How do fantasy auction drafts work

A player is put up for auction and then all participants commence free-for-all bidding until the price is high enough that no one is willing to place a new bid. Players are auctioned off one-at-a-time, and the order is determined by nominations.

Nominating is the act of choosing who is the next player up for auction, and draft participants usually take turns having that privilege. You might call that Round Robin Nominations and it's the most prevalent method used on the mainstream fantasy websites. Draft participants can queue up a player for auction at any time and are then put on a cooldown before they can nominate another player. This format keeps the draft moving by eliminating the downtime in between auctions while preserving the fairness of letting everyone have a chance to nominate.

Auction drafting in fantasy sports works the same way as bidding in an estate or auto auction. A player is nominated for auction by a draft participant. That participant claims the opening minimum bid, and then all participants commence free-for-all bidding until the price is high enough that no one is willing to place a new bid. The auction ends when time expires, and the player is added to the high bidder's roster.

To keep things moving, auction drafts limit the time participants have to place bids. In most settings, the timer will reset to 10 seconds if a new bid comes in just before time expires in order to preserve a fair outcome to each auction. Tip: Do not try to place a last-second bid thinking you might trick the draft into giving you the winning bid.

You might lag out, and even milliseconds could mean you miss out entirely. Even if your bid is accepted, most drafts will reset the timer and all you will have accomplished is wasting time. It's not worth the risk; if you want a player, bid with confidence often and early! Exclusive: Drafty provides a More Time Plz button that will add 10 seconds to the timer at any moment, usable once per participant during each player auction.

So if you're facing a tough decision and time is running out, give yourself a little buffer and mash that button! Naysayers often assert that auction drafts take too long, and they're not wrong. A traditional auction draft can last hours for a standard redraft league.

Most of the downtime comes from:. How do we do it? In a standard league, waiver moves are made not only to rebuild or strengthen your team but also to hinder another team. With an auction draft league, undrafted waiver players will either be assessed a standard value amount, and drafted players who have been dropped to the waiver pool will retain their drafted price.

This will limit the number of teams picking up a player just to keep on their bench. In some cases, a player may just be too expensive to fit on your team, despite their value to another player.

As this logic is true in the NFL, so let it be true for your league. Okay, so you have the first pick. With an auction draft, this edge goes right out the window and the playing field is even.

Players nominated in an auction draft do not need to follow any sort of ranking order; owners nominate any player they want upon their turn. This, therefore, does not require your team to be forced into selecting a specific position at any given time.

With an auction draft, you have the opportunity to select who you want, when you want, and ideally for how much you want. If you want to spend most of your cap on a few high-priced running backs, go ahead! With an auction draft, you dictate your strategy and construct your team, your way. If every team in your league has to start just one QB, the bidding wars should diminish as more QB1s come off the board.

First, determine where the cutoff point is for the QB1s. Instead of jumping into the bidding on the fifth quarterback nominated in the QB1 tier, which could be someone like Peyton Manning or Drew Brees , wait until the tier is left with Ryan or Ben Roethlisberger. The value of your quarterback situation can help you dig a little deeper into your budget to overpay a bit for players you're especially high on this year. Getting the most bang for your buck is definitely important, but you have to be careful not to focus on getting all the best values.

Sometimes, that leaves you short on actual talent and with significant money left in your budget even after your roster is full. Understand that if you save money at quarterback or other positions, it gives you the cushion to spend a little more on a high-end player you really want. For instance, if you really want Jeremy Hill and got your starting signal-caller for a few bucks, don't be shy on spending more money to lock up Hill. These auctions are about more than nailing the values.

It's easy to get caught up in trying to find the best bargains until you realize that you're short on overall talent yet still have money to spend without any other roster spots to fill. Understand that the auction process is way more involved than a draft. In an auction, every nomination is important to watch since any player can go up at any time. At that point, other managers may also realize that only one stud WR is left and a bidding frenzy could result.

In some auction drafts, there will be a run at a particular position. In the beginning, it's often the running back or wide receiver positions. Late in the auction, it can be the defenses. In general, you're better off starting the run than being the one finishing it. At the end of the run, the talent at the "hot" position is usually two or three tiers lower. It can be unnerving, nine or 10 picks into the auction, all the other managers are clearly overpaying, but they have some great studs.

You, on the other hand, don't have a single roster spot filled. Don't panic, the math will eventually come to your rescue and put the odds in your favor.

Keep a running total of what players are going for and divide that by their total maximum suggested bids. If the number is greater than 1. If it's less than 0. I've seen managers lose a few bids early, smoke starts coming out of their ears and then really lose it on the next few players. Don't go on tilt. In fact, if you have a hothead in your group, you can often bait them into this type of overspending. Be careful when bidding players up because you might just get stuck with him.

If you're one of the first guys to fill your starting lineup requirement at a given position and if you're strong at the position, then be sure to nominate plenty of other players at that position.

The logic is simple. Let the other owners spend money at that spot in a potential bidding war. After they burn off bankroll you'll be better positioned to work on your other starting lineup requirements. In regular serpentine drafts, managers usually avoid players in a training camp battle. Why burn a draft spot on an uncertain player and then wait for five or 10 picks until you get your next one? The reason? Auctions tend to be top-heavy. In other words, the top few guys demand huge bids.

After the elite guys, the auction values tend to drop off very quickly. The two guys in the training camp battle tend to be devalued in auctions so they can be had on the cheap.

Yet, when one of the players finally emerges, his value grows exponentially and you come out ahead e. Steer clear of the top five quarterbacks unless they're going for very cheap i. The quarterbacks in the No. Auctions are a great format in which to build and utilize a quarterback-by-committee approach.

That way, you'll avoid freeing up money for another owner to bid up the player you're about to get. Your goal should be to get a good kicker with a minimum bid. One trick is to nominate a kicker in the No. You'll often win the auction as your competition is focused on other positions. Expect to pay one to 1. Below is a table that should be useful for those owners who don't have access to their league's auction history.