Stokastic’s groundbreaking DFS Sims Tools are ready to take down the 2024-25 NFL season, and we are going to break down how to use all features of the NFL DFS Contest Sims Tool. Since their inception, the Sims have been winning contests in all sorts of sports, including multiple Milly Maker winners! Here we will walk through the strategy and process, and show some of the features of the simulation tool to help increase your ROI when playing NFL DFS.
How to Use NFL DFS Sims: Expert Strategy Guide, Tips & Advice
The main difference between the Core NFL Contest Generator and the Max version is the basic one lets you build up to 1,000 lineups, whereas the full package gives you the option of up to 10,000. For the purposes here, we are going to go with 10,000 lineups. There are also different slates loaded in like Main Slate, Late Slate, Showdown Slates etc. Once you select your preferred site (DraftKings, FanDuel, OwnersBox) and the stack exposures type you want (QB + 1, QB + 2, etc.), click Generate Lineups.
Remember before you submit your contests into the generator, you are trying to build the contest that is closest to what you are actually going to see — not what you would prefer to use. Keep that in mind when adjusting stack exposures. We have default stack exposures pre-loaded, but you can make changes at your discretion.
Once you’ve generated your contest, a good strategy is to go through the players individually to see if there are any that are projected for a lot more or less ownership than you think they should be.
You can adjust their ownerships up and down by using the arrows in the Boost Ownership column on the far-right side of the page. You can then rerun the pool to get what you may feel are more accurate representations of what that day’s contest is actually going to look like.
One other option you have — if you don’t want to simulate the slate — you can rank the lineups instead from the contest generator based on projections and ownership and upload them directly to your site of choice.
If you are going to simulate, however, it’s as easy as clicking the Simulate Lineups button at the bottom right, as that will take the contest you just generated and automatically plug it right into the Pre-Contest Simulator.
Check the settings at the top of the screen: Make sure you are still on the right site (DraftKings, FanDuel or OwnersBox), the slate is correct and that the Percent to First dropdown is as close to accurate as possible. Sometimes it is not possible to get it exactly right; for example, a $300,000 prize pool may give the winner $100,000, and the dropdown does not include a 33.333333% to First option. In that case, select 30% to first.
You can also change the projections here if you so desire. It automatically defaults to the main Stokastic projections, but if you want to upload custom projections, you can do that on this page via the Upload Custom Projections link above the table. You can also make quick alterations to player data via the Projected FP, Ownership and Projected Batting Position columns. Once you are happy with the data, click Run Contest Simulation in the bottom right.
Now the tool is simulating the slate thousands of times in a tournament setting. Once the sim is done running, it will rank the lineups by the highest projected ROI. This is where the Percent to First matters so much — sometimes contrarian lineups may lead to higher returns on your investment, whereas other contests may have leverage as the most important factor. And then there are smaller-to-first contests where things are flatter and you don’t necessarily have to build contests playing for first place specifically.
After the simulation is done, the lineups will be sorted by highest simulated ROI. This is the all-encompassing metric that factors in everything — how often a lineup cashes, finishes top 10 and/or wins. You can also sort by each of these individual metrics if you want to zero in on one contest goal. Other tabs on this page will show you individual player ROI, ROI for your full stack, your favorited lineups and exposures for each individual player and stacks. This is where you can update your exposures if you aren’t happy with how much or little exposure you got to players and stacks, and then you will get less or more exposure to those players and teams.
Once you are happy with all your exposures and lineups, you can favorite the top however many lineups you want to upload, then click Export Favorites. This whole process can take as little as a minute if you go with default settings, or you can tweak it as you see fit to maximize your preferred NFL DFS style. And now you are ready to upload them to DraftKings, FanDuel or OwnersBox!
