I know...just venting. DK actually changed this year and locks at the start of the first game. I am a fan of it as it allows you to enjoy the rest of the night. People who have dud players can't rearrange their lineup to try to make up for it. You don't have to be attached to a computer or phone and it is much more relaxing.
When you played, how often did you hit in tournaments? I've been keeping a log of all my conests and determined that if you can cash in a 50/50, you can likely cash in a tournament. I don't have a large enough bankroll such that I can throw away money attempting to take down tournaments though. I've started entering every one of my teams in a $1 tournament nightly to help build bankroll and in case I do have a monster night, I get some good winnings. The teams I usually make are full of guys that are consistent. I don't really take a lot of chances on players on the mid-tier guys who have 2 bad games, an average one, and then a huge one such as Zach LaVine or Eric Gordon. But I understand that you need to hit on these guys in order to take down a huge tourney. I'm also really good at identifying minimum players who have recently entered the rotation and have a knack for hitting on these guys. Like yesterday, I was all about Wayne Ellington, and now today, everyone is on Wayne Ellington. I feel like I am actually ahead of the curve because I follow the rest of the NBA so closely and have so much time on my hands to research.
I'd enter 10-15 tournaments a night and normally hit in 3-4....my strategy was to win big enough with one of my entries to cover cost of other entries that don't hit. For a time I split my money between 50/50's and tournaments, but felt I was getting gamed in 50/50's. The biggest issue, IMO, with head to head and 50/50's is the sharks make a lot of money here, and they're playing with a different set of information/data. And they load up in those 50/50's and head to heads and just take down "joe-schmo" trying to minimize their risk.
To be honest, I felt like you get gamed in pretty much all contests but that's another story.
The strategy on $1 tournaments is sound, but I'd caution on one thing....you will cash more in $1 tournaments because many players enter absurd line-ups because they are willing to risk $1. As soon as you step up the dollar amount, the rosters become a bit more conservative. So you will have a much better chance of placing in a $1 tounramnet, while winning or placing very high is extremely difficult because the range of entries is exceptionally high. Winning or placing high in $5-$10 tournaments is actually easier because the entries are more narrow in terms of commonalities. However, IMO, placing in $5-$10 tournaments is harder. I hope this makes sense.....best way to state it is, in a $1 tournament, to place you need a lower score than in a $5 or $10 tourney. But the winner in a $1 tourney has a much higher score typically than the winner in a $5 or $10 tourney.
I will say, if you want any chance of success at all, you basically need to set an alarm on your phone for 10-15 minutes before first tip, and then jump on a quality news source like rotowire for up to date information. It's critical to know who is sitting vs. starting and often that information comes last minute. While I had a lot of success, it was very time consuming and really started wearing thin on the wife who didn't understand why I was so obsessive on my phone. God forbid I saw news one of my guys was resting and would not be playing....it was like a sprint to the bathroom to manage my rosters to not throw away $150 on the night.
I had the itch to look at line-ups in rotowire just now.....like last year, I rode Dallas to some good money on nights half their rotation was out. Carlisle is a good enough coach to keep games close, and when you know a guy will get 35 mins in his rotation, you know his counting stats will probably be solid. Looks like Salah Mejri or Dorian Finney-Smith could be great values with the minutes they will absorb. Memphis also looks ripe for the picking against Orlando, in a game they could very well keep close, and have very limited roster flexibility with so many guys out....JaMychal Green, Tony Allen, and Troy Williams are going to be busy dudes tonight.....and Andrew Harrison might be a must play at $3900