MME Playbook for the MLB DFS Early Slate on FanDuel and DraftKings

Donut Shop – MME Playbook for MLB DFS on FanDuel and DraftKings

I have been discussing in this article and in our members only Slack about a theory on how to approach MLB DFS and specifically a method to MME (mass multi-entry) for both FanDuel and DraftKings. It’s a method I created to basically diversify your portfolio in a low-risk fashion while boosting your potential ROI by having a dart or two hit the top of the standings.

Rather than trying to identify the top pitcher, hitters, or stacks and going with “heavy exposure” on said targets, we are going to set minimum exposures on specific targets and allow the optimizer to flex its muscles and take a non-biased approach as to who and what are the most optimal options.

This hopefully will allow us to have exposure to specific targets that allow us to have a handful of lineups that are “in the hunt” for the top of the standings if some of the top targets bottom out and sink most of your lineups.

Also – if you’re new to MLB DFS or the DFSA, then this page should be open in a separate tab every single day you plan on playing.

*edit* a lot of questions asked lately that can be answered in the link above…PLEASE OPEN IT!

Let’s get to work!

Pitchers for FanDuel

Dan Straily (ARI 4.5 IRT, +114 Dog) *Great history against Dback, scary though*

Jameson Taillon (@NYM 3.7 IRT, -113 Fav)

Michael Foltynewicz (CIN 4.1 IRT, -151 Fav)

Justin Verlander (TOR 2.8 IRT, -230 Fav)

J.A. Happ (@HOU 4.3 IRT, +210 Dog)

Mike Clevinger (@STL 3.9 IRT, -120 Fav)

Throw a minimum of 7-35% exposure to ensure that you have at least 10-50 out of your 150 lineups with each pitcher). The guys you like the most should be at 35% and the guys you only want minimal exposure to “just in case” just put at 7%. Everyone else should be somewhere in between those two extremes. Aim to keep your total exposure to less than 75% which gives the optimizer 25% wiggle room to add in the most optimal pitchers for the slate.

I.E. if you add up all the %’s of the pitchers, make sure the total exposure %’s you have created equal no more than 60%.

Pitchers for DraftKings

Dan Straily (ARI 4.5 IRT, +114 Dog) *Great history against Dback, scary though*

Jameson Taillon (@NYM 3.7 IRT, -113 Fav)

Justin Verlander (TOR 2.8 IRT, -230 Fav)

J.A. Happ (@HOU 4.3 IRT, +210 Dog)

Vincent Velasquez (NYY 4.7 IRT, +132 Dog)

Cole Hamels (SD 4.5 IRT, -133 Fav)

*EDIT* If you’re doing the 150-max entry contests on DraftKings then use the same exposure settings as I put down under the FanDuel categories. If not then follow the advice for the 20-max entries in each of the subsequent categories.

Throw a minimum of 20-40% exposure to ensure that you have at least 4-8 out of your 20 lineups with each pitcher). The guys you like the most put 40% exposure on and the guys you like the least throw 20% on. Everyone else is in between. Because DraftKings has two pitchers we want to total no more than 120% (out of 200%) for all pitchers listed.

I.E. If you add up your %’s on the pitchers, make sure the total exposure percentage isn’t over 120%.

Stacks for FanDuel

TEX – 50%

PHI – 30%

SEA – 40%

LAD – 30%

CLE – 30%

For groupings, I like the idea of matching Texas up with each team for about 5-10 total 4-4 stacks.

I also want to game stack the SEA and BAL game for a handful of lineups as well.

I’ll hedge my Straily exposure by using a handful of 4-4 stacks using Arizona with teams like Houston and Cleveland that have massive upside.

I am rolling with a minimum scale between 10-75% each. You don’t need to worry about who is actually stacked from the team – just trust the optimizer algorithm to optimally slap it all together). As far as what stack setting, 4-3 etc. that’s all preference and you can run what you’re comfortable with.

*******I prefer to run the 4-4 setting when doing specific groupings. I.E. I want the Rockies stacked for 10 lineups and I want the Yankees stacked with them for 5 of them and the Astros stacked with them for the other 5. So I would set the optimizer to 10 lineups, 2/3 unique (preferably 2 for this) and Rockies team stack at 100% exposure. Then I would set the Yanks and Astros at 50% each. Run the DS – Download the CSV – copy and paste these 10 lineups into 10 spots on your “final CSV upload” file.********

Practice today if you need to prior to the slate locking because this is the best way to use the DS. Combining specific groupings with the generic strategy I lay out in this article is the perfect blend of high upside and safer MME practice.

Stacks for DraftKings

TEX – 20%

LAD – 40%

PHI – 15%

SEA – 50%

BAL – 30%

ARI – 20%

CLE – 25%

I mainly want to group together Diamondbacks and Orioles with teams from the above list of stacks. I think both the Orioles and Dbacks will be under-owned and in interesting spots.

I am rolling with a minimum scale between 10-50% each which will be between 2-10 total lineups (out of 20) stacked for that range. You don’t need to worry about who is actually stacked from the team – just trust the optimizer algorithm to optimally slap it all together). As far as what stack setting, just roll out your personal preference.

*******I prefer to run the 3-5 setting when doing specific groupings. I.E. I want the Rockies stacked for 10 lineups and I want the Yankees stacked with them for 5 of them and the Astros stacked with them for the other 5. So I would set the optimizer to 10 lineups, 2/3 unique (preferably 2 for this) and Rockies team stack at 100% exposure. Then I would set the Yanks and Astros at 50% each. Run the DS – Download the CSV – copy and paste these 10 lineups into 10 spots on your “final CSV upload” file.********

Wrap it up, dude!

Alright, so applying all of this information and strategy can be overwhelming. I am going to make a very condensed list with specific steps to follow. If you want more detail then you’ll have to read over the article itself once more.

Open Optimizer
Set global max to 50% for all players
Do not X out any player in the entire player pool (unless said player isn’t in the final lineup and the automatic update missed it – which is RARE)
Click the pitcher category and slap a minimum percentage on all of the players I listed using the scale that I provide you with for both FanDuel and DraftKings
Work on “groupings” of full 3-5 stacks on DK and full 4-4 stacks on FanDuel. Make sure you pair the top offenses with the second and third best or whomever you think is in a prime spot to blow up. I.E. set the stack to 3-5 and 10 lineups (out of let’s say 50), put 100% on Astros and 100% on the Rockies at home. You’ll end up with 10 lineups fully stacked with just those two teams. Do that repeatedly for as many teams you want to combine and full stacks you want to do.
Throw min % on the stacks I have listed for the team itself at the generic 3-4 setting on FanDuel or 3-4 on DraftKings with however many lineups you have leftover that were not “grouped”. This means if you grouped 34 lineups out of your 50 then just do one generic CSV upload of the remaining 16 teams by using the above settings I have given you.
Follow the steps in #9 and #12 if you need help running multiple files and copying and pasting.
Win money
Tag me on Twitter and in Slack with your triumphant victory!
Read this very important page…
Seriously, go read the page…
Myself and my friend Ram2787 put together this tutorial for anybody who needs help with the DS optimizer and CSV files when using a Chromebook or operating system that’s giving you errors. CLICK ME CLICK ME!
Subscribe to me on YouTube for podcasts/videos/and all things DFS!

The only way to continue to perfect an MME approach is to continue to fine tune it. This is still in the trial phase and in no way shape or forms a “perfect approach”. This process will likely be tweaked and manipulated as the season progresses and the DFS landscape shifts every so often as it normally does. As always, I will continue to share my findings with you in the hopes that we are able to find an edge over our competition!

Fortune favors the bold. Go make your own luck!
– Donuts