How to be Competitive in a Monthly By Ronnie (rjknyy) Let me start by saying that there is no one single way to win a monthly. Many people have differing opinions on what works best, and I can only speak of what worked for me and from what I've experienced from watching others. Probably the most important thing to do each day is to pick up that free money by hitting the offers page. Currently, you can earn $1,200 ($1,600 on Mondays) a day (higher for Quarterly, Yearly, and TV ports) by clicking on each available offer. By doing this you not only collect free $$, you also help out the site by voting daily, and making the admins a little cash to keep this great game running. There is simply no excuse for not doing this as that free money will go a long way in helping you reach your goal. When you start your monthly you'll notice that you start with an even $100,000. Since the rules of Jockstocks allow you to only purchase 10% of your portfolio's total value of any individual stock, this means that for at least the first couple weeks you should stick to buying the 10 best stocks for that day. Buying 100 shares of every player that gets a hit, goal, win, etc. is not the best way to utilize your money. As the month ends you may be able to purchase more than 10 stocks a day depending on the value of your portfolio. This is really the one tried and true method that I recommend you definitely sticking with. The second biggest and most difficult decision (after which stocks to buy, of course) involved in playing a monthly is when to buy a stock. This is the topic in which you will probably see many different opinions, and a lot will depend on when you will be on your computer each day. When I won my monthly I had the luxury of being in front of my computer pretty much whenever a game was on. This is not the case for most Jockstockers, so don't be frustrated if you cannot do the same. The advantage of being on your computer is that you can decide immediately if you believe that a player who just hit a home run or scored a touchdown is going to be worthy of a top 10 pick for that day, and you can ride the wave of positive moo. For example, if baseball player A hits a home run in the 1st inning and is only projected to hit 10 over the course of 162 games, it would probably be wise to pick him up right away as there is a very good chance of him making the cut at the end of the night. The downside to this method is that there is a chance that player A will not be a top 10 buy after all the games have been completed. If this is the case you will need to decide if you want to give up the commission to both sell player A and buy player B. This way of playing can be tricky, especially when you have multiple day games followed by a bunch of night games. Another way to do this is to buy the first 10 players of the day who do anything worthy of a decent divi. This method is a little riskier, but can also reap some nice rewards. If player A scores a touchdown with a projection of 12 there's a good chance he won't be worthy of keeping at divi time, but if you believe the player will moo more than the 2% needed to cover commissions, you can switch that player out later (called Flipping) and make a little money off of him before you do. For the monthly player that does not have the time to sit on the computer during each game, you can simply make all your buys either before you head to bed, or before the 9 a.m. bonus time. Can you win a monthly this way? To be honest, I'm not really sure, but like I mentioned earlier there should be different goals for different people and situations. Every player here at Jockstocks has differing amounts of time available for them to play. Just because you have only 30 minutes to scour the box scores and make your buys does not mean that you cannot be competitive. Being competitive can be different for each person. Player A may think that finishing in the top 20 is competitive, where as Player B may think that a top 5 finish is competitive. There is no wrong answer, you just need to try and figure out how much time you will have available for the month and then set a goal. If you know ahead of time that you are going out of town for a weekend you probably would not set your goal as a top 3 finish. What I found when I won my monthly is that I had set a goal of finishing in the top 5 at the start of the month, and then after two weeks in I was in 3rd place. One week later I was in second and made the decision to really put in the time to win and it paid off. You never know what can happen, the player ahead of you may go away, or lose power for a night, keep your goals flexible. Throughout this article I've tried to hit most of the major points and strategies, and I'm sure I missed some along the way. The great part of this game is that there are so many ways to play it, and it is constantly changing. The members here are always willing to help either via PM or on the forums, don't be bashful. Set your goals, have fun, and remember that Jockstocks is just a game, albeit an extremely addictive and rewarding one. Questions about this article? Send a private message to the author.