What Is DFS Pick'em?
Daily fantasy (DFS) apps let you play on players' stat lines instead of betting against a sportsbook. The most popular kind now is pick'em: more or less on a few players, paid at a fixed multiple of your entry.
Salary-cap DFS
The original daily fantasy: you draft a lineup of players under a salary cap, they score fantasy points from their real stats, and your lineup is ranked against other players' lineups for a share of the prizes. You are playing against the other entrants, not against a price.
Pick'em: more or less
A pick'em app posts a line on a player's stat, say 5.5 receptions. You pick more or less on two or more players, and if every pick is right, your entry pays a fixed multiple.
Each app sets its own multipliers and shows them before you enter. The math below works for any payout.
What a payout needs to win
A multiplier is a price in disguise. To break even, every pick together has to come in 1 ÷ multiplier of the time, so each pick has to hit the square root of that on a 2-pick, the cube root on a 3-pick.
Say a 3-pick pays 6xAll three: 1 ÷ 6 = 16.7%. Each pick: 55.0%.
Now the same two picks as a sportsbook parlay at -110 each. That pays 1.909 × 1.909 = 3.645 times your stake ($36.45 back on $10, against $30), and each leg needs only 52.4%, the same as a single bet at -110.
| Entry | Pays | Each pick must hit |
|---|---|---|
| 2-pick at 3x | $30 on $10 | 57.7% |
| 2-leg parlay at -110 | $36.45 on $10 | 52.4% |
| 3-pick at 6x | $60 on $10 | 55.0% |
| 3-leg parlay at -110 | $69.58 on $10 | 52.4% |
Lines, not prices
A sportsbook prices each side of a prop (over 5.5 at -130, under at +100). A pick'em app pays the same multiplier on every pick, so all it can move is the line. That makes the line the number to compare: when an app's line sits well under the sportsbooks' line on the same player, its "more" is the softer side, and over it, its "less" is. Pick'em only works out when your picks beat the rate the payout needs, and a soft line is how you get there.
The apps
Underdog, Sleeper, PrizePicks, DraftKings Pick6 and Betr Picks all run pick'em, and Chalkboard and ONYX are on our bonuses list too. DFS apps are regulated differently from sportsbooks, so where they are open and the minimum age are different: 18+ in most states, 21+ in some, and some apps are not available in every state. Each app checks where you are when you play.
- Sleeper: 100% deposit match up to $100 with promo code MCBETS. $10 minimum deposit. Enter the code when you sign up. Join Sleeper →
- Underdog: Play $5, Get $100 in Bonus Entries. A $10 bonus entry every day for 10 days. Join Underdog →
- Chalkboard DFS: Free pick + 50% deposit match up to $500. Join Chalkboard →
- ONYX: New customers spend $10, get 100 in free picks instantly. Promo code MCBETS. Join ONYX →
New accounts only; each app's terms apply. 18+ for fantasy in most states. MC Sports HQ is a referral partner and may be paid when you sign up. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.
- Salary-cap DFS ranks your lineup against other players; pick'em pays a fixed multiple when every pick hits.
- A 2-pick at 3x needs each pick to hit 57.7%; two -110 legs need 52.4%.
- Pick'em apps move lines, not prices: compare the app's line with the sportsbooks'.
Put it to work
The MC Sports model boards rank every player and game, every game day, and show the numbers behind each score.
See the model boards →