Scoring On Draftkings

This article is part of our DraftKings MMA series.

The year isn't the only thing that's new as we say goodbye to another holiday season, with DraftKings rolling out a revamped scoring system for MMA. We will discuss these changes at-length in order to clarify things for new players, as well as determine how the DFS-playing community can build lineups in order to take advantage of the new system.

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Before we begin, let's take a look at the scoring criteria in order to get a sense of what we need to focus on and highlight exactly what changed when the new system was implemented. New categories have been bolded for ease of viewing.

• Significant Strikes are any Distance Strike or Clinch/Ground Strikes that are considered 'Power Strikes' by official scorers.
• A Significant Strike will count as both a strike and a significant strike and will be worth a total of 0.4 Pts
• Control Time is the time spent in the dominant position on the ground or in the clinch. +0.03 points are awarded per second.
• A Knockdown is awarded to a fighter who knocks his/her opponent down due to debilitation for what the official scorers consider an appreciable amount of time.
• A Quick Win Bonus is awarded to the winning fighter if they win in the first round in 60 seconds or less.

Note that Advances has also been removed from the list of scoring categories.

Significant Strikes VS. Regular Strikes

The first change to notice when looking at the criteria above is the addition of a new striking category called 'strikes' (we will refer to this as 'regular strikes' going forward). This may be a bit confusing at first glance, as both are awarded the same amount of points, but it's helpful to remember that each 'significant strike' is also a 'regular strike.' Thus, it can be said that a significant strike is actually worth +0.4 points. This means 'significant strikes' go from '+0.5' to '+0.4' in the new system. Once we understand the actual scoring, we move on to deciding how we can get the most points under this system.

The issue, as you can see from the notes above, is that much of what is considered a 'significant strike,' as opposed to a 'regular strike,' is left to the discretion of official scorers. This being the case, I find it good policy (although certainly not a hard-and-fast rule) to simply think of all strikes from distance as 'significant strikes.' This means that 'regular strikes' generally get thrown in two areas: standing in the clinch or while on the ground.

Draftkings Rules And Scoring

When simplified in this way, one can really start to get a sense of how to utilize the category of 'regular strikes,' which is to say that they will mainly help clinch fighters and those who work on the ground. Ground strikes and clinch strikes can certainly be considered 'significant,' but the bar for this seems much higher than those strikes landed at distance.

Consider the fight between John Phillips and Jun Yong Park that took place in October at UFC Fight Island 6. Park dominated Phillips for the better part of 15 minutes, laying hands on him until the final bell. Despite this, however, only 10 (!) of Park's 260(!!) strikes were considered significant. Keep this example in mind as you build lineups going forward, as it is a pretty clear indication of how strikes from different positions are generally scored.

Control Time

The next new scoring metric to take a look at is 'control time.' This applies not only to wrestlers in top position but also those in favorable positions when it comes to standing in the clinch. It's important to note, as well, that this category is (essentially) being offered in place of 'passes,' which has been removed from the scoring criteria. This is the one time as an MMA fan where we are allowed to root for the lay-and-pray and wall-and-stall artists, as every minute they spend just sitting in a dominant position nets us a cool 1.8 points. Remember that all strikes that connect during this period now register in the scoring, which means points may begin to pile up quickly for these fighters.

Consider Sarah Moras, who fights this Saturday at UFC Fight Island 7. She has yet to land more than 44 significant strikes in her eight fights with the organization, but her win over Liana Jojua in September of 2019 included 130 'regular strikes' and more than six and a half minutes of control time! That's a near 38-point boost under the new scoring rubric. Unfortunately, her status as a large favorite removes her from being called a 'value' play this weekend, but she can certainly be considered a 'cash play' option as a result of these changes.

Quick-Win Bonus

The last change in scoring may prove to be the least relevant in terms of what should garner attention from players. The 'Quick-Win Bonus' awards any fighter who finishes an opponent in the first minute of the bout a score of 25 points. It's not that the extra points wouldn't be useful, it's just a question of whether this happens often enough to be considered something to target. Consider that most fights have (at least) a 15-to-30 second 'feeling out' process, which is to say nothing of the fact that, as you go down in weight, finishes become less common. Still, we do have examples to examine, as UFC Vegas 2 in June saw a remarkable three fights finish inside the 60-second mark. We don't expect this to happen again any time soon, but we can look at the conditions that may have made these quick finishes possible.

First, we can note that two of the three fights included debuting fighters. Debuting fighters may provide fertile ground for this bonus, as they are likely to be less skilled, and perhaps more willing to wade into dangerous situations in order to put on a show. The next thing to realize is that this event took place in the smaller cage at the UFC Apex. Data has suggested that a smaller cage may lead to more finishes in general. Beyond this, the usual guidelines for finishes apply, such as targeting heavyweights and heavy-handed fighters against those with suspect chins. Taken in total, though, I would argue this doesn't happen often enough to explicitly target. Take advantage of the conditions when they present themselves, but don't chase this bonus at the expense of other categories.

There is no guarantee that you will win the next Millymaker, but these tips should provide a roadmap to building successful MMA DFS lineups as we go forward with this new system. By understanding what, fundamentally, leads to scoring points, players should get a good idea of the kinds of fighters they should include on their rosters.

Welcome to my DraftKings NBA Strategy Guide. Below you will find a video I created talking about the DraftKings NBA strategies discussed on this page if you would rather watch the video.

I’ve enjoyed quite a bit of success with DraftKings NBA, even though I don’t consider it one of my top sports. Below are two 2nd place finishes in back to back nights at DraftKings where I took home $27,500 in winnings!

Know The Scoring System

Before you get started with any type of DraftKings contest you need to know the scoring system, so you can properly pick the players that will excel with that type of scoring system. DraftKings has a pretty standard NBA fantasy scoring system, but they do have two unique bonuses which are listed below:

-Bonuses for 3 points shots made (0.5 point bonus)
-Bonuses for Double-Double, Triple-Doubles

*All details on the DraftKings scoring can be found when you’re entering a contest.

High Minutes = Fantasy Points

Unlike NFL where the starting offensive players will be on for the majority of the offensive snaps, NBA players will often play around 25-30 minutes per game, with bench players playing less. It sound like stating the obvious but there is a direct correlation between minutes played and fantasy points. Be careful rostering players with low minutes played.

Be Careful of Back to Backs

When teams are playing back to back games, or their 4th game in 7 days for example, coaches may rest starters either completely (inactive for the game) or give them less minutes. It’s sometimes hard to predict when coaches will scale back starters minutes, but it’s something to pay attention to.

Draft Kings Scoring System Nfl

Pay Attention To Hot Streaks

Basketball players can be streaky – watch for hot streaks. Sometimes a player will have a few good games in a row and will be rewarded for more minutes. Might be a good time to roster a player after 2-3 good games in a row. BUT be careful with this, especially if the players price rises on DraftKings. Also be careful of below average players who have 1 or 2 really good games in a row – it might be an anomaly for that player. Don’t use playing players on hot streaks as your main NBA DraftKings strategy, but do pay attention to them.

Watch News – Set Lineups As Late as Possible

In NBA there is more late news than any other sport. This includes lineup changes, injuries, players inactive, etc. It is ideal to set your lineup as late as possible because of this. If a starting point guard is ruled out 30 minutes before tip-off you might get great value on his backup who is priced cheap.

To be successful at DraftKings NBA this is maybe the most important strategy. You can find some real value players close to tip off that will allow you to spend money on elite players.

Use Vegas Lines

Check this betting odds page on my site for Las Vegas betting lines.

The total will show you the expected number of points scored by both teams. The spread will show you who is expected to win and by how much.

Games that finish with higher totals usually means more fantasy points given out in total = better chance you will pick a player who exceeds value if you choose players from games with high totals.

You can make other predictions from spreads or totals as well. Example – if a team is on the second of a back to back and they are -15 (15 point favorites) they could take a big lead and rest starters.

Predicting Ownership

I’ve got a full video on this on my YouTube channel you can check out, but if you can predict how owned certain players will be in a DraftKings contest you can sometimes gain an edge.

Example – if you think Anthony Davis is going to be 75% owned you could take the risk on not rostering him, spending that money elsewhere, and if he has a poor game you will be in the 25% of people who gain an advantage of the poor performance. This is referred to as “Fading a player”

Sometimes the best players are what I like to call “matchup proof” – meaning no matter their match up they continue to perform like a superstar and rack up the fantasy points. Of course they will have their off games, and sometimes those come against elite defenses, but rostering an elite player vs a top defense can pay off as ownership levels drop on these star players.

Understanding NBA Specific DFS Stats

NBA DFS stats include things such as: Usage Rate, Pace of Player, and DvP. Below is an example of an NBA fantasy stat “Usage” that the regular person doesn’t think about when watching an NBA game, but you will want to if you want to become better at building winning DraftKings NBA lineups.

Percentage of players that player finished while on the court (ie makes a basket, misses a shot, turns the ball over)

It basically shows which players have the ball in their hands a lot and have the ability to score high fantasy points

All of these stats can be found in the top NBA DraftKings fantasy tools out there, which ties into my next strategy tip.

Use DFS Tools To Build Lineups

Instead of spending hours to research yourself, make sure you are using the available NBA DFS tools out there. My favorite is FantasyLabs, which has helped me win a lot of money over the past year – including a couple of big payouts in DraftKings NBA contests.

That’s it for my DraftKings NBA strategy. I hope this guide helps you become a winning player at DraftKings!