Welcome to the world of High Stakes Fantasy Football, where the goal is to win the FFPC Main Event and take home the $500,000 prize. If you’re new to the Main Event, sit tight because I’m going to guide you through the process and hopefully help you take down the Grand Prize (If I don’t win it myself). If you are an experienced FFPC player, maybe this guide will help you fine tune your skills.
I’ve been playing in high stakes leagues for close to 10 years now and have realized one thing for sure: The home for High Stakes Fantasy Football is at the Fantasy Football Players Championship. The FFPC offers leagues from $35 Best Balls to $10,000 High Society Leagues.
But their flagship competition is the Main Event. The Main Event entry fee is $1,900 per team ($400 off any additional teams) and the grand prize is $500,000. That’s right -- half a million dollars, plus a pretty cool trophy. The best fantasy football players in the world play in the Main Event, so we must come prepared.
I started playing in the Main Event 8 years ago and have cashed all but 2 years, one of them being in 2020. 2019 was a nice year for me as I finished 5th overall in the Main Event -- good for a cool $15,500. I played in 3 Main Event Leagues that year, winning a total of $17,500 in prizes.
In 2020, the FFPC started doing Main Event slow drafts that began on July 4th. I have disagreed with this publicly and continue to hate the idea of a high-stakes tournament that is drawn out for over 2 months. It adds more luck, or risk, however you want to classify it, to something that already relies very heavily on those 2 things. The good news is that we will have live ADP data for the remainder of this Strategy Guide that we can use to become more informed drafters.
Let’s dig into the rules for this unique competition. The Main Event consists of 3,000 teams -- that’s 250 leagues of 12 teams. You compete with your league for Weeks 1-12. League playoffs start Week 13 with 4 teams qualifying. New in 2021 is an all-play Week 6. The 6 highest scoring teams get a win and the 6 lowest scoring teams get a loss in Week 6. This is due to the NFL going to 17 games and having an extra week. There are cash prizes awarded to the team with the best regular season record, most points, playoff winners and for finishing second or third in the league playoffs.
The top 2 regular season teams and playoff league winner will make it to the all-important “Championship Round” to compete for the $500,000. The Championship Round runs from Week 15-17 and is a total points sprint. The team with the most points at the end of those 3 weeks wins. The Main Event also pays out down to 125th place.
The unique thing about the FFPC is its scoring and roster requirements. The most unique thing and the FFPC’s claim to fame is the TE-premium scoring. TEs get 1.5 points per reception while all other positions get 1 PPR. It doesn’t seem like a lot, but it is… trust me. The multi-flex option for setting a lineup is also a bit unique. More on that later.
You must be at your absolute best when drafting against these sharks. Nobody is spending $1,900 and coming to the draft unprepared. Most sites that offer mock drafts like Fantasy Football Calculator, Yahoo and ESPN will not be able to help you with the unique scoring and roster requirements of the FFPC. But the Draft Sharks Mock Draft Trainer can. With FFPC rules and up-to-date FFPC ADP, it’s the best practice you can get.
Part of your preparation is knowing the rules and nuances of the Main Event. You can view the full rules here:https://myffpc.com/cms/public/play/main-event-official-rules/.
The TE premium scoring sets the FFPC apart. The 1.5 PPR for TEs moves them up draft boards and can be a bit unsettling if you aren’t used to it. Travis Kelce will be a top 3 pick in many Main Event drafts this year. I’ll discuss when to target certain players/positions in future installments.
The Main Event also has a 20-man roster, 18 offensive players with a kicker and a DST. Starting requirements are as follows: 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 2 Flex (RB, WR, TE), 1 Kicker and 1 DST. The 2 flex spots allow drafters to use a little more strategy than they would in standard leagues. Getting the most points you can in those flex spots is key to winning big money in the Main Event.
If you are looking for ADP for the FFPC, Draft Sharks has you covered. Click here to get all the data.
One of the things that has helped me the most is gathering all the info I can. The Draftsharks FREE Discord Channel is the perfect place to get FFPC info from myself and High Stakes studs like Abib Agbetoba (@skywalka2000) and Andrew Geller (@The_Gildz), plus the rest of the DS Staff. Join the free Discord here: https://discord.gg/JSbEMSyb
I listen to 4-5 podcasts religiously during the week to gather insight on players and analytics. I also co-host The Deep End podcast with Mike Schopp (@schopptalk) that is solely focused on High Stakes Fantasy Football. The Deep End can be found wherever you get your podcasts, as well as on twitter @DeepEndFF1.
A little nervous to swim with the big fish? Don’t be! I’m here to help you build your strategy for success. Over the next few installments, I’ll dig deeper into what has made me successful and how you can apply it to your drafts. Follow me @Adam_Krautwurst on Twitter for all things FFPC.
In the next part of this FFPC Main Event strategy guide, I’ll discuss how to build a championship-winning foundation in the early part of the draft.