DraftKings

DraftKings

Daily Fantasy Review

Overall Rating: 4.7/5

DraftKings was founded in 2012 as a platform to host one-on-one fantasy baseball competitions. It has grown exponentially since then and is now one of the biggest daily fantasy sites in the United States. DraftKings is currently available in 43 states, so users in every state except Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, Montana, Utah, and Washington can play. The site offers daily fantasy competitions where players can compete for cash prizes or special prizes like tickets to the Super Bowl. DraftKings currently offers games in over 15 different sports.

Pros:
  • Wide variety of game formats
  • Full contests and guaranteed payouts
  • Beginner level tournaments for new players
Cons:
  • Hard to beat expert players
  • Complex and sometimes confusing rewards system

FAQs

What types of games are available on DraftKings?

DraftKings currently has featured, beginner, tournament & leagues, head to head, 50/50s, satellites, and qualifiers in over 15 different sports.

Are my winnings taxable?

All daily fantasy winnings must be reported to the IRS when you complete your annual federal tax return. This is done on Form 1044. You will tally up your total winnings and report them under the “other income” section. The winnings must also be added to your state tax return (if your state has an income tax) and are taxed according to your tax bracket.

How do I get started?

The first step for new players will be to register for an account. Account registration is very simple and should take no longer than a couple of minutes. Each player will need to submit a username, email, password, full name and address, date of birth, and the last four digits of their social security number to complete the sign up for their account.

How do I deposit and is there a minimum?

DraftKings currently accepts VISA/MasterCard, PayPal, Play+ card, Skrill, ACH/eCheck, and Cash Cage. There is a $5 minimum for all deposits except for an eCheck.

Is there a deposit bonus?

DraftKings has constantly changing promo codes for first time deposits. These codes are typically related to free play money in their daily fantasy contests or free bets that can be placed in their sportsbook. These bets will typically change every few weeks, so it is advisable to pay attention to their first time deposit bonuses listed on the website when signing up.

How can I withdraw my winnings? And how long does the withdrawal process take?

To withdraw money from an account, the player has the option to use either ACH/eCheck, PayPal, Cash Cage, or to receive a mailed check. Depending on the method of withdrawal, this process can take anywhere from two business days to three weeks (if receiving a mailed check) for the player to receive their money.

How To Play

The first step to playing a daily fantasy game on DraftKings is to pick a sport to compete in. The sports are listed under the “lobby” tab at the top of the screen with the sports in bold being available and the ones faded out being unavailable. After selecting the sport, the user has to select the competition that they would like to take part in. There are nine game formats (listed below) for users to choose. After selecting the game format, the user can then select which specific contest they would like to enter. These contests all have a different amount of entrants providing a large variety of choices for the user. Once selecting the specific contest, it is now time for the user to set their lineup. Each user has to select a lineup under the salary cap given. Each player or competitor being selected is given an assigned monetary value with the top performers having the highest values. So, in a football contest, a player would not be able to select all of the top NFL players in the league for their team. That would be well over the salary cap budget. Once the team is filled out under the budget given, the lineup is ready to be used. The user can press save to enter that lineup into the contest. This lineup can be used for multiple contests across the platform by adding it to other contests. The lineups can also be changed until the start time of the contest. For example, if an NBA contest starts at 7pm, lineups can be adjusted until 6:59pm.

Game Formats

  • Featured: Featured contests are the most popular contests on DraftKings and will pay out the entire prize pool even if the contest is not completely full. These can also be listed as GPPs.
  • Beginner: Beginner contests allow users that have entered less than 50 contests in a particular sport to compete against other beginners in that sports.
  • Tournaments & Leagues: Tournaments and leagues allow groups of users to compete together to win large prizes.
  • Head to Head: In head to head contests, users compete against another individual user for the entire prize pool minus the standard fee that DraftKings takes out.
  • 50/50s: 50/50s allow the top half of the competition to win an equal prize.
  • Double-Ups: In double-ups, winners of the contest receive double whatever their entry fee was.
  • Multipliers: In multiplier contests, depending on their position in the overall pool, winners can multiply the payout of their initial entry fee up to 10 times.
  • Satellites: Satellites allow winners to receive a free entry into high stakes contests that have very high payouts.
  • Qualifiers: Qualifier competitions usually award the top winner with an entry into a championship contest for high payouts.

Pros

DraftKings offers a wide variety of contests for users to play. With such a variety of sports and game formats, there is always a contest to enter. Since this is one of the most used daily fantasy sites in the country, the player base is huge which constantly keeps contests full ensuring complete payout of the prizes. The site also offers free contests for players to get practice before entering into a paid competition. This can offer peace of mind for some users who might not have initial confidence. Since DraftKings is available in 43 states, it is readily accessible for people that have to travel around the country often. DraftKings also offers weekly tournaments that have very high payouts, so there is always a chance to win high payouts.

Cons

One of the few cons for the DraftKings site is that it can be very hard to win against expert players. Since DraftKings does have beginner competitions, the first competitions can be easier, but after that the experts can be tough to defeat. Most DraftKings competitions also allow users to create between 100 and 150 entries per competition, so the odds can sometimes be stacked against the casual player. Another con is that the DraftKings rewards system is very complex. This can lead to some confusion when trying to cash out bonuses.

How To Deposit

The first step for new players will be to register for an account. Account registration is very simple and should take no longer than a couple of minutes. Each player will need to submit a username, email, password, full name and address, date of birth, and the last four digits of their social security number to complete the sign up for their account.

DraftKings currently accepts VISA/MasterCard, PayPal, Play+ card, Skrill, ACH/eCheck, and Cash Cage. There is a $5 minimum for all deposits except for an eCheck. To withdraw money from an account, the player has the option to use either ACH/eCheck, PayPal, Cash Cage, or to receive a mailed check. Depending on the method of withdrawal, this process can take anywhere from two business days to three weeks (if receiving a mailed check) for the player to receive their money.

DraftKings has constantly changing promo codes for first time deposits. These codes are typically related to free play money in their daily fantasy contests or free bets that can be placed in their sportsbook. These bets will typically change every few weeks, so it is advisable to pay attention to their first time deposit bonuses listed on the website when signing up.

Conclusion

DraftKings has a very extensive pool of competitions to join with varying levels of prizes, so there should always be a competition available that suits the needs of each user. The site does a good job of easing new users into the competitions to avoid overwhelming them right away. Since the site is available in 43 states, it is very accessible and one of the best daily fantasy sites on the market right now.

  • Reputation and Licensing: 5/5
  • Game Variety: 5/5
  • Game Quality: 5/5
  • Bonuses and Promotions: 4/5
  • Deposits and Withdrawals: 4.5/5
  • User Experience: 5/5
Overall Rating: 4.7/5