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Sportsbook Information | |
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Website: | |
Established: | 2012 |
Payment Methods: |
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Languages: |
English (US)
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Available sports: |
American Football, Baseball, Basketball, eSports, Golf, MMA, Soccer (Association Football), Tennis
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Betting features: |
Live Streaming, Live Betting, Bet Builder, Early Cashout
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Compatibility: | IOS, Android |
Customer Support: | Live, Chat, Email |
DraftKings is the biggest and most popular daily fantasy sports (DFS) site in the US, offering players the chance to enter fantasy teams without managing them all season.
Our DraftKings fantasy review looks at why DraftKings is so popular, rating it on various features such as contest types, game types, sports available, payment methods, and trustworthiness.
DraftKings has a couple of regular promotions, their Crowns reward system, and the VIP Dynasty Rewards Program, the latter of which is detailed further down on this page.
Every $1 spent on DraftKings earns one Crown, with 550 Crowns redeemable for $1 DK Dollar, which can be used on entry fees into any contest.
It sounds like a lot just to get $1, and it is, and you can earn bonus Crowns in various ways. Every day has a mission, such as entering a $3 contest, which rewards fantasy players with bonus crowns.
There are also achievements for every sport, such as players you choose scoring touchdowns, and the most difficult achievements can reward you with thousands of extra Crowns.
Bonus | Offer | DraftKings Promo Code |
First deposit bonus | $3 free entry when you deposit $5 | No code required |
It’s a solid bonus for daily fantasy as a complimentary entry ticket allows you to test out DraftKings to see whether you want to keep using it. It also lets you get used to the site layout and mobile app.
There’s no bonus code required, so it’s just a simple case of signing up and making your first deposit. After that, you’ll be awarded your $3 DraftKings free entry ticket.
The terms of the DraftKings welcome bonus are straightforward to follow. On top of the $5 deposit required to receive the free entry ticket, it expires precisely one year after being awarded.
There’s nothing worse than complex bonuses that are incredibly difficult to understand or fulfill, so DraftKings fantasy keeping this one simple is a massive positive that we always love to see.
Any winnings you get from the contest are yours to keep, and there are no wagering requirements, meaning you can use the winnings in another contest or withdraw them.
DraftKings runs a VIP program called the Dynasty Rewards Program. Fantasy players earn one Tier Credit for every $5 spent in a calendar year, and once you reach a tier, you won’t drop back down until the start of the following calendar year.
All DraftKings fantasy customers start at Bronze level, and a minimum of 5,000 Tier Credits is required to progress to the next tier.
Rewards are pretty basic to start with, as users get DraftKings-specific perks like extra Crowns and access to exclusive promotions. Still, they get more attractive quickly, and the final two tiers are incredibly enticing.
All tiers except Bronze earn rollover credits for the next calendar year, so you’re not starting at 0, and the table below provides all the details of the Dynasty Rewards Program at DraftKings Fantasy.
Tier |
Tier Credits Required |
Perks |
Bronze |
0 |
Access to exclusive promotions |
Silver |
5,000 |
All the above plus Crown Boosts, Tier-exclusive contests, Tier Credit milestone rewards |
Gold |
25,000 |
All the above plus priority customer support |
Diamond |
90,000 |
All the above plus: Diamond annual gift, exclusive live experiences, sweepstakes. |
Onyx |
175,000 plus invite |
All the above plus Onyx elite reward. |
Those in the Onyx tier can choose a reward at the end of the year from a range of prizes, such as an Apple technology bundle, a VIP evening on Broadway with the cast of a show, custom-fitted golf clubs, and a luxury watch.
DraftKings boasts a few different game types and contest types for customers, each requiring specific strategies and different ways of building lineups.
The overall goal, of course, is to finish in the places to win a prize, but the number of places and the overall value of prizes differ by contest and game type.
Keep reading to find out about DraftKings contests on their range of sports, which includes football, basketball, golf, soccer, MMA, hockey, NASCAR, tennis, F1, esports, and baseball.
Classic is the most popular game type and involves selecting players from any games included in the slate, detailed at the top of the contest page.
DraftKings classic games require you to adhere to positional and salary cap requirements, so you can’t just select players who all play in the same position.
The DraftKings Milly Maker is arguably the most famous DFS contest of all time and takes place on a Sunday afternoon, with entrants paying $20 per lineup for the chance to scoop the $1 million top prize.
Showdowns are for single events only and give you completely free choice as to which players you want to choose, at least in terms of position.
Each Showdown requires you to draft a Captain for 1.5x their normal value, and they will earn 1.5x fantasy point values for that game.
With more limited choices than a Classic game, Showdowns are more likely to end in ties, especially if the most popular players all perform as expected.
Tiers take the agony of trying to fit a salary cap and positions by allowing you to choose one player from each of the pre-selected tiers.
There are usually six tiers, each made up of players of a similar projected points total so you simply select who you think will perform best.
DraftKings fantasy players must select players from at least two teams, so you can’t just fill your six slots with players from the same team.
A snake draft is exactly like regular season-long fantasy, except it’s only for a specific day or slate of games.
The number of entrants into a DraftKings snake draft varies from three to 12, and once all the slots have been filled, entrants take it in turn to draft a player. When a player is selected, no other entrant can choose them.
As with all snake drafts, the order is randomized, and the draft snakes around, so the player who picks last in the first round then picks first in the second round.
Single stat games are different from every other type of contest in that you’re simply drafting the three players you think will record the most of a single stat, like yards in football or points in basketball.
There are no positional requirements or a salary cap, so you can choose any three players you like, making it much easier and faster to enter than most other game types.
DraftKings single stat games usually only pay out to the winner or the top two, but there’s a high chance that the prize will be shared, given there’s no salary cap or positions.
DraftKings best ball is similar to snake draft, except it runs over multiple weeks rather than just one.
There’s no roster management or trades involved, and each week, the highest-scoring players from your team are automatically on your starting lineup, so there’s no need to manage your roster each week.
Some DraftKings best ball tournaments have multiple rounds in which league winners advance to the next stage with greater prizes than regular best ball tournaments.
DraftKings tournaments are the primary type of contest, offering the most significant prizes relative to your entry fee.
Around the top 25% of lineups get paid out, and the lowest winning place is always more than your entry fee (assuming there are no ties).
The DraftKings Milly Maker, for example, is a $20 entry fee with a maximum of 150 entrants per account, and there are over 160,000 slots available. The lowest payout is $30.
Multiplier contests multiply your money by a set amount regardless of where you finish within the winning positions.
The popular ‘double up’ contest doubles your entry fee if you place in the prize positions, which around 45% of entrants do, and there are also contests that offer a 25x multiplier.
Your prize money is the same regardless of where you finish in the payout places; the strategy is a little different compared to tournament contests, as you don’t need to win to get the maximum payout.
Head to Head contests on DraftKings put you against one other person, and the winner takes the entire prize pot.
DraftKings takes a percentage of the entry fees to run the contest, which is usually 10% but can be as high as 20% or as low as 5%, so it’s not quite winner-takes-all, but it’s close enough.
DraftKings 50/50 contests are very similar to multipliers. You get the same prize amount no matter where you finish within the payout places, which is the top 50% of teams.
The prize is usually your entry fee multiplied by around 1.8x, so a $10 50/50 contest of 10 total entries pays out $18 to the top five.
Once again, the strategy for these 50/50 contests is similar to DraftKings multipliers, as you’re just trying to finish in the top half of teams rather than make potentially risky plays to try to come first.
DraftKings imposes a salary cap of $50,000 on all sports and in all game types that have a salary. Your lineup must come in at that salary or less.
Each player is given a value, and your roster has a specific number of slots that depend on the sport. The price of a player can vary between contests (for example, a player is more expensive in showdowns compared to classics).
The table below shows the salary cap for each sport.
Sport |
Salary Cap |
Football |
$50,000 |
Basketball |
$50,000 |
Hockey |
$50,000 |
Baseball |
$50,000 |
Soccer |
$50,000 |
MMA |
$50,000 |
NASCAR |
$50,000 |
Golf |
$50,000 |
Tennis |
$50,000 |
F1 |
$50,000 |
esports |
$50,000 |
There are six DraftKings payment methods, all of which can be used to deposit and four available for withdrawal.
It’s just a $5 minimum deposit for debit cards, Venmo, PayPal, and credit cards, while wire transfers require $100. Gift cards for DraftKings can be bought in increments of $25.
Deposits are immediate, but DraftKings payouts can take up to two days, a little longer than we would like to see. However, it’s still pretty good.
Payment method | Min. deposit | Max. deposit | Payout |
Debit Card | $5 | $25,000 | Up to 24 hours |
Wire transfer | $100 | $100,000 | Up to 2 days |
Venmo | $5 | $4,999.99 | Up to 2 days |
PayPal | $5 | $60,000 | Up to 2 days |
Credit Card | $5 | $25,000 | N/A |
Gift Card | $25 | $50 | N/A |
The DraftKings fantasy app is a fantastic offering on both iOS and Android, making it easy to enter contests and create lineups on your phone.
All the sports are shown on the front page for easy access to contests within the sport, and there are quick navigation buttons at the bottom for live and recent contests you’ve been involved in.
Each page loads quickly, too, so if you’re in a last-minute dash to change your lineup, you won’t have any issues doing so on the DraftKings app.
It’s not just us who love it, though. The DraftKings mobile app has a 4.9/5 rating on the Apple App Store and a 4.7/5 on Google Play, with many users citing it as user-friendly and easy to navigate.
The DraftKings user experience is excellent overall and makes it easy for everyone to play daily fantasy sports, whether new, experienced, or anything in between.
All the sports leagues you can enter contests in are displayed in a line across the top. However, some acronyms, such as EL (EuroLeague basketball) or UFL (United Football League), aren’t immediately apparent.
Selecting players for your lineup is easy, too. Each contest has tabs at the top to filter by position, and your roster is displayed next to the available players list, so you don’t have to keep flicking between windows.
At the top of the DraftKings lobby page, you can easily access live and upcoming contests, any leagues you’re involved in, rewards, and promotions.
DraftKings is a secure and trustworthy daily fantasy sports site that operates in most US states. Only those in Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington can’t play DFS on DraftKings.
The website employs 256-bit SSL encryption to keep your data safe. This level of protection is the standard level used by websites all around the world, so you can be confident that DraftKings is making an effort to protect your personal information.
Headquarters | Boston, Massachusetts |
Launch date | February 2012 |
Security | 256-bit SSL encryption |
KYC | Picture ID, address |
Responsible gambling | Deposit limits, timeout, self-exclusion |
Restricted states | Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington |
DraftKings provides various ways to contact customer support, including live chat, phone, and X (Twitter).
Phone support is available through a voicemail service, which involves calling the unmanned number and leaving a short voicemail with your account details and issues. A DraftKings customer support agent will then phone you back.
No direct email service and having to leave a voicemail instead of just being able to get directly through to a rep is annoying, but at least live chat is 24/7, and support agents are knowledgeable and friendly.
Method | Details |
Live chat | 24/7 |
None | |
Phone support | 1 (855) 357-2377 (voicemail service) |
This DraftKings fantasy review shows that it is one of the best daily fantasy sports sites available, boasting a wide range of sports and leagues to enter teams into.
The DraftKings mobile app and desktop site are both straightforward to navigate and use, so you don’t have to spend time figuring out how things work. Instead, you can just jump right in.
It would be preferable if DraftKings could improve their customer support by making it possible to send emails, but otherwise, there’s very little to pick faults with.
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