What Are Demons and Goblins at PrizePicks?

If you have spent any time building entries on PrizePicks, you have run into a little red devil icon and a little green goblin sitting next to certain player lines, and probably wondered what they actually do. So what are Demons and Goblins at PrizePicks? In short, they are payout modifiers: a Demon makes a line harder to hit but boosts your payout, and a Goblin makes a line easier to hit but pays less. You build your entry the same way you always would, you just swap in these adjusted lines to push your potential payout up or your odds of cashing up. I have been firing PrizePicks entries for years, so let me walk you through exactly how each one works, what the catches are, and the one habit that separates players who use them well from players who just chase the biggest number.

In Summary (TL;DR)

• Demons and Goblins are alternate-line modifiers, not separate bet types. You still build a normal entry; you just pick the More side of a Demon or Goblin line.
• Demons (red devil) raise the projection, so they are harder to hit, and they boost your payout. A full entry of Demons can climb toward the top end of PrizePicks' multiplier scale.
• Goblins (green goblin) lower the projection, so they are easier to hit, and they pay less.
• You always play More on a Demon or Goblin line, and you can mix them with standard lines in the same entry.
• The winning habit: take a Demon or Goblin only when its payout change more than covers the change in the pick's true win probability. Pick by value, not by the label.

What Are Demons at PrizePicks?

Flat out, Demons are the picks that BOOST your entry payout. You fire up these little devils, and yes, the icon really is a little red devil, when you want to push your potential PrizePicks payday higher.

There is a catch, though. A Demon is harder to win, and here is why: it is an alternate projection set HIGHER than the standard line for that player. So if a player's standard rushing line is set at one number, the Demon version of that line sits a few yards above it. You are still picking More, but now you need the player to clear a tougher bar.

That is the whole trade. The line moved against you, so PrizePicks pays you more for taking it. Stack enough of those devil-horned lines into one entry and the multiplier climbs toward the high end of what PrizePicks offers. You do not have to go all-Demon, though. You can drop a Demon or two into an entry alongside standard lines and Goblins; you just will not reach that ceiling multiplier unless the whole entry is Demons. The exact multiplier shifts over time and by how many picks you have, so always check the payout shown before you submit.

What Are Goblins at PrizePicks?

If a Demon is the aggressive side of the trade, a Goblin is the friendly one. A Goblin is the OPPOSITE of a Demon, though it still carries a ghoulish name and a little green icon.

A Goblin line is an alternate projection set LOWER than the standard line. Because the bar is easier to clear, the pick is more likely to hit, which is exactly why a lot of players lean on Goblins to build entries with a higher chance of cashing. The price you pay for that comfort is a smaller payout. Like any easier alternate you will find anywhere you can get a wager down, the safer the line, the less it pays.

And just like Demons, you always pick More on a Goblin, and you can combine Goblins with standard lines or Demons in the same entry. The payout multiplier varies, so the rule is the same: check your total potential payout before you submit so you actually know what a perfect entry returns.

Demons vs Goblins at PrizePicks: The Quick Comparison

Here is the whole thing in one look:

• Demon (red): projection set HIGHER than standard. Harder to hit. Boosts your payout. You play More.
• Goblin (green): projection set LOWER than standard. Easier to hit. Pays less. You play More.
• Both can be mixed with standard lines in one entry, and the multiplier changes with your pick count, so always verify the payout before submitting.

The mistake most people make is treating that table as the decision. It is not. A Goblin is not automatically "safe value," and a Demon is not automatically "free upside." Each one is only worth taking when the payout adjustment more than covers the change in the pick's true probability of hitting. That is where strategy actually lives. (If you want the full payout-scale picture first, see our guide on how PrizePicks multipliers work, and if you are new to the app, how to get free entries on PrizePicks.)

What's the Best Strategy for PrizePicks Demons and Goblins?

There is no single best strategy for how to win PrizePicks Demons and Goblins, but there is a correct way to think about them, and incorporating both into your entries can absolutely be profitable when you do it on purpose.

The whole game with a Demon or a Goblin is value. PrizePicks moved the line and changed the payout; your job is to figure out whether that trade is in your favor. A Demon that raises a player's line by a small amount but boosts the payout a lot can be a great pick. A Demon that raises the line a lot for only a small payout bump is usually a trap. Goblins work the same way in reverse: a Goblin that barely lowers the line while only shaving a little off the payout can be a strong, high-probability building block, but a Goblin that hands back a big chunk of payout for a tiny bit of cushion is rarely worth it.

So how do you actually measure that? You compare each PrizePicks line, standard, Demon, or Goblin, to where the rest of the market and the projections say that number should sit. If you can find lines on PrizePicks that are out of step with sharper projections, that gap is your signal to take the More or hold off, depending on how big the gap is.

This is exactly the work I lean on Stokastic's tools to do for me. The Prop Tools and PrizePicks Prop Tool do it automatically: the tool scans every PrizePicks line on the slate, aggregates odds from across the sports betting market, adjusts for sharpness and hold, and produces a projected win probability for every pick, including the Demon and Goblin versions of a line. Instead of eyeballing whether a Demon is "worth it," I can see the projected probability next to the payout and decide based on the number. The same projection engine that powers Stokastic's DFS Sims and Ownership tools feeds these projections, so I am grading a Demon or Goblin against real value, not a hunch.

New to Stokastic? Stokastic's Prop Tools grade every PrizePicks line, including Demons and Goblins, against the sharper market and show you the projected win probability and the +EV side of each pick. You can try Stokastic Sims and decide for yourself, and code STOK10 takes 10% off your first payment if you subscribe: Start with Stokastic Sims.

How to Build a Demon and Goblin Entry, Step by Step

Here is the workflow I use when a Demon or Goblin catches my eye:

1. Start from value, not the icon. Pull up the slate and look for lines where the PrizePicks number is out of step with the projected number. Those gaps are where the edge is, on standard, Demon, and Goblin lines alike.
2. Check the Demon math. For a tempting Demon, ask whether the payout boost is large relative to how much harder the raised line is to clear. If the line moved up only a little for a big payout bump, it is a candidate. If it moved up a lot for a small bump, pass.
3. Check the Goblin math. For a Goblin, ask whether the easier line is worth the smaller payout. A Goblin that barely lowers the bar while keeping most of the payout is a strong building block; one that gives back a lot of payout for a little cushion usually is not.
4. Mix to fit your risk. Combine standard lines, Demons, and Goblins to shape the entry. More Demons pushes the ceiling up; more Goblins raises your odds of cashing. Neither is "right" on its own, it depends on the entry you are trying to build.
5. Verify the payout before you submit. The multiplier changes with your pick count and your mix, so confirm the exact payout shown on the entry screen. What you see at submission is what you are actually playing for.

Done this way, a Demon or Goblin is just a tool to tune your risk and reward, with the value of the pick, not the color of the icon, driving the decision.

FAQ

What are Demons and Goblins at PrizePicks? They are alternate-line payout modifiers. A Demon raises a player's projected line, making it harder to hit but boosting your payout. A Goblin lowers the line, making it easier to hit but paying less. You play the More side of both, and you can mix them with standard lines in one entry.

What is the difference between a Demon and a Goblin on PrizePicks? A Demon (red devil icon) is a higher, harder line that increases your payout. A Goblin (green icon) is a lower, easier line that decreases your payout. Demons add upside and risk; Goblins add safety and cost you payout.

Do you pick More or Less on a Demon or Goblin? You always pick More on both. The modifier already adjusts the line up (Demon) or down (Goblin); your job is just to decide whether that adjusted line is worth taking.

Can you mix Demons, Goblins, and standard picks in one entry? Yes. You can combine all three in a single entry. Loading up on Demons pushes your potential payout toward the top of the multiplier scale; adding Goblins raises your chance of cashing for a smaller payout. The multiplier shifts with your pick count, so always check the payout before submitting.

What is the highest payout on Demons and Goblins? A full entry built entirely of Demons can reach the top end of PrizePicks' multiplier scale, since every line is harder than standard. The exact multipliers change over time, so verify the payout shown on your entry before you submit.

How do I know if a Demon or Goblin is a good pick? Compare the adjusted line and its payout to the pick's true win probability. A Demon is worth it when the payout boost more than covers how much harder the line got; a Goblin is worth it when the easier line is worth the smaller payout. Stokastic's Prop Tools and PrizePicks Prop Tool compute that projected win probability for every line on the slate so you can decide by the number.

Build Smarter PrizePicks Entries

Once you see Demons and Goblins for what they really are, alternate lines with a matching payout trade, the strategy gets simple: stop chasing the scariest-looking line and start taking the Demons and Goblins whose payout actually pays you for the added difficulty (or whose safety is genuinely cheap). The icon is marketing; the value is math. For more on the format itself, see whether PrizePicks is gambling or DFS.

See the projected win probability and the +EV side of every PrizePicks line, Demons and Goblins included, with Stokastic's Prop Tools. New members get 10% off their first Stokastic Sims payment with code STOK10: Start with Stokastic Sims.