The FantasyLabs NBA and NFL DFS product is getting an upgrade with the new SimLabs Lineup Generator. You will be able to access it with a FantasyLabs subscription.
Anyway, let’s get into it!
What is SimLabs?
SimLabs will create the most user-friendly lineup generation process.
We replicate every element of a DFS slate, from the plays in every game to the outcomes of a DFS contest.
Afterward, we show the outcomes of each simulation in a user-friendly interface. This interface allows you to effortlessly create competitive DFS lineups by inputting a few preferences that align with your personal choices.
Why Create SimLabs?
SimLabs was established with the mission to uncomplicate sophisticated DFS gameplay and ensure all players can utilize advanced tools.
- The concept of DFS game theory poses a significant challenge.
- Pre-existing lineup tools can seem intricate and require considerable learning effort. They can also demand a significant amount of time.
- The DFS experience has become daunting for a lot of current and previous participants.
SimLabs is an easy-to-use tool that lets you swiftly create competitive lineups while taking into account the game theory behind DFS.
How Does SimLabs Work?
- We simulate a slate’s games thousands of times.
- We follow a process to generate a massive pool of lineups from those simulations.
- The generated lineups are shaped and filtered to look like a real-life DFS contest field of lineups, as we project it to look across four common contest types.
- We simulate the results of a DFS contest thousands of times using the lineups available to each contest and then tabulate the results.
- Each lineup is rated relative to other lineups in the “universe” to show how they performed. (And all of the above happens long before you ever even open the tool!)
- We allow you to combine the results of the simulation with other factors, such as their projections, correlation elements, upside, and ownership.
You can weigh and control these to form your own personal lineup models.
How Do I Operate SimLabs?
- Select your preferred number of lineups.
- Choose the contest type that best fits what you intend to enter.
- Set your “Results Range.” The results range helps ensure that every lineup set returned by SimLabs is relatively unique to you. Setting a wide range will add diversity to your results. A lower range will contract the possible range of returns.
- Choose “Get Lineups” to see results based on your personal preferences, which you can edit in the advanced tab.
Why Simulations?
Simulations serve as a valuable tool across various sectors of society, assisting in answering questions that can’t be easily recreated in reality.
In the realm of sports, each game is a unique experience, and in DFS, both you and your rivals can only witness one potential outcome per slate.
The role of simulations is to use probability to guide decision-making for the forthcoming slate as if it had the chance to occur multiple times. The outcomes of each “trial” are recorded and analyzed to ascertain which choices are more likely to yield success.
SimLabs uses simulations to forecast which lineups could more frequently achieve the ultimate objective of success and/or offer superior returns.
How Do I Customize SimLabs Results?
You have options to customize your results even further:
- Choose players to include or exclude from every lineup (see the above image from “How to operate SimLabs).
- Adjust your advanced setting to change the SimLabs Rating weights. (More on that later.)
- Use the Saved Lineups tool to lock in lineups you like, and repeat the process to find more lineups using new customization settings.
What Is “Contest Field” and Why Does It Matter?
The simulation’s evaluation of lineup groups is altered by the contest field, which subsequently influences the results received by SimLabs.
Large Field: This represents a vast and diverse array of lineups. Though the field size may differ, it primarily aids in curating lineups for the large-field GPP contests provided in each slate.
Small Field: This is tailored to symbolize a more educated, compact group of entries. The small field assesses 5,000 of the top lineups and is designed to assist in competing against a more formidable level of competition.
Single Entry: The finest lineups are scrutinized to facilitate victory in a contest where multiple lineup entries are either banned or less probable. The single field investigates 2,000 of the top lineups and aims to aid in contending with an exceptionally robust competition field.
What Is “Results Range” and How Does It Work?
SimLabs’ results range feature guarantees that each set of lineups you receive has a distinct quality. If you opt for a broader range, your outcomes will exhibit more variety. Conversely, narrowing down the range will limit the scope of returns.
How Does the Advanced Settings Tab Work?
You can tailor your SimLabs experience to your preference by utilizing the advanced settings tab. Every slider you see corresponds to a specific weighting percentage in the SimLabs Rating. The configuration of your settings will determine the variety in your resulting lineups.
Simulation Weight: This is where we run a complete simulation of the slate, inclusive of both the outcomes of the games and the DFS contest results. A higher Simulation Weight assigns more value to those lineups that demonstrated superior outcomes in these simulations.
Projection Weight: This setting determines the significance of Simulated fantasy points in your SimLabs rating. It is the traditional method used for assessing your lineups.
Ownership Weight: This option allows you to adjust the significance of Simulation ownership in your SimLabs rating. Increasing this weighting percentage will boost the optimal rates of your lineup, but it also increases expected ownership. Conversely, a lower ownership setting will result in lower optimal rates and ownership. Although having high optimal rates is typically beneficial, there can also be an advantage in possessing more unique lineups (lower ownership).
Upside Weight: You can adjust the Upside weight in your SimLabs rating. An increased percentage leans towards the upside but could also increase volatility. The upside is influenced by several elements, such as the lineup’s deviation level and its likelihood of achieving superior finishes within the simulation.
Correlation Weight: Adjust the correlation weight in your SimLabs rating. A higher percentage supports stacking and the creation of correlated lineups.
How Can I Edit the Current Build?
There are several methods to modify the lineups in your “Current Build.”
Instant Substitutions: By clicking the Red “X” icon located at the upper right corner of a lineup card or the left column when in grid view, you’ll experience something unique: an entirely new team will take its place!
Limitation Management: Although SimLabs currently doesn’t support requests for a specific quantity of any particular player (a feature typical in optimizer tools), you can utilize the basic + and – buttons on the exposure tab to limit or increase a given player in your builds.
Preserving Squads: You can combine the results of multiple builds via the saved lineups feature and narrow down to your favorite teams there.
Export Generated Lineups to FantasyLabs Player Models
You can also sync your SimLabs lineups over to NFL Player Models and NBA Player Models. This feature allows you to use all the same functionality that our Player Models have, such as lineup editing, tagging, and entry management.
What Is the Bar Chart at the Bottom of Each Lineup Card?
The SimLabs rating system is comprised of 5 crucial metrics that are displayed here.
These metrics are gauged on a scale from 0 to 99. It’s common to encounter lineups that boast numerous green ratings. This is because we want you to initially consider SimLabs’ version of an ideal lineup before venturing into something more unconventional.
Projection: This is a rating between 0 and 99, which compares the projection of this lineup against others in the field.
pOWN: This metric, scored from 0 to 99, evaluates the ownership rating of this lineup in comparison to other lineups in the field. A higher score on this scale implies a higher likelihood of high ownership, but it also typically signifies that the lineup consists of optimal plays.
Top 100: This metric, rated from 0 to 99, measures how frequently this lineup appears in the top 100. A higher score here indicates that it ranked in the top 100 more frequently than other lineups in the field. Keep in mind this figure may vary depending on your contest field type.
ITM: An abbreviation for “in the money.” This metric, ranging from 0 to 99, gauges how often this lineup hits the cash line. A higher score here means it ended up “in the money” more frequently than other lineups in the field. Note that this figure may vary depending on your contest field type.
SimWgt: The term “Simulation Weight” refers to a scale rating from 0 to 99, which gauges the performance of a lineup in a competitive simulation in relation to your field type. A lineup that scores higher on this scale indicates its superior performance over time when compared to other lineups within the same field. These ratings are susceptible to fluctuations depending on the nature of the contest field type.
What Happens in the Templates Tab?
This is where you can easily store and recall your favorite advanced settings.
- Set your number of Lineups, Contest Field, and Results Range.
- Set your advanced settings.
- Name and save your template.
- Later, return to this tab to recall your settings from the “select template settings” dropdown menu.
How Do I Export to DFS Sites Using SimLabs?
Flag your favorite lineups while using the tool so they are added to “Saved Lineups,” then hit “Download Lineups” on the left side and create a .CSV lineup upload to bring those lineups to DraftKings the same way you do with our Lineup Optimizer.
What Do the Charts Mean on the SimLabs Dashboard?
Projected Cash Thresholds for This Slate: SimLabs ran thousands of simulations for the slate, and this graph illustrates the cash threshold for each run.
Projected Victory Tally for This Slate: SimLabs carried out thousands of simulations for the slate, and this graph visualizes the winning score for each run.
Optimal vs. Estimated Ownership: This graph depicts players with a discrepancy between their optimal appearance frequency and projected ownership.
Principal Stack Percentage: This graph depicts player stack optimal appearance frequencies in comparison to projected ownership.
Can I Edit the Players in Each Lineup?
At the moment, the feature of exporting lineups to a DFS site or the optimizer for manual editing within individual lineups is not accessible in SimLabs. However, we are working towards enabling an automatic export feature to our optimizer for immediate editing in the not-so-distant future.
Will My Results Look the Same as Others?
We have taken steps in the design to focus on a unique experience for users and done so with integrity of responses.
- The results range has been designed to ensure a diverse set of results, even when two users input identical model settings.
- The model settings further help a community member set a specific combination of metrics that aid them in customized, unique responses.
- The ability to exclude or include players and adjust exposure settings also plays a significant role in influencing the generation response.
- Using the saved lineup feature and leveraging multiple executions to achieve a lineup set can also be a strong tool for maintaining a unique SimLabs experience.
Just like any lineup generation tool, there is a possibility that you may receive the same lineup as another player. This is where your proficiency and understanding of the DFS game become crucial. You always have the ultimate power of decision-making at your disposal, determining how you choose to engage with your opponents.
Can I Set Individual Exposures Like in the Optimizer?
No, but our exceptional lineup optimization tools can be located here, providing you with an array of methods to fully govern your lineups, including constraints on exposure during the creation of lineups.
Exposure to any player in any “current build” can be adjusted player by player within the exposures tab after you have generated lineups.
What is the Difference Between SimLabs and an Optimizer?
Optimizers are engineered to deliver the most optimal outcomes in accordance with a defined set of rules.
In contrast, SimLabs operates on a simpler concept. You instruct SimLabs on how to assess lineups, and in turn, it produces a distinct selection of lineups for your consideration.
Both experiences are unique and come with their own sets of pros and cons.
Optimizers offer an extraordinary amount of control and adaptability, along with an almost infinite variety of outcome combinations. However, they also present a steep learning curve and mandate several of DFS’ most significant hurdles (e.g., correlation, diversity, lineup evaluation) to be approximated and/or manufactured.
On the other hand, SimLabs is straightforward, user-friendly, and employs a comprehensive approach in evaluating a lineup. Factors such as correlation and upside are inherently considered within its framework. However, you won’t have the depth of control options or response permutations (in some but not all cases) as the optimizer.
Why Should I Trust SimLabs?
We are dedicated to creating game simulations that are true to life.
We understand that a relevant player pool is essential to a realistic contest simulation and use our expertise to create a true-to-life experience.
We have dedicated engineering resources to deliver a reliable, fast contest simulation that will help you more easily generate high-potential outputs.
It’s always wise to critically analyze advice from external sources and understand that every model operates on its own set of assumptions. SimLabs is not an exception to this, but we put in relentless efforts to make sure our output can achieve the objectives of being advanced, competitive, and user-friendly.
Since You Provide Lineup Ratings, is There Still Skill Involved?
Playing DFS against players always requires skill, and no DFS instruments can promise you a win. This is the charm of a zero-sum contest against competitors: the art of decision-making constantly resides with you.
We offer an extensively studied, data-influenced, and technologically-supported assessment of every lineup that goes through SimLabs. This is designed to serve as a reliable resource in your decision-making process, acting as one of many factors to consider when devising your plan for the upcoming slate.
Here’s a nugget of wisdom: success might come in spurts through blind faith in other people’s viewpoints and recommendations. Yet, success in DFS usually harmonizes crowd wisdom with their data-oriented strategies to achieve sustained victory over time. Keep this in mind as you review your SimLabs feedback and utilize your expertise and abilities to take charge of the lineups you choose to participate in.
