DraftKings Review

DraftKings provides daily and weekly fantasy sport contests and events in a range of sports, including the NBA and college basketball. With cash prizes on offer, even for free players, there is an opportunity for everyone to engage with this style of action. The fact that it is determined to be a game of skill means that it is legally owned and operated in the United States and Canada, although five of the 50 states in the US currently outlaw play due to their state regulations regarding cash prizes.

The fact that there are weekly prizes on offer means that there is no need to commit to a full league campaign, which is ideal for many people. One of the biggest headline grabbing aspects of DraftKings comes with the fact that they are promising to hand out over £1 billion this year. Given that in 2014 they started off the NBA season by handing over £1m a week to a lucky winner means that there is a high level of demand for these games. With respect to basketball, the site claims to have paid out more than $20 million per season.

The site offers new contests every day and there are nightly winners. With an exceptionally high level of promotion in the United States, including a placement on the popular TV show The League, DraftKings has become the name that people instantly recognise when it comes to fantasy sports action.

The site looks good, it is clear to use and no matter what device you access the site from, you should find that it is pretty responsive. If you have used websites for sporting news or you use bookmaker sites, you will find that DraftKings is a very comfortable site to use.

There’s a five step process to success on DraftKings:

1. Sign up for free with the site and all you need to sign up is an email account
2. Choose a contest or event that you want to take part in
3. Build your team
4. Watch live and engage with the site and fellow players
5. Collect your winnings or commiserate and then choose your next contest

Events and contests

DraftKings offers a range of contests and events. One of the most pleasing aspects of DraftKings is that it provides plenty of different ways to play, including:

• GPP (Guaranteed Prize Pool) contests – These contests offer a guaranteed payout, regardless of how many players get involved with the event.
• Leagues -If leagues are not filled to capacity, they are automatically closed with all or any entry fees returned to eligible players.
• Head To Head games – These events are a winner takes all one on one style game
• 50/50 games – All players and teams that finish in the top of the tournament win a cash prize
• Qualifier contests – These events provide prize that offer entry into the high stake contents offered on site
• Multipliers – These contests provide players with a chance to win between 3 times and 10 times their entry fee.
• Steps – These events sees winning players receive a ticket to progress to the next step. Entry can be bought at Step 1 for $2.00 and if a player manages to win through to Stage 4, cash prizes are up for grabs.
• Beginner – DraftKings understand that they welcome a lot of new players to the site and their beginner events are available for players up to their 50th event. Once a player has taken part in that number of events, they are no longer permitted entry to the Beginner tournaments.
• Multi-Match Head-to-Head – This event provides 20 unique Head-To-Head games and there is a cash prize on offer for every win. There is a prize structure in place that recreates the payouts on offer if a player took on each other player in an individual head-to-head contest. 21 people enter these tournaments and 20 will receive a cash prize.
• Freeroll events – These contests are available for free and provide winnings with tickets to bigger events or in DraftKings dollars.

The site takes great pride in offering an extensive range of free events that provide cash prizes and with new events and competitions taking place every day, there is always an opportunity to win.

Promotions

When you deposit on the DraftKings site, for basketball or any other sport, you have the chance to double your bonus in the shape of a 100% matched deposit bonus. New players that make a deposit will also receive a free entry into a paid game. This is the minimum sort of promotion you should be looking for from a site but it is enough to get you started.

Sadly at the point of review, the NBA season isn’t up and running for 2015/16 yet and the main NBA page isn’t accessible from the top bar. However, given the great range of promotions that the site runs for a wide range of sporting events, and even poker tournaments, you know that there will be bonuses and promotions and offer for the new basketball season.

There is also a refer a friend bonus available with DraftKings.

Tips and guidance

Obviously some people live, sleep and breathe their favourite sport which gives these people a head start when it comes to making big calls for your team. If you understand the statistics of basketball, you will be well on your way to having fun with DraftKings. However, not every basketball fan is a massive fan of stats or understands everything about the game. Basketball is a fast moving sport that is highly enjoyable and entertaining and this is something that DraftKings understands.

The Playbook section of the site provides statistics, analysis of the stats, tips for next week, reviews of the previous week and even cheatsheets to ensure that everyone can get a helping hand in picking the best players. If everyone used the cheatsheet it would be dull but obviously this is just a starting point. If you are stuck between a couple of players or you want a couple of solid choices to get started with, you’ll find that the well laid out and easy to follow Playbook section of the DraftKings site will help you to develop your knowledge of fantasy sports and how to be a winner.

eSports

In addition to offering fantasy sports options for a wide range of popular sports in the US and around the world, there are also eSports. This means that there is always a new game and contest going on, allowing sports fans to spend as much time and money on the site as they like. If you are in the off-season for your favourite sport but want to get involved with some sporting fantasy fun, DraftKings will help you out. This option isn’t for everyone, some people just want to enjoy fantasy sports alongside watching games but if you want to hone your knowledge or play for prizes, you can do so with the easy to use eSports section.

Deposits

There are a number of deposit options for players on DraftKings including all major debit and credit cards including American Express, Discover, MasterCard and VISA. You can deposit funds into your account via PayPal and it is also possible to use VISA, MasterCard and American Express giftcards. If you do use giftcards, it is important to retain these giftcards as any withdrawals you wish to make will be placed back onto the card that you initially used.

Once DraftKings has processed the users request for withdrawal, it can take three days for funds to be placed onto the users PayPal account or credit card. The way that withdrawals are processed on DraftKings will ensure that the money is placed back on the original source of funding first and then any additional level of winnings will be processed via PayPal or personal cheque.

An example of this can be seen with a player that deposits $50 with their MasterCard and then goes on to win a further $40 in a contest. A player looking to withdraw the $90 will find that they will receive $50 back on their MasterCard and then the remaining $40 will be paid out via PayPal or by cheque.

There is a minimum $5 deposit on DraftKings and there is no maximum withdrawal level.

UK players

There is great news for UK players with the fact that DraftKings is all set to operate in the United Kingdom before too long. The UK Gambling Commission has announced that DraftKings has applied for a gaming licence and people closely connected to the company have announced on social media that the company will soon be in operation for UK sports fans.

If you are looking to enjoy fantasy basketball or any fantasy sports action, DraftKings is the name to look out for. They have swallowed up a number of the smaller sites in this sector and they have undertaken a massive promotional activity. All of which means that people will instantly recognise DraftKings but the most important thing about the site is that they provide a great range of games and plenty of ways to win. If you want a reliable and effective fantasy site, DraftKings will not let you down.

Pros

• Plenty of sports covered, including basketball
• Daily and weekly games and contests
• Big money on offer
• Easy to deposit

Cons

• Fantasy sports aren’t for everyone