Brand new feature here at DFS Army as I break down exactly how I built my cash game lineup for a specific slate. What makes me slightly different is I specialize in the niche sports, MMA, Soccer, and Tennis. I’m hoping this is a valuable exercise for everyone as reviewing your lineups is something every successful DFS player should do and outlining my thought process can help players with various levels of experience.
Of course I’ll be referencing statistics, projections, or odds that are available to DFS Army VIP members. If you’re not a VIP member, join today and use code SNIPER for 10% off!
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THE LINEUP
It only makes sense that before reviewing something, we need to see what the finished product looks like. The ownership percentages are from the $25 double up contest.
THE PROCESS
My process is a very step-by-step method, and while it varies by sport you will see some similarities as this series progresses. It’s always important to remember that regardless of what sport we are talking about, the objective of a cash game lineup remains the same: build a lineup with the highest possible floor.
STEP 1: Stacking the Main Event?
This is always my first question when approaching MMA construction. This week was a no-brainer, though I have to admit that I had some doubts in the final hours before look as this lineup left a couple hundred dollars left on the table. UFC Denver had a main event with a pick’em betting line and two fighters who are never in a boring fight. Fantasy points were going to be scored and they were with our stack scoring 172.5 points!
Result: Lock in Chan Sung Jung & Yair Rodriguez
STEP 2: Ownership & Domination
There was another certainty heading into Saturday, myself and the rest of the DFS community was playing Davi Ramos. The dude was a ridiculous favorite at -1000 and had the perfect stylistic match-up. Yeah, he was expensive but at a guaranteed 100 points and at least 10x return there was no reason to get cute and leave Ramos out of my cash lineup.
Result: Lock in Davi Ramos
STEP 3: Odds Value
A fundamental principal in DFS is always at play in MMA, odds value: can we get any extra value on a fighter to win based on their DraftKings price. This week that led to two fighters being plugged into my lineup. Bobby Moffett closed as a favorite against Chas Skelly despite being priced down and Mike Trizano had his betting line close to the +160 range, meaning he should have cost about an additional $500 or so. Pretty simple, we are hunting for wins and these guys were way to cheap for their price range.
Result: Lock in Bobby Moffett & Mike Trizano
STEP 4: Round it Out
Now things got interesting and kind of rare. Usually step three doesn’t result in multiple fighters but this week we were left with enough money to fit ANYONE we wanted into the last spot. Well hello, Maycee Barber. I’ll get to my doubts in the final step but she was a -750 favorite in some places and pretty much everyone agreed she had a decided grappling advantage.
Result: Lock in Maycee Barber
STEP 5: Final Review
Okay, so a few hundred dollars leftover in cash can make you a little antsy. Full disclosure I thought about moving from Jung to Ashley Yoder to boost my floor because I picked Yair to win. I moved away from that in favor of safety and the result was I would have finished with two points more if I had made the pivot. But, Yoder should have lost that fight (she got bailed out by the judges) so ultimately stick to the strategy of stacking was the right move. Maycee Barber also made me nervous as it was a fight with two women making their UFC debuts. The move you could make is trading in Trizano / Barber for the combination of Moises / Yoder. The floor of Barber and the uncertainty of what version of Beneil Dariush (Moises’ opponent) kept me from this switch.
Result: Hit Submit!
THE RESULT / FINAL THOUGHT
I understand that this article won’t always be happy times, but Saturday night was absolute fire. Can’t beat a night when you go 4-0 with a main event stack remaining. I cashed all of my double ups and won 84% of my head-to-heads. Yeah, I’ll take that all day, everyday. The lineups that beat me had Donald Cerrone and with the massive Inside the Distance prop on that fight, I decided it was best for my GPP lineeps, which also paid off.
I hope you enjoyed this breakdown and review, please let me know if there’s anything you would like to see added or expanded. And remember, if you’re not a VIP member, join today and use code SNIPER for 10% off!