FanDuel to limit amount of contests players can enter

 New rules designed to protect recreational users from high-volume pros

 

FanDuel has introduced new limits on the amount of head-to-head contests that players can enter in an effort to protect recreational users.

The new limits apply to head to head contests with entry fees of $25 or under and vary with sports. 

For example users can enter 100 $25 NFL contests per slate, but only 15 NHL tournaments of the same cost. The limit for MLB and NBA is 25 per slate.

FanDuel said the new limits were part of its ongoing efforts to ensure a “level playing field for all users”. Both FanDuel and rival DraftKings have faced criticism for the “sharks and minnows” ecosystem, where 1.3% of DFS players win 91% of the profits.

The inequality is one of the main threats to the future of the industry as recreational players feel increasingly disillusioned, according to analysts at Eilers and Krejcik.

The rules bring FanDuel in line with DraftKings which introduced a very similar restriction in November 2015, but these kind of limits may not be the answer to the industry’s issues, according to Joe Brennan, CEO of DFS firm FastFantasy.

He told EGR NA: “While setting entry limits seems like a fine idea, the worry is that high-liquidity players will simply disguise the number of plays they make by establishing multiple accounts and other structures to allow them to have higher aggregate entry totals.

“If those players are smart enough to be able to win via high-volume entries and big data, they’re likely smart enough to find ways to circumvent those limits.”