Do you prefer snake or auction?

[Matt Mueller 146]

Long time snake league is considering moving to an auction. Having only done snake leagues I tend to favor those but I was wondering what everyone out there who might have more experience with both thinks. What did you like better? Why?

 

While I think it's cool that you have a chance at everyone the problem I'm running into is that I don't know how to prepare. I have done tons of snake mocks easily but when I've attempted to do an auction mock it takes nearly an hour for me to get 5 players on my team.

 

Basically with a snake league, I can know my position, what players might be there, mock a lot, get a feel, and go in with a strategy.

 

Right now I'm struggling with how to prepare for an auction and every time I get amped to try one A. It takes forever B. Someone spends 120 on Foster and CJ and then quits which kind of throws the whole thing off.

 

 

Thoughts?

[Frozenbeernuts 1,654]

You should hunt those d beaters down and kill

[shorepatrol 1,741]

I haven't tried auction , but I do like salary cap. Salary cap for my pay league , snake for all my free leagues

[Patmos 2]

Auction drafting and FAAB are the fairest way to go. The strategy really is remarkably similar. I feel that I have a great deal more control of what my team will look like in an auction.

 

Check out the thread "What's the most you paid for a player in an auction" - there are more comments on strategy that may help as well

[shorepatrol 1,741]

Auction drafting and FAAB are the fairest way to go. The strategy really is remarkably similar. I feel that I have a great deal more control of what my team will look like in an auction.

 

 

Salary cap you control every position , every week and it's head to head.

[titans&bucs&bearsohmy! 2,745]

I prefer auction honestly. It lets each player determine what strategy they want to pursue. Want to pay big for a certain stud back? You can, but it will hurt you later.

 

I find the best strategy, particularly with first timers, is to sit back and let them piss all their money away early. They will end up with a team with one or two top tier guys, and a bunch of third, fourth, and below guys. You can end up with a team that has all second tier guys, and wh!p their ass all season.

[Bert 1,115]

I prefer auction to serpentine.

[plasma george 52]

I prefer auction to serpentine.

Thanks for helping out.

 

We talked about it a few years ago, and we still do Serpentine.

 

Fact about an Auction Draft, you can have a great Draft without having the most FF knowledge, but rather budget/finance knowledge. IOW, I can send in my wife, tell her to watch other guys and what big names are being priced up, go for some studs, monitor your money and build me a roster without going over.

 

In a Serpentine, everyone builds an individual/different team based on their draft position, and what's available on their pick....you are 100% on your own, and my wife would fail in that room.

[huskerinct 1]

Fact about an Auction Draft, you can have a great Draft without having the most FF knowledge, but rather budget/finance knowledge. IOW, I can send in my wife, tell her to watch other guys and what big names are being priced up, go for some studs, monitor your money and build me a roster without going over.

Seriously? Hey you wanna join my league? You obviously have no clue. lol

[RoadLizard 73]

Thanks for helping out.

 

We talked about it a few years ago, and we still do Serpentine.

 

Fact about an Auction Draft, you can have a great Draft without having the most FF knowledge, but rather budget/finance knowledge. IOW, I can send in my wife, tell her to watch other guys and what big names are being priced up, go for some studs, monitor your money and build me a roster without going over.

 

In a Serpentine, everyone builds an individual/different team based on their draft position, and what's available on their pick....you are 100% on your own, and my wife would fail in that room.

 

This is all great and stuff but I would prefer our league have owners in it that are FF people - not financial analysts. WTF?

 

As for which is better? No real answer here - each has some merits and some drawbacks. The problem with auctions is that they really dont change what the teams look like at the end of the day. You'll get some guys you want, you wont get some guys you want, and it probably wont change the landscape of the player distribution very much.

 

I prefer the traditional draft method and always will.

[plasma george 52]

Seriously? Hey you wanna join my league? You obviously have no clue. lol

Sure, if your gf/wife will sit on my lap while I draft.

 

My point was if you do an auction Draft, you have to spend time worrying about your finances, cap room, having enough money to build a roster, etc,.

Our owners argue that they don't want to be worrying about all that in addition to the stress of DraftDay.

[huskerinct 1]

Sure, if your gf/wife will sit on my lap while I draft.

 

My point was if you do an auction Draft, you have to spend time worrying about your finances, cap room, having enough money to build a roster, etc,.

Our owners argue that they don't want to be worrying about all that in addition to the stress of DraftDay.

1st off, no wives or gfs should be in the draft unless they are in the league or serving drinks, topless.

2nd, if you want a brainless approach, then stick with the snake draft.......cross off names, then say the name at the top of your May edition magazine, when it's your turn to select a player.

Your logic is way off.

Auctions require a TON of more FF knowledge than a snake draft.

[cbfalcon 824]

Your mom prefers my snake. But I prefer to auction her off.

 

HTH

[vamosvaqueros 0]

We thought about the switch to auction as well but it was too late in the Summer to make the switch. We had already selected our keepers and knowing their auction value may have changed our decisions.

 

I'm hoping to push it through for next season.

 

I decided in the meantime to do some ESPN public auction leagues to get prepared for next year.

 

Good luck with the transition

[Bert 1,115]

Thanks for helping out.

 

We talked about it a few years ago, and we still do Serpentine.

 

Fact about an Auction Draft, you can have a great Draft without having the most FF knowledge, but rather budget/finance knowledge. IOW, I can send in my wife, tell her to watch other guys and what big names are being priced up, go for some studs, monitor your money and build me a roster without going over.

 

In a Serpentine, everyone builds an individual/different team based on their draft position, and what's available on their pick....you are 100% on your own, and my wife would fail in that room.

 

You have it completely backwards. Someone with zero football knowledge can print out the FFToday top 200 players list five minutes before a serpentine draft and draft a good team going straight down the list. You try that in an auction and you will end up in last place.

[c9h13no3 0]

Auctions require more skill, and are a more fair way to distribute the players. That being said, I don't like them. They take way too damn long, and the online AI totally destroys any team that didn't show up for the draft ($10 kickers, lulz).

[plasma george 52]

You have it completely backwards. Someone with zero football knowledge can print out the FFToday top 200 players list five minutes before a serpentine draft and draft a good team going straight down the list. You try that in an auction and you will end up in last place.

BS

We see this every year, owners that aren't prepared (admit they're not), or just lowsy drafters, screw up on draftday.

If that works in your league, that doesn't say much about your league.

 

I'd have success sending in an Accountant to watch the money like a budget, tell him to follow what Ed and Tony are doing, and he can come out with a full Roster.....under budget ! Is this about football or money management 101 for nerds ?

[Bert 1,115]

I'd have success sending in an Accountant to watch the money like a budget, tell him to follow what Ed and Tony are doing, and he can come out with a full Roster.....under budget ! Is this about football or money management 101 for nerds ?

 

He would be under budget with Sam Bradford at QB1, Best at RB1, Ricky Williams at RB2 and Kevin Walter at WR1 and Burress at WR2.

 

You better know football and money management if you are going to step up with the big boys and do an auction.

[plasma george 52]

He would be under budget with Sam Bradford at QB1, Best at RB1, Ricky Williams at RB2 and Kevin Walter at WR1 and Burress at WR2.

 

You better know football and money management if you are going to step up with the big boys and do an auction.

No he wouldn't, because my instructions would be monitor where the big money bids are going, and bid accordingly. Just like at a Car Auction. Do you bid up a POS all by yourself ?...no. If a bunch of bidders are bidding up a car, you can be assured they know what they're doing and you can feel safe joining the bidding. Even having ZERO knowledge of the car.

 

You understand now.......this can be played with having little knowledge of the items up for bid.

[Bert 1,115]

No he wouldn't, because my instructions would be monitor where the big money bids are going, and bid accordingly. Just like at a Car Auction. Do you bid up a POS all by yourself ?...no. If a bunch of bidders are bidding up a car, you can be assured they know what they're doing and you can feel safe joining the bidding. Even having ZERO knowledge of the car.

 

You understand now.......this can be played with having little knowledge of the items up for bid.

 

Wow that is unbelievable that you actually believe that mess. So what if the other guys bidding up the car are co owners bidding up a POS to trap a mullet like you? With no knowledge your accountant with instruction just paid 25% of your cap for Ricky Williams.

Bidding up players you don’t want or like so other people will spend more money is one of the more interesting dynamics of an auction.

[plasma george 52]

 

Wow that is unbelievable that you actually believe that mess. So what if the other guys bidding up the car are co owners bidding up a POS to trap a mullet like you? With no knowledge your accountant with instruction just paid 25% of your cap for Ricky Williams.

Bidding up players you don’t want or like so other people will spend more money is one of the more interesting dynamics of an auction.

I agree it is a stretch, and an extreme case.

Obviously nobody would attempt a FF Draft auction style and simply watch what others do.

[ChromeWeasel 0]

Long time snake league is considering moving to an auction. Having only done snake leagues I tend to favor those but I was wondering what everyone out there who might have more experience with both thinks. What did you like better? Why?

 

While I think it's cool that you have a chance at everyone the problem I'm running into is that I don't know how to prepare. I have done tons of snake mocks easily but when I've attempted to do an auction mock it takes nearly an hour for me to get 5 players on my team.

 

Basically with a snake league, I can know my position, what players might be there, mock a lot, get a feel, and go in with a strategy.

 

Right now I'm struggling with how to prepare for an auction and every time I get amped to try one A. It takes forever B. Someone spends 120 on Foster and CJ and then quits which kind of throws the whole thing off.

 

 

Thoughts?

 

Auctions are way more of a hassle than drafts. Auctions take more prep work, take longer to run, and are much more challenging to master. In exchange for all that you get the ability to bid for a player or two that you really, really like. And you have more opportunity to screw other people over by nominating the players they like. Auctions may have an advantage in leagues with really big rosters that run IDP. But those leagues are by nature already hard core.

 

Drafts are far more fun and easy while still being perfectly fair. They arent as cutthroat as auctions, and since they are easier you tend to get a more balanced league. Allow trades during the draft and you can still get any player you want. You just have to trade picks to do it. It's the same principle as an auction in that you can give away the farm for one player if you really want him. Overall it's harder to dominate a draft in the way that you can with an auction. But keeper leagues are usually easier with drafts, since you dont have to worry about a cap.

 

I've done both and I prefer the draft. I'd do auction again, since it's still fair. But it's a far less fun system that makes everything harder on everyone involved, especially the long run planning for keeper values. I would recommend against going to an auction systems unless running an IDP league, or a dedicated redraft league with no keeper prospects.

[RicemanX 20]

I'm not a big fan of snake auctions. They look slimy but they are really not. No idea why people are willing to pay so much for them.

[Fantasy Noob 10]

I enjoy auction quite a bit and if your at all competitive and enjoy trying to outwit opponents this is an incredible amount of fun.

 

The down side is there can be a much longer lull in this style than snake style. That is to say you might go 15-20picks without actually adding a player to your team as other league members overbid on players (It doesnt sound that bad but come the typical 4th round and their are 40 players gone and you only have 1 player on your squad alot of people panic). You have to stay alert longer and be more flexible.

 

Also "people/poker" skills come into play in live auctions, knowing when someone is running up the price, or genuinely interested, talking trash to lower value or make you feel bad about your team all become much more important. If you are a strong analytical/science type thinker you actually probably are at a SLIGHT disadvantage in a live face to face auction draft against the salesmen/business management types. To be more specific salesmen and business management make their living talking to people and extracting maximum value out of their opponents on a day to day basis.

 

This advantage is relatively slight if you are strong willed but if your league mates contain any follow the leader, weaker willed personalities watch out, as it, can become incredibly easy for other people to talk them into bidding wars against you and other players. In effect it doubles/triples/etc. their budget as they can use the weaker willed league mates budgets to inflate the cost of players they don't want and even if they lose they win as it is not their team stuck with an overpriced player.

 

Well it is a heck of a lot more fun I can also see where some would say it is a bit of a hassle as well. I would definitely recommend trying it at least once.

[IGotWorms 3,475]

Auction is much better and anyone who says otherwise has either never done one or is in a league with a bunch of clueless assclowns. HTH.

[Bobbyn2022 53]

AUCTION HANDS DOWN...Come on picking snake is WACK. Auction takes way more skill. I also love the fact I can have any player I want for the right price.

[IGotWorms 3,475]

AUCTION HANDS DOWN...Come on picking snake is WACK. Auction takes way more skill. I also love the fact I can have any player I want for the right price.

 

Notice that the chief complaint of the auction form is that it's "too complicated." What a bunch of Nancy's and Sally's we have here.

[RSersen 0]

Notice that the chief complaint of the auction form is that it's "too complicated." What a bunch of Nancy's and Sally's we have here.

 

What's wrong with not wanting an overly complicated draft? Unless you're in a big money league, I think most of us are playing this game for fun. I'd rather just show up with my friends, drink a few beers, do some trash talking, and make my picks.

 

The elitist attitude of those who prefer auctions over snakes is silly. Whatever format you use, no one wins their league on draft day. The real gauge of a player's skill is what they do with their roster during the season.

[IGotWorms 3,475]

What's wrong with not wanting an overly complicated draft? Unless you're in a big money league, I think most of us are playing this game for fun. I'd rather just show up with my friends, drink a few beers, do some trash talking, and make my picks.

 

The elitist attitude of those who prefer auctions over snakes is silly. Whatever format you use, no one wins their league on draft day. The real gauge of a player's skill is what they do with their roster during the season.

 

I agree with your second paragraph, but it's absurd to prefer snake drafts because auction drafts are "too complicated." It isn't that hard to work with a budget and figure out how much money you have for each roster slot, position, player tier type, or however you want to break it down.

 

The beauty of an auction draft is that every single owner in the league could get any player he wanted, it's just a question of how much they are willing to spend. It gives you so much more flexibility in terms of how you build your team instead of your arbitrary draft position determining how the earliest and most crucial rounds of your draft go.

[Patmos 2]

Long time snake league is considering moving to an auction. Having only done snake leagues I tend to favor those but I was wondering what everyone out there who might have more experience with both thinks. What did you like better? Why?

 

While I think it's cool that you have a chance at everyone the problem I'm running into is that I don't know how to prepare. I have done tons of snake mocks easily but when I've attempted to do an auction mock it takes nearly an hour for me to get 5 players on my team.

 

Basically with a snake league, I can know my position, what players might be there, mock a lot, get a feel, and go in with a strategy.

 

Right now I'm struggling with how to prepare for an auction and every time I get amped to try one A. It takes forever B. Someone spends 120 on Foster and CJ and then quits which kind of throws the whole thing off.

 

 

Thoughts?

 

Matt, I get the feeling that this thread didn't go in the direction you were hoping

[plasma george 52]

I agree with your second paragraph, but it's absurd to prefer snake drafts because auction drafts are "too complicated." It isn't that hard to work with a budget and figure out how much money you have for each roster slot, position, player tier type, or however you want to break it down.

 

The beauty of an auction draft is that every single owner in the league could get any player he wanted, it's just a question of how much they are willing to spend. It gives you so much more flexibility in terms of how you build your team instead of your arbitrary draft position determining how the earliest and most crucial rounds of your draft go.

Yeah, but if you bought an Adrian Peterson jersey cause he's on your fantasy football team, you're either a homer or a homo. Our owners love doing a Redraft, and starting from scratch each year, with all new players. I'm speaking for 10 guys here, we simply don't have the drive to be able to get that one NFL player back from last year. Who cares? As if you have their poster hanging from your ceiling above your bed, homo.

 

And all the other "aspects/skills" being talked about for Auctions have NOTHING to do with NFL/FF knowledge. So an owner who's not paying attention to mathmatics, or has that "follower" mentality can get overwhelmed during the bidding and blow draftday and waste hie entry fee ? That owner ain't coming back.

[Bert 1,115]

Yeah, but if you bought an Adrian Peterson jersey cause he's on your fantasy football team, you're either a homer or a homo. Our owners love doing a Redraft, and starting from scratch each year, with all new players. I'm speaking for 10 guys here, we simply don't have the drive to be able to get that one NFL player back from last year. Who cares? As if you have their poster hanging from your ceiling above your bed, homo.

 

And all the other "aspects/skills" being talked about for Auctions have NOTHING to do with NFL/FF knowledge. So an owner who's not paying attention to mathmatics, or has that "follower" mentality can get overwhelmed during the bidding and blow draftday and waste hie entry fee ? That owner ain't coming back.

 

You are completely and totally wrong that auction leagues have nothing to do with FF knowledge. Auction leagues put much more of a premium on FF knowledge and punish you more severely for being uninformed or a homer.

 

There is nothing wrong with the fact you and your league prefer the simple serpentine drafts. I play in two serpentine leagues because the other owners like to keep it simple. The owners in my two auction leagues want guys that are highly competitive, cut throat and involved. The fact is you can draft a good team in a serpentine draft without a whole lot of ff knowledge and research. If you try showing up to an auction league ill prepared you will get crucified. Plain and simple

[ralphster 274]

After ten years of snake drafting one of my leagues went to an auction format this year. The auction mocks I had done leading up to our draft really were not any good - some jerk would always overbid early and then quit, or the computer drafters would bid up mediocre players beyond their value. I was really nervous.

 

Then the real auction hit, and it was probably the coolest draft I've been in.

 

Auction is not for everyone, but with patience and good strats I think it is the superior way to draft.

 

Pretty much throw your ff 'auction values' cheet sheets away; multiple people are going to overspend - especially on the top 3-6 at each position. Know what you will spend (max) on each player should the come up and don't get in a bidding war over Foster/Vick/etc.

 

That said, don't be afraid to allocate 50-60% of your total budget on 2 RBs, 2 WRs and a QB.

 

Many of those overspending on the first few passes will not have enough money left over to bid anyone out for tiers 2/3/4.

 

When its my turn I try to nominate the best players at each position that I DO NOT want so that others can spend a lot on them (and leave me paying less for those I'm targeting).

 

Best of luck to you.

[Bert 1,115]

After ten years of snake drafting one of my leagues went to an auction format this year. The auction mocks I had done leading up to our draft really were not any good - some jerk would always overbid early and then quit, or the computer drafters would bid up mediocre players beyond their value. I was really nervous.

 

Then the real auction hit, and it was probably the coolest draft I've been in.

 

Auction is not for everyone, but with patience and good strats I think it is the superior way to draft.

 

Pretty much throw your ff 'auction values' cheet sheets away; multiple people are going to overspend - especially on the top 3-6 at each position. Know what you will spend (max) on each player should the come up and don't get in a bidding war over Foster/Vick/etc.

 

That said, don't be afraid to allocate 50-60% of your total budget on 2 RBs, 2 WRs and a QB.

 

Many of those overspending on the first few passes will not have enough money left over to bid anyone out for tiers 2/3/4.

 

When its my turn I try to nominate the best players at each position that I DO NOT want so that others can spend a lot on them (and leave me paying less for those I'm targeting).

 

Best of luck to you.

 

I agree mocking and website value cheat sheets are worthless in an auction.

 

raphster - track in a spreadsheet or somewhere outside your league software the prices paid for each starting position. After a couple of years you can do trend analysis on what the top, middle and bottom spots for each position will go for. Then you plug in your player rankings. I have found it is a pretty good way to help determine value.

[ralphster 274]

raphster - track in a spreadsheet or somewhere outside your league software the prices paid for each starting position. After a couple of years you can do trend analysis on what the top, middle and bottom spots for each position will go for. Then you plug in your player rankings. I have found it is a pretty good way to help determine value.

 

Great advice - thanks!

[gcgopher 0]

Auctions require more skill, and are a more fair way to distribute the players. That being said, I don't like them. They take way too damn long, and the online AI totally destroys any team that didn't show up for the draft ($10 kickers, lulz).

 

I thought the draft was the most exciting part of fantasy football.

[RoadLizard 73]

Auction is much better and anyone who says otherwise has either never done one or is in a league with a bunch of clueless assclowns. HTH.

 

Wrong. Auction drafts are ass-clown filled too, buddy. There isnt anything particularly special or fun about over bidding for a player. And they take forever. Plus, as I said - the rosters look about the same as they would with a regular draft so nothing gets accomplished except a bunch of dorks get to "feel" like they bought and sold players like real billionaires or something. Puhleeze.

[ralphster 274]

At least in an auction format every manager has a shot at every player. The longest drafts I've ever been in were offline snake drafts.

[edytwinky 1]

I run four money leagues (2 snake and 2 auction)

 

I prefer the auction leagues for many of the reason stated before. Everybody has an equal shot at a player, so its all a level playing field. There's more strategy involved in it with where you want to put your premiums.

 

Auction drafts obviously take longer than most snake auctions but the Draft is the best day in Fantasy Sports why not make it last a little longer.

 

For the arguments against it. The teams do not end up looking the same. Some teams could have two premiere backs that would normally be chosen with the first six picks in a snake draft. Two teams could have two premiere wideouts. Snake drafts while I can see how some prefer them aren't as challenging. Your options are limited.

 

Its not an elitist attitude by any means. I think the majority of fantasy football commissioners who use auctions don't go back to snake.

 

A lot of the time can be cut short from long boring auctions by simply placing rules in place. Having whoever runs the auction be patient and knows what he/she is doing is important.

[huskerinct 1]

I run four money leagues (2 snake and 2 auction)

 

I prefer the auction leagues for many of the reason stated before. Everybody has an equal shot at a player, so its all a level playing field. There's more strategy involved in it with where you want to put your premiums.

 

Auction drafts obviously take longer than most snake auctions but the Draft is the best day in Fantasy Sports why not make it last a little longer.

 

For the arguments against it. The teams do not end up looking the same. Some teams could have two premiere backs that would normally be chosen with the first six picks in a snake draft. Two teams could have two premiere wideouts. Snake drafts while I can see how some prefer them aren't as challenging. Your options are limited.

 

Its not an elitist attitude by any means. I think the majority of fantasy football commissioners who use auctions don't go back to snake.

 

A lot of the time can be cut short from long boring auctions by simply placing rules in place. Having whoever runs the auction be patient and knows what he/she is doing is important.

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