DFS Stacking with the Daily Fantasy Optimizer

The free Daily Fantasy Optimizer is meant to make the task of creating optimal DFS lineups a breeze. But beyond its basic functionality, the optimizer is also a powerful tool meant to compete with the more advanced (and expensive!) optimizers you'll find online. One example of this is the stacking module, which is a flexible interface for creating stacks of players from the same team or game. This gives users the ability to target higher variance lineups for winning top heavy contests or for taking advantage of high-scoring games in NFL, NHL, MLB, or NBA contests.

This tutorial will walk you through the basics of using the stacking module but also introduce you to some of the more advanced features to help you create lineups like a DFS pro! We will cover DFS stacking for both DraftKings and FanDuel, including:

• The basics of creating stacks

• Viewing stacks in generated lineups

• Using tiers for more sophisticated stacking

• Using the stack viewer to prevent over-exposure

Creating a Stack

To create a stack, you can either use some of the pre-built stacking options, which are customized based on the selected sport, or you can click on the more generic "Add Position Stack" or "Add Team Stack" buttons.

Once a stack has been created, you will see something that looks like the window below. From left to right, this provides a summary of:

• Stacked positions (or the desired number of players from a specific team if you chose a "Team Stack")

• Teams that will be used to build the stack in each lineup

• Tier (more on that later)

• Stack exposure as a percentage

Most of these fields are relatively self-explanatory and can be edited by clicking on the respective edit icon. The "Tier" field requires a bit more discussion, which we'll cover later in this tutorial. The exposure field controls the percentage of generated lineups that will contain the specified stack, which works similarly to the other exposure options in the Daily Fantasy Optimizer (i.e., a stack with 20% exposure will only appear in 20% of generated lineups).

Viewing Stacks in Generated Lineups

Once stacking has been configured, clicking the generate button will produce lineups with the specified stack settings. When viewing the lineups, you can toggle "Show Stacks" to highlight which players are part of a stack. This will show team stacks by default. If you'd like to see game stacks (highlight players from the same game), check the "Game Stacks" box.

Note that, in the example above, the default "Show Stacks" option highlights a QB and WR stack from the Chicago Bears on the first line. Other team stacks that happen to appear in your lineups will also be displayed (using a different color). While these stacks may not have been requested, they can still occur. The stack viewing option helps you can see them more easily. When "Game Stacks" is selected, additional players are highlighted. The color groupings now signify players that are from the same game rather than just the same team.

How to use the Tier System

Tiers have special meaning in the Daily Fantasy Optimizer. Tiers control how stacks are combined. Only one stack from a tier will appear in a given lineup. If you want to create a lineup containing multiple stacks, you have to set each to a different tier. If you want to mix and match stacks, you can create them in the same tier and then adjust their respective exposures to control how often each will appear.

In the example below, a QB + WR/TE stack and a DST + RB stack are created. At first glance, it might be expected that both stacks will appear in 100% of lineups. However, this will not be the case. Since both are set to the same tier, the end result will be somewhat unpredictable, and each stack will appear randomly in the generated lineups, as shown.

To ensure that both stacks appear in 100% of lineups, the stacks need to be assigned different tiers. In the example below, the QB + WR/TE stack is set to tier 1, while the DST + RB stack is changed to tier 2. This guarantees that both stacks will appear in every lineup, as shown. This is a simple example, but the tier system combined with setting max exposure can allow for a high degree of control over how stacks appear in lineups.

There are a number of other use cases to explore. For example, if you'd like to use a basic QB + WR/TE stack but you want to weight toward a specific team such as the Tampa Bay (TB) Buccaneers, you can create a duplicate stack and set the exposures accordingly, as shown in the example below. Here, 35% of the generated lineups will contain a stack with TB players while the remaining 65% will come from all other teams.

Pruning Stacks to Prevent Over-Exposure

Last but not least, the stack viewing options can be used to keep an eye on exposure to particular teams or games in your lineups. Recall that the lineup generator will adhere to your requested stacks, but additional stacks might occur by chance when performing the optimization. You will likely have some stacks in your lineups even if you didn't specify any in the first place. This is especially true for small slates.

By using the stack viewer, you can quickly identify lineups that may be over-exposed to a particular team or game and adjust accordingly. An example is shown below where no stacks are specificed in a 3-game NFL slate and the stack viewer is used to quickly find lineups with more than two New England (NE) pass-catchers and remove those lineups. Of course, these stacks could have been avoided using other expsoure controls, but this is an example of a quick way to visualize the optimization results.

Summary

Hopefully this tutorial has given you a good overview of the stacking module in the Daily Fantasy Optimizer. Stacking is a powerful tool that can help you create lineups with higher upside and variance. The tier system combined with exposure controls enables a high degree of customization and control over how stacks are combined in your lineups. If you have any questions or feedback, please don't hesitate to reach out on our Discord or via our contact form. For a more guided tour, check out the YouTube video, below.