Definition of 50/50

What does the term "50/50" mean in the world of daily fantasy sports? What is meant by a 50/50 tournament?

In the world of daily fantasy sports, a "50/50" refers to a tournament where the top 50% of the field gets paid, while the bottom 50% of the field gets paid nothing.



A 50/50 is considered a "cash game".

Let's say that you enter into a 50/50 tournament with your favourite line-up of the week. There are 1,000 entrants in the tournament, which means that the top 500 spots will pay. Each player pays a total of $10 to get into the tournament, which means that the top 500 finishers will likely receive something like $19 back ($1 will likely be subtracted from the prize pool for rake, which is what the company hosting the tournament makes from the event).

In order to cash, all you need to do is finish in the top 50% of the field.

In a heads-up cash game, you can have a really bad team and still win the contest, provided that your opponent has an even worse team.

In a 50/50 tournament, you will almost certainly finish outside of the money if you have a really bad team.

One thing to consider - if you enter a 50/50 tournament and put together a team for the ages, you will spend a long time thinking about what might have been if you had entered the team into a standard tournament.

This illustrates the downside of the 50/50 tournament - it's easier to cash, though you will be potentially leaving untold amounts of money on the table if you pick a really good team.