Alternately, you can look at it like this: You have $1m to spend. Would you rather buy 20000 shares of a player costing $50 who'll get a 5% bonus, or would you rather get 20000 shares of a player costing $10 who'll get a 10% bonus, and then spend the rest on that $50 player?
The message boards are also an excellent source for advice. They're also your worst source for advice. The problem is that everyone can post there, and pretty much everyone does, whether they're right or wrong. Sometimes people give misleading advice. Sometimes they give advice that is outright wrong. For the most part people are honest, but even honest bad advice is still bad. After a while you'll learn which people can be trusted, and which ones you should watch out for. The Todays News board is the most active.
In both cases above, one of the worst things you can do is to go onto the
board or into chat and immediately ask "Who should I buy?" Nothing
annoys people more than players who don't take the time to read the other
posts on the board, or consult one of the sports websites to see what the
scores are, or even just listen for a while, to see if anyone is in the middle
of talking about who the good buys are. Actually, there are things that annoy
people more than this, but that's beyond the scope of this article...
WSS daily will tell you what players might be IPO'd, and some of the columnists
are helpful, but mostly it looks at the big picture of how WSS relates to
sports in general, and not on, for instance, how to win. Also, their lists of
HOT and COLD players are not necessarily the most applicable to the game itself.
WSS's help pages may not be that much help, but you may still find them useful.
Where they will help is if you are having problems with the mechanics of the
game, as opposed to the strategy of it. If you haven't checked them out,
they're worth a look.
I also plan on posting more hints on how to play either as I find them, or as
they're submitted to me. Or as I come up with them.
Further help is potentially available in the Chat rooms, but that's mostly
just a place to chat.
| Buy during games. | ||
| This is a slightly risky method for Goalies, QB's and Pitchers, and less risky for scorers, and others for whom defense plays no part. If you see a player exceed his projections in a game, especially if it's a big-name player, you should buy him. Lesser players should be bought with more caution. | ||
| Sell as close to bonuses coming out as possible. | ||
| Whether you're a short-term player or not, if you plan on selling a player, do so as soon after bonuses coming out as possible, because plenty of other people will also be doing so. Try to get lead the mob, rather than follow it. | ||
| Remember the magic 2% rule. | ||
| You get charged 1% for all buys, and 1% for all sales. So, in order to make a profit from a player, you need that player to rise 2% in price, to cover your commission costs. | ||
| Learn who people buy. | ||
| Some players are bought during the week, no matter when they're playing. The downside of this is that most of these players are expensive, and if you're just starting may not be able to afford these players, but there are still bargains out there. Also watch for stocks who are going against weak teams (or teams that people think are weak)...people are likely to buy those stocks sooner. | ||
| Learn to read the herd. | ||
| Some stocks move a large amount simply because everyone thinks the stock is worth buying. Others fall because people think the stock will lose money. You want to try and figure out what will lead people to buy or sell a certain stock. Big trades and big game losses are two of these things. | ||
| Look for bargain players. | ||
| Not all bonus players are bought. Sometimes a stock will wildly exceed its projections, but people will just miss it, because it's not a big name. In football, these are generally kickers. A kicker who scores 8 points is generally going to get a reasonable (if not spectacular) bonus. In hockey, check everyone you've never heard of, to see if they got any points. Assists count in this game, and some stocks will rise on even one assist. There are a lot of golfers in WSS you probably haven't heard of. | ||
| Look for good performances outside specialties, but beware. | ||
| All players have primary categories where they need to perform for large bonuses. However, some players also have secondary categories, where if a players does well, they get much more credit for. This is mostly a football thing, applying to receiving and rushing stats. The other side of this though, is that a player who has no estimates for that category doesn't get a bonus. Goalies get no bonus for scoring or assisting on a goal. Pitchers get no bonus for home runs. Special teams doesn't count for football. Don't let yourself get sucked in by the excitement of a defensive fumble recovery, or some such. | ||
| Let go. | ||
| Bad games happen to good players. If you bought a player before the game, and they don't perform, don't be afraid to sell that player. Especially if you think others will also sell. Better to wait for that player to hit rock bottom, and then buy them again...remembering the magic 2% rule, if a stock falls 2%, you save money buy selling, and then re-buying, than by holding on. | ||
| Start at the beginning of the month. | ||
| WSS lets you legally have 3 accounts. They seem to tolerate a lot more. In any case, if you start a new account, especially with hope of doing well in the standings, you need to start it at the beginning of the month. It's the whole compound interest thing; the sooner you start, the higher your return. | ||
| Take advantage of every WSS dollar offer. | ||
| Or most of them, anyway. Certainly do any of them that don't require you to buy anything. $1,000 each for the various banner ads may not seem like much, but it can make a difference, espeically at the lower acct. amounts. | ||
| Buy IPOs | ||
| A player that is freshly IPO'd, that is first made
available on the market is a hot commodity. Everyone expects them to increase
in price, so everyone buys the player, and so the price goes up. Those who
get in early make the most money. Those who get in late, may make little or
none, but still might make some. It depends on how many people you think
might buy after you. In any case, as long as the number of buys are under,
say 2 million, maybe more, there's money to be made.
Disclaimer: with the 20% rule, and with baseball, this is far less true. You may want to hold off on buying an IPO, especially if you have a smaller account. As for selling IPO's, well, that's a different story. If an IPO'd player plays that night, and does well, sell after the next day bonuses. If they do poorly, sell immediately. And if they don't play at all, you'll need to watch and try and anticipate the sell-off. Or, at least, that's how the process seems to work. | ||
| Hockey hints: | ||
| 1 assist, buy if under 40 projected points for the
season. 1 goal, buy if under 50 points projected. 1 goal, 1 assist, buy if under 85-90 points, and if it happens early in the night, maybe 100. 2 assists, if predicted for under 40 assists, buy. Always buy any player with 2 goals or 3 points. Always buy a winning goalie that gives up less than 5 goals. Always buy a goalie who gets a tie if they're below their GAA. Note: These are conservative estimates. Your milage may vary. | ||
Let me know what you think or just go back to my home page.
Last updated 7 June 1999.