Picking a Daily Fantasy lineup is a lot like everyday living. You can get away with spending a few too many dollars on adult beverages on a Saturday night with only the risk of having to go easy the following week. If you overspend any given night in DFS, due to extremely high variance and small sample sizes, you can get wiped out very quickly and start feeling dejected (and we are here to make sure that never happens!).

With a specific amount of money in our pockets, we're all looking for sustainability, for ways to spend our money and receive a lasting return. Looking for sales at the supermarket that'll help feed us for the week instead of breaking the bank on meals each day. Researching when it's smart to spend up, on something like a car instead of continuously dumping money into a 1992 Toyota Camry that's weighed down by the jumper cables and flat spare tire in the trunk. Well, the same applies for Daily Fantasy.

Here's a look at some tips and theories on bankroll management for DFS.

Spend Comfortably

If you're playing and paying more than you want to, you're likely going to second guess your lineups over and over before the games start. This often makes people stray away from their own intuition and start thinking with dollar signs instead of their gut. As with games of skill and chance like poker, craps or blackjack, people have a tendency to "make their move" and bet big, thinking the one time they splurge will be when they're paid out royally. Well, there's a reason it's called gambling. Nobody knows what's going to happen. If you're not comfortable dropping $100 on one tournament, then don't do it. Start small. (Most sites offer free rolls for beginners).

Strategy For Beginners

If you're new to Daily Fantasy, start with a couple of free rolls. Feel out how DraftKings or FanDuel works. The ins and the outs; the scoring system, the pricing, the ownership percentages. How your lineup needs to produce in order to cash. Etc. Once you're comfortable, move on to $1 and $2 tournaments. This way you're actually beginning to bet your own money and will get a taste of the ups and downs of Daily Fantasy. What it's like to lose, cash or miss cashing by a couple points. It's better to be prepared mentally for every possible outcome while not risking a ton of money.

Of course with playing small money tournaments, it's much more difficult to place in the money because of the increased number of entrants. For example, $1 to $2 GPP (guaranteed prize pool) DraftKings contests range anywhere from 3,000 to 12,000+ entrants. (Not always the case, of course) Yes, first place would win $1,000, but unless you're placing within the top-10, you're not winning more than fifty bucks. A majority of those who cash are simply doubling or tripling their $1-2 investment. But all in the day's work of Daily Fantasy.

Tournaments and Head-to-Head's 

I understand that most people will recommend starting your Daily Fantasy journey with Head-to-Head contests. I also understand that when it comes to managing a bankroll it's imperative to do all you can to continue building your stack. Without money, we can't play, obviously. But H2H's provide more risk than reward in my opinion.

There are a ton of strategies that encourage players to use a ratio method (something like 70/30) where 70% of your money, for that night, is used for GPP and 30% is used towards H2H. I'm not against that type of method. I simply think it doesn't need to be followed always. Our efforts could be catered elsewhere on specific nights.

I'm not a fan of the payouts for H2H contests. $1 entries pay out $1.80. $2 pay out $3.60. $5 pay out $9. And so on. The numbers speak for themselves here as you're not even doubling your investment. Yes these are affordable ways to slightly build your stack, but those trying to make some real, consistent money, start with tourneys.

The odds to win a Head-to-Head are obviously more in our favor. It's also wise to stay away from the sharks and high-volume players. FanDuel allows you to see the track record of your potential opponent by clicking on their username.

Tournaments are a completely different Daily Fantasy animal, often difficult to tackle. And I do believe they are catered to the more experience play. But as a beginner, if you're spending only a couple dollars a night, I recommend giving tourneys a shot. The payouts are just as flimsy as H2H's but there's a possibility to make some decent money.

Miscellaneous Advice 

• Feast on overlay. These are guaranteed prize pool contests that aren't expected to fill up, increasing your chances of cashing.
• Create multiple lineups, with different players. This can definitely be frustrating as some players break out on different lineups, and not together, but this also increases your chances of cashing. 
• Keep an eye on other low-volume players for H2H. Ultimately it's up to the actual players on the field, ice, or court, but any upper hand you can get, take.
• Familiarize yourself with usernames. If you see the same couple over and over, stay away. They're the professionals.
• Deposit and reload bonuses are real (even though they take forever to come into play). Might be wiser to initially deposit a hefty amount of $50 to increase your deposit bonus.
• Most importantly, have fun. Don't treat this like a job. It's a way to make some extra money that involves watching and reading about sports.

Remember, this is a grind and long term investment just like everything else you expect to master. Businesses aren't always successful right away, but you don't throw in the towel after two months.

To sum it up, if you're willing to stick it out, be patient, and aren't afraid to lose some money (that of which you're comfortable with), then there's a good chance that you'll see your profits on the upswing. Especially once you've familiarized yourself with the trends, and sports. Don't forget to use all of RotoBaller's premium section MLB tools to help you make your lineup picks.