Getting StartedIn order to play fantasy football you will need to find a group of friends to set up a league or you can choose to play individually by joining a league set up by the a website. It is more fun to have a league amongst your friends as you will be more familiar with their personalities but you can always join a generic league if you can't find enough people.

1. FIND A WEBSITE

There are many websites that offer fantasy football, with sign-up beginning a few months before the football season. There are many other sports websites that have a fantasy football leagues, and typically the bigger the site the better the league set up. A more established site will have a more accurate and dependable league system, as well as more accurate facts and figures. These are three of the most popular Fantasy Football groups:

Yahoo

ESPN

AOL

Pay Sites:

There are a handful of pay-sites for fantasy football. Some offer prizes for winning. However, some may fall under the illegality of online-gambling sites in the United States. Be sure you are working with a reputable site before engaging in any possibly illegal activity.

NFL

Fantasy Football.com

My Fantasy League

Or better yet, do not pay to play fantasy football! There are other sites that will still give away cash or prizes from advertisers, without asking users to pay anything upfront. There is no reason to pay when you could be using another site for free. Here are some quality sites that offer free fantasy football plus prizes:

Free Fantasy Football

Sporting News

CBS SportsLine

Different types of drafts

There are different styles of drafting players for your team. The most common drafting style is live draft. Live draft is when all of the people in you fantasy football league log on at a specific time and take turns picking players for positions on your teams. This form of drafting can be a lot more fun because you pick the team yourself, but picking your team can take time.

Salary cap is another form of fantasy football drafting. Each pro player will have a values assigned to them according to their skill level and how good they are. The better the player, the more he will cost. Each team has the same amount of money to spend on players to fill up their teams. In this form of fantasy football you will usually have fewer players.

Auto Draft is another form of fantasy football. In auto draft the computer picks your team one of two ways. One, you create a master "wish list" in the order of player importance. If number one on your list is already chosen, then your number two choice is drafted, and so forth. However, you can also set it completely automatic, and draft in order of player's skill. It's a good idea to use this type of auto draft if you don't know much about football.

The captain or commissioner sets the rules

The creator of the league will need to set the league rules. The league rules will include time limits on how long you have to adjust your roster before the games starts, how many trades are possible per week, and many others. The league captain will be prompted to make these descriptions before the draft starts. Be sure that everyone agrees to the rules, or is at least knowledgeable of them before starting the game. You don't want people quitting one or two weeks into the season, because they don't like the rules. However, sites like Yahoo! allow you to change the rules mid-season, in case any disputes arise. Remember, it is all just for fun! To recap, keep the rules fair to everyone who is playing. Make sure that everyone in the league agrees on the rules before they are established and make the rules flexible when necessary.

2. STAY INFORMED

Before the draft starts find out which players are hot for the year and would make a good team. Watch Sports Center and look for players that stand out and look like they will have a good season.

Propose trades or pick up new players on the rise. Watch good players that no one has drafted and pick them up to replace players that are slacking on your team. Also propose a trade if another fantasy league player has a football player that you want. Keep an eye on your injured players and trade them for new players if they will be out for an extended amount of time.

There are thousands of websites regarding fantasy-football picks, including:

Fantasy Football Jungle

NFL Freaks

Fantasy Football Caf

Football Guys

Fantasy Football Starters

For basic football stats, check out the big boys at ESPN and Fox.

ESPN

Fox Sports

Injuries

One of the easiest ways to succeed or fail in fantasy football is through staying informed of injuries. You obviously don't want to "start" a player that has a groin injury and is sitting on the bench. Conversely, you can pick up a good back-up quarterback if a star starter is injured. Keep up to date with injuries on sites like:

CBS SportsLine

Fantasy Football Injuries

ESPN

3. KEEP ACTIVE AND DONT FORGET

Many people who play fantasy football leagues forget to change their players when they need to or get bored and quit mid-season. Make sure that everyone is in the game for the long haul before you start your league.

It can get discouraging at times if your team is losing but if you hang in there you may find that your team will rebound by the end of the season. Many times season ending injuries and surprising victories can pull a team from the bottom of the barrel to the top of the rankings. The season isn't over until it's over so have fun with it.

Points to rremember and consider

Start your league early. You will need to draft players well before the season starts.

Get a good number of people to play. You will want to get at least seven or eight players in your league to make it more interesting.

Set up a live draft time that everyone can be present for. A weekend is the best time for a live draft.

Research your trades before you make them. Make sure that a trade is worth it and don't jump the gun.

Have fun and be respectful. Remember that it's only a game and only for fun. If you know that you will get angry or stressed out don't play.