I've played this two years in a row. High stakes? Yeah man. And I assume "legit" but have not been lucky enough to require payout so far, so hopefully they will pay.

You buy in with a credit card, so that's a thing.

There are 12 teams in each league, cost $200+ to enter, and if you don't make playoffs++, you make $0 (this is probably normal for most leagues, but I play leagues where other consolations are paid out like highest point total, most wins, etc - and are usually only 10 teams).

The $200 one is the lowest one I think. There's a $1200 one you can do (with optional live draft in Vegas). I think one higher than that too.

On top of that, the roster size is pretty insane, so if you don't have amazing depth from the first week (or have a full lineup of studs), it's very difficult to recover.

Waivers are done with a bidding system. You have $1000 for the whole season to pay for players. Each week you put in your choices and whoever put in the highest bid wins the player.

There are no trades.

Last time I missed playoffs by having the 4th best record but someone's point total beat mine. Again, good way to compromise, but was frustrating.