FanDuel

FanDuel

Daily Fantasy Review

Overall Rating: 4.8/5

FanDuel was founded in 2009 as an alternative to season long fantasy football leagues and has become one of the largest daily fantasy sites in the United States. It is currently available in 43 states, so users in every state except Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, Montana, Utah, and Washington can play. FanDuel offers daily fantasy competitions in multiple sports for players to compete on cash prizes or special prizes like tickets to the Super Bowl. FanDuel offers games in over 15 different sports.

Pros:
  • Weekly tournaments with high payouts
  • Easy to use interface
  • Free contests available for practice
Cons:
  • Hard to beat expert players
  • Complex and sometimes confusing rewards system

FAQs

What types of games are available on FanDuel?

FanDuel currently has beat the score, head to head, 50/50s, leagues, multipliers, satellites, full roster, single game, SuperFlex, and QuickPick available 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 users at FanDuel will be to register for a free 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.

How do I deposit and is there a minimum?

FanDuel currently accepts deposits through Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and PayPal. There is a $10 deposit minimum.

Is there a deposit bonus?

All new users receive a $5 deposit bonus with no promo code necessary. These bonus funds can be used to enter FanDuel contests, but only winnings can be withdrawn. FanDuel also has a VIP points system that players can attain based on the amount that they play each month.

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

To withdraw money from a FanDuel account, users can select either PayPal or a mailed check. PayPal typically takes 2 days to enter an account while a check can take up to 10 days.

How To Play

The first step to playing a daily fantasy game on FanDuel is for the user to pick which sport they would like to draft a team in. Once the sport is selected, the user has to decide what type of competition they would like to play in. There are currently six different contest types on FanDuel, and they are listed below. The next step will be for the user to select which game format they would like to play (these are also listed below). After selecting the contest type and the game format, the user now has to decide which specific contest they would like to enter. There are a lot of different options with varying numbers of participants and prizes. Once all of this has been decided by the user, it is now time to select their lineup. The FanDuel player will be given a salary cap of either $55,000 or $60,000 with which to select their team. The user then has to select a certain number of players, depending on the game format, to their team. Each player is given a numerical value depending on how good they are in their respective sport. So, if a user is playing an NBA daily fantasy game, they could not select all of the top five players in the league for their team without going over the salary cap. Once the team is filled out within the salary cap budget, the user can press save to officially enter their lineup into the contest. This same lineup can be used for other contests if the user wishes, or they can create new lineups if they prefer. The lineups can also be changed until the start time of the contest. For example, if an NFL contest starts at 1pm, lineups can be adjusted until 12:59pm.

Game Contests & Formats

Contests

  • Beat the Score: Players are competing against a certain score threshold, and all players that reach that threshold win an equal share of the prize pool.
  • Head-to-head: Head-to-head contests involve one user against another with the winner taking the entire prize pool minus FanDuel’s fee.
  • 50/50s: 50/50 contests award an equal share of the prize pool to the top half of the players.
  • Leagues: Leagues are small tournaments that have a maximum number of entries and no guaranteed prize pool unless the league is filled. Leagues can be found under the “3-100 player” tab.
  • Multipliers: In multiplier contests, a certain number of contestants will win an equal prize that is typically between 2-5 times their entry fee.
  • Satellites: Satellites offer the winners entrance into big money tournaments at lower buy-in fees.

Formats

  • Full Roster: This is the most common form of daily fantasy game in which a user selects a full roster under the salary cap limit.
  • Single Game: A single game contest is one in which the users select players to fill out their team from a single game. All of the positions are FLEX, and the user selects an MVP that earns 1.5 times the normal amount of points.
  • SuperFlex: This is available only for NFL games, and it allows the user to fill out a full roster with the addition of a SuperFlex position.
  • QuickPick: QuickPick contests remove the salary cap and allows users to select a set number of players from similar value tiered.

Pros

FanDuel has one of the easiest interfaces on the internet. The site is incredibly simple to navigate and takes a very short amount of time from logging in to entering a contest. The mobile app is just as easy to use and looks the same as the website, so there is no confusion when switching platforms. Whether the user owns a Mac, PC, iPhone, or Android, they will be able to easily access FanDuel. FanDuel has multiple different contest options and formats which allow users the chance to always find something that they are interested in joining. The site also offers free contests for players who want to try out daily fantasy games before playing games for money. FanDuel also offers weekly tournaments with very high payouts which is a nice incentive to keep playing. Since FanDuel is available in 43 states, it can be played by users even when they are traveling which is a benefit over some of the other daily fantasy sites.

Cons

FanDuel does not have a large list of cons. One of the few is that it can be very hard to win matches against experts. FanDuel offers beginner contests for users that have entered less than 50 contests for a particular sport, but once the user is past their first 50 contests, it can be difficult to beat some of the more committed users. FanDuel also has a complex rewards system that can be somewhat confusing when players try to cash out their bonuses.

How To Deposit

The first step for new users at FanDuel will be to register for a free 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.

FanDuel currently accepts deposits through Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and PayPal. There is a $10 deposit minimum, and all new users receive a $5 deposit bonus with no promo code necessary. These bonus funds can be used to enter FanDuel contests, but only winnings can be withdrawn. FanDuel also has a VIP points system that players can attain based on the amount that they play each month. To withdraw money from a FanDuel account, users can select either PayPal or a mailed check. PayPal typically takes 2 days to enter an account while a check can take up to 10 days.

  • Reputation and Licensing: 5/5
  • Game Variety: 4.5/5
  • Game Quality: 5/5
  • Bonuses and Promotions: 4.5/5
  • Deposits and Withdrawals: 5/5
  • User Experience: 5/5
Overall Rating: 4.8/5