Applying Online Poker Skills to One-Week Fantasy Football Leagues

We’re in the midst of the fantasy football playoffs in many leagues and, with some managers not a part of the post-season, the popularity of one-week contests has ballooned. Online poker players, in particular, should be quite successful in these games.

Fantazzle.com has partnered with Poker News Daily to help our readers enter the world of one-week fantasy games and put their online poker skills to the test. Most weekly fantasy sites, in fact, have online draft lobbies that look nearly identical to the ones you’d find on your favorite poker room, showing the maximum capacity and number of players already registered. Familiar buy-ins like $5, $10, and $20 parallel sit and gos nicely, especially as it relates to understanding payouts and rake.

At Fantazzle.com, two different types of one-week fantasy sports leagues exist. The first is a salary cap format whereby each manager receives a set number of dollars with which to buy players. How does this relate to poker, you ask? In poker, you have to be able to spot value and weakness in opponents. In fantasy football, it’s the same way. If Jamaal Charles (RB - Kansas City Chiefs) is going for only $30,000 and plays the Cleveland Browns in Week 15, he might be a better one-time play than DeAngelo Williams (RB – Carolina Panthers), who might have a price three times larger and also has a tougher match-up in the Minnesota Vikings, one of the league’s top run defenses.

In poker, it’s all about spotting value. Knowing when you can profitably make a play at a pot is key, as is mathematically understanding whether a play is in line with expected value. Being able to spot value in tournament registrations, such as overlays, is also extremely important. If a tournament like the Bodog $100,000 Guaranteed has a perennial overlay, knowing this information and then registering for it increases your value in an event. In fantasy drafts, understanding value in the middle and late rounds is especially vital to your success.

Fantasy football is really all about exploiting match-ups. Who plays who typically pre-destines success or failure in a given week. If your fantasy players face off against the likes of Detroit, Oakland, and Seattle, then chances are you’ll be flying high. However, if your quarterbacks are locked down against teams like Pittsburgh, Baltimore, or the New York Giants, then look out. In one-week drafts like those you’ll find on Fantazzle.com, understanding the match-ups and compiling your team accordingly is what determines your relative success. In poker, some of the top players in the world are heads-up specialists, capitalizing on their skill relative to others in order to make a living.

Fantazzle.com has been in business since 2008 and its owner, Ryan Parr, told Poker News Daily, “You will be assigned to a group of people. You don’t have to wait around for others to come.” Unlike a poker sit and go, you won’t have to stand by until a table fills up to play. As soon as it’s game time each week, you’re off to the races. While many fantasy football managers are currently shut out of the playoffs, at Fantazzle.com, everyone is able to participate. Metaphorically, all you need is a chip and a chair.

Online poker sites are all about building credibility. Using names like Phil Ivey and Daniel Negreanu to sell a site’s viability results in players swarming the online poker room left and right. At Fantazzle.com, the New York Giants’ Steve Smith foots the bill, as the wide receiver is lending his autograph to tournament winners each week. Smith leads the Giants in receiving yards and receptions by a large margin and has found the end zone five times in 2009, tied for the second most on the team.

Visit Fantazzle.com today and put your online poker skills to good use!

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Poker lexicon:

TABLE STAKES - A standard rule whereby during a hand players can only bet the money they have on the table. If the bet to a player is more than the player's stack, that player may call with all his chips and be eligible to win only that portion of the pot he contributed to equally. A side pot is created, for which only the remaining players may compete.
RUSH - A winning streak. Also "ON A RUSH".
STEAM - Playing wildly, calling and raising a lot, because one is upset. Compare: ON TILT.
SPLIT [OPENERS] - In draw poker, to discard one or more openers, usually to draw to a straight or flush. Normally requires the opener to declare the act and retain the discards so that the act of opening can later be validated.
KICKER TROUBLE - Not having as high a kicker as an opponent.
COMMUNITY CARDS - Cards that are available for every player to use in making a hand. Usually dealt face up somewhere in the middle of the table.

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