More Changes for DraftKings....good or bad

I think this is a really good step that DK is taking by eliminating outside scripts for contest purposes. Also being able to identify the experience level of another player is a great idea and being able to block playing against a certain player or group



http://espn.go.com/chalk/story/_/id/...ienced-players

Daily fantasy sports operator DraftKings will no longer allow the use of outside computer scripts and plans to start identifying experienced players, among other changes announced by the company Friday.

Computer automation, or scripts, can be used to enter and adjust lineups. Scripts especially help high-volume players who enter hundreds of lineups. They have been a controversial topic in the daily fantasy community since DraftKings tweaked its terms of service last summer to allow some forms of scripts. DraftKings will begin offering automation tools on its site Friday in an attempt to make sure all users have access to them.

"These scripting tools, prior to us launching them on the site, were available to everyone," DraftKings chief marketing officer Janet Holian said. "You could easily Google them or find them on RotoGrinders, along with a lot of places. Moving forward, we would like the tools to be consistently used, only the ones that are on our site and not off site. We're prohibiting the off-site tools moving forward."

DraftKings is still discussing what criteria will be used to designate experienced players and how they will be identified. Holian said, as an example, a symbol or a badge could be used to identify the experienced players. The identification of experienced players is expected to begin in the "near future," the site said.

In addition, the site will institute entry limits for certain contests with non-guaranteed prize pools. The limits will vary depending on the contests and the price points. For example, there will be a limit of 50 entries in non-guaranteed contests per draft group and per price point in the $1, $2 and $5 contests. The $3 contest is the most popular, the site said.

DraftKings and top competitor FanDuel have been accused by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman of offering contests with unfair playing fields and lacking consumer protections, including services for users who have trouble controlling the amount they play. DraftKings emphasized it does offer a self-exclusion list that will prevent any marketing materials from being sent to players who opt out.

Other features the site has instituted include beginner-only contests for participants who have less than 50 entries in a sport and a matchup blocker that will allow players to avoid facing certain players in head-to-head matchups.

"When you look at the package holistically, I think it really defines just how much effort we're putting into building a contest that has all the bells and whistles out there possible to make the contest as transparent as possible and give you the most control so that you can pick and choose what you want to do and when you want to do it," Holian said. "We have to make sure that we're making it clear on the site.

"We're also trying to educate others to help us make sure people understand all the different options that they have. We want to make sure the experience they have playing in a contest is as fun and entertaining."

This is the email Draftkings sent out to everyone.

Quote:

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Hello,

At DraftKings, our customers are at the core of everything we do. We are continuously seeking your feedback and optimizing our product to ensure that we are offering the best possible experience for all our users.

Today, as part of an ongoing dialogue with our users, we are taking additional steps to enhance our platform.

We know that efficiency and user experience is extremely important to DraftKings players. To that end, we recently launched a new tool that makes it easier for players to enter their DraftKings lineups, and we will continue to innovate and add features that allow everyone to use our site quickly and efficiently.

With the implementation of the new tool, effective January 29, 2016, DraftKings will prohibit the use of scripts and other automated means of interacting with our site. Though all customers were previously allowed to use scripts, going forward, all users must use only the tools available on the DraftKings site to submit lineups, enter contests, and perform all site activity.

DraftKings is committed to providing competitive and entertaining contests for our players while ensuring transparency of the Daily Fantasy Sports industry and we have been engaged for years in proactively defining ground-rules for responsible play.

We encourage you to send us your feedback and ideas to support@draftkings.com.

Thank you,
The DraftKings Team

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This is better in my opinion since everyone has access to the same automation tool that is located directly on the DraftKings website and only that one will be allowed. It's still not going to make a beginning player any better though when it comes to actually understanding some great concepts of how to pick a lineup.

Draftkings does post videos and random tips of players that could be good for a certain night but way better information is out there elsewhere regarding that.

I've always thought the rake is too high on DK and the reason pros can still beat it is their is a ton of beginner fish/dead money in play in both cash and tournaments but with tournaments the multi entry effect is too much.

If they want to have multi entry tournaments then limit it to 5 lineups or something like that not letting the pro enter 100 times giving him such a significant edge. Their are programs that generate random lineups where you click a few boxes and they will find the players for you that give you a great idea of who possibly to fill your lineup with that the new guy just isn't going to have a clue.

Now to defend a pro since they can do all of these things within the guidelines to gain that edge then you certainly can't blame them for doing so.

The pro also spends several hours a day up until game time reading up on injury reports,etc. where the beginner may set his lineup for NBA at 4pm EST then some late scratches come in and now he is screwed but the pro knew about it along with the alternate starter in the lineup who might have sick value because his price will be low and he could put up extreme value for the additional minutes he's going to get that night.

A pro will always have this edge since they are dedicating the time just like a day trader who gets in and gets out at the right time but giving them a bunch more edges and the recreational just has no shot in DFS long term.