Excel Solver Not finding Max Value

FANDUEL OPTIMIZER.xls

Solver is giving me a solution but not MAX like it is suppose to...

if you hit solve right now you will get about 128...

it you add a constraint that H202 >= 135, solver spits out, guess what, a bigger number than 128...

so am i missing something here or what..doesnt seem to be doing what its suppose to do...

Hard to provide any specific suggestions without some knowledge of the models and equations you are optimizing. Things that I see when Solver fails to find a maximum:

1) Model/Equations have multiple local maxima. Solver's default algorithms (a NR type algorithm) will converge on the closest maximum to the given starting point, which may or may not be the global maximum.
2) Model/equations consist of different step functions or discontinuities. NR type algorithms have troubles with step functions and discontinuities.
3) Chosen objective function changes too slowly, so the algorithm has trouble locating a distinct maximum.

When I am programming a spreadsheet that uses Solver to optimize something, I will usually spend enough time with the objective function so that I understand it well enough so I will understand how Solver's algorithms will approach the optimization.

I cannot imagine Solver could solve that problem. There are 8 trillion possibilities:

	P	Q	R	S
1	Pos	Avail	Need
2	QB	26	1
3	RB	49	2
4	WR	51	3
5	TE	31	1
6	DEF	16	1
7	K	27	1
8			8,527,291,718,400	R8: {=PRODUCT(COMBIN(Q2:Q7, R2:R7))}

How would it know without evaluating them?

It would affect the order of attempted solutions. I don't know how you conclude it's working though; how do you know you have the optimum result?

Well, there you go.

Well, you might read about (at solver.com) the Evolutionary Solver, and try that.

You might also make a column that is =round(10000*points/salary, 0), and sort by that instead of salary. Then start eliminating players that are close to one another, especially at the single-player positions.

It's not a trivial problem.

What's the best result you've gotten with Solver so far?

Here's my best result ...

	B	C	D	E	F	G
2	Solver	Pos	Need	Picked	Pts	Salary
3	135.47	DEF	1	1	13.50	5,300
4	44	K	1	1	13.33	4,900
5	TRUE	QB	1	1	23.37	8,400
6	TRUE	RB	2	2	27.00	11,800
7	TRUE	TE	1	1	11.93	5,800
8	900	WR	3	3	46.33	23,800
9	900	Combos	6,420,960	9	135.47	60,000
10					Cap	60,000
11
12	Select	Pos	Player	Team	Pts	Salary
13	1	DEF	Chargers	SD	13.50	5,300
18	1	K	Shaun Suisham	PIT	13.33	4,900
22	1	QB	Philip Rivers	SD	23.37	8,400
30	1	RB	Lamar Miller	MIA	15.60	6,900
33	1	RB	Khiry Robinson	NO	11.40	4,900
37	1	TE	Antonio Gates	SD	11.93	5,800
43	1	WR	Calvin Johnson	DET	17.97	9,300
45	1	WR	Antonio Brown	PIT	15.83	8,400
50	1	WR	Steve Smith	BAL	12.53	6,100

I'll post the workbook if you're interested.

It would be serendipitous if it were. The only way to know for sure is the evaluate all of the combinations.

The workbook is at https://app.box.com/s/sdwzfoop41o6knld22vt