

Most major DFS sites will offer a standard selection of banking options for withdrawal and deposit. Please see below for a list of typical options.

Deposit:

  1. Debit/Credit
  2. Online Banking
  3. PayPal

Withdrawal:

  1. Check (by mail)
  2. Debit
  3. Online Banking
  4. PayPal
  5. Wire Transfer

DFS FAQs

Is DFS legal?

Yes, DFS is legal in most states, although various states have exact stipulations regarding DFS eligibility. In any state where a DFS operator is available, DFS is legal and regulated.

Is DFS gambling?

Yes, DFS is gambling. You are depositing real money and gambling on sports. You can withdraw your winnings in the form of US dollars. If you have a problem with gambling, we encourage you to seek professional help.

How does DFS work?

DFS is a way to gamble on sports differently than traditional sports betting. In its purest form, rather than betting on a game outcome, you are wagering on the statistical performance of a collection of individual players. You are risking real money; if you win, you will collect real money like any other form of gambling.

Is DFS for real money?

DFS is played for actual money; you deposit funds into your account, and if you win, you can withdraw those funds in US dollars. In that way, it is no different than any other form of gambling or sports betting.

What is a DFS GPP?

A GPP (guaranteed prize pool) refers to the tournament DFS format. This entails playing your DFS team against the rosters of all other entrants in a contest with a top-heavy payout. This means you get paid significantly more based on your finishing position, and only around the top 20-25% of the overall field gets paid out.

What is a DFS cash game?

DFS cash games refer to contests such as 50/50s, double-ups, and head-to-heads in which you only attempt to beat roughly half the field. You essentially double your money regardless of the exact finishing position as long as you are over the cash line.

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