How to Win in Fantasy Sports

I am someone who has been very successful playing fantasy sports. I’ve mostly played fantasy baseball and football, but have also played fantasy hockey and basketball.  I am not an expert in the sports, you do not have to be to win.  If you ask me who’s the short stop on the Milwaukee Brewers, I have no idea.  If you ask me who is the number two wide receiver on the Miami Dolphins, again, not a clue. Yet year in and year out I always have a competitive team and win more than my fair share of championships.  So here are some simple guidelines if you want to win in fantasy sports: 

1.      1. Do not be content with losing.  Some fantasy players have a good and competitive team for one or two years and then a lousy team for another two years. If you have one lousy year you are doing something wrong. If you are satisfied being competitive half the time you are doing something wrong.  There is no reason you cannot be competitive every year.  In my 16 team football league I have always been in the top half and usually in the top forth of the league. So every year I’ve been in the running for the league championship.  That’s every year out of eleven years.  The 12 team baseball league I’m in is the same thing. Every year I’m in the running for our league championship.

2.      2. Be current on player rankings.  Most fantasy websites such as from ESPN, Yahoo, or CBS Sportsline rank every fantasy player. Use those rankings as they do a fine job of ranking players.  Do not use the rankings in fantasy magazines as those rankings are written months before the start of a season.  Between the time those magazines are written and the time you are to go to your draft, players have gotten injured, free agents have been signed, players have lost their starting jobs making the rankings in the magazines out of date.

3.      3. Always learn from your previous season.  Figure out what worked and didn’t work from a previous season and then take that knowledge and implement it into your next season.

4.      4. Know the rules of your league. It sounds obvious but many fantasy players do now know their rules of their league.

5.      5. Use rule changes to your advantage.  Sometimes there are rule changes in a fantasy league. No matter how minor the rule change may be, figure out what is the best strategy to use when playing with the new rules.  While another fantasy player may totally disregard changing his strategy because of a rule change, you will be a step up on him if you figured out a better way to play the game with the new rule.

6.       6. Be prepared for your draft. This is probably the most important rule. The success of your season is usually dependant on how well you drafted. So do not take the draft lightly nor allow the computer to make your draft picks for you.  

7.       7. Do not always do what everyone says you should do.  For example, in my baseball league I figured out that having strong hitters over strong pitchers will give me a better chance at winning. Well in my last draft my first eight picks were hitters. Most fantasy players would have probably said to themselves “I need a pitcher with my next pick”. My friend at the draft kept saying that he knew I would be taking a pitcher with my next pick because I had to.  So I took another hitter and he and everyone else in the draft thought I was crazy and would have a lousy team. Well, I won my baseball league and was on top of the standings practically the entire season. My point being is to not blindly do what might be common sense to most people. Always see if there is a better way of doing things even if it goes against the norm.

8.       8. Do not give up. There are many fantasy players who have a slow start and just give up. You can’t win if you give up.  I once started a football league 1-6 and I did not give up. I kept trying to improve my team and got the last playoff spot on the last week of our regular season.  So do not give up. If you have a slow start keep trying to improve and you might be pleasantly surprised.

9.       9. Keep up with your fantasy team every day. Don’t just wait till your line-up deadline to make moves. Read up on player news every day of your fantasy season to see what pick-ups or moves you need to make. You’ll have a nice advantage over the fantasy players that just look into their team once per week.