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Pinnacle Pulse
The inside line from PinnacleSports.com
by Simon Noble
1/04/2006 1:29 PM EST
Welcome to the Pinnacle Pulse where the line managers at
PinnacleSports.com look to give you an insider’s view of the point
spread movement on key games each week and provide you with a little
gambling theory to help you find a smarter way to bet courtesy of
Pinnacle Sports.
"Square Money" vs "Sharp Money"
In the early years of sports betting, public money was the dominant
factor. The influence of public money was so great that the lines were
often over inflated to force some control over the positions a
sportsbook would take on a game. The squares forced certain patterns
every week – take the favorite and over early, and the dog and under
right before post. These patterns were even more pronounced for Monday
night games and the playoffs.
Things gradually changed. The number of wise guys kept growing,
syndicates formed and these winning players bet more and more. A few
years ago, we started seeing games where the sharps bet a lot more money
than the public. The old trends started getting bucked – a Monday night
dog would not keep going up, as the sharps forced the price back down.
The influence of sharps became more prominent, and this has changed the
way the entire offshore world works.
There’s still two distinct pools of money, but the hierarchy has
changed. The public still bets growing amounts on games and exotics, but
they’re no longer the dominant force controlling the line. Runaway lines
during the regular season are now a thing of the past – the influence of
public money is now dwarfed by the ‘sharper’ betting volume of the
established syndicates and emerging sharps. The dramatic 1 or 1.5 point
moves in the hour before the game are a thing of the past.
But then there is the post season where everything can change and the
influence of public money is hard for a sports book to ignore…
Smart players can still exploit the line movements caused by sharp and
public money during the post season by recognizing who plays where.
First, you can get a measure of which side is sharp by watching the way
the opening betting line surges at Pinnacle Sports, where the early line
moves are predominantly caused by sharp players. Second, it’s important
to shop around and identify which books will give you the best prices
for your playing style.
You should always have a variety of sharp and recreational books so you
can get the best price on the side you like. If you prefer the
traditional sharp angles of playing dogs and unders, you’d do well to
shop at a book that caters to recreational players. Their lines are a
full point better than those of a typical “sharp” book. Similarly, the
sharp books will often offer the best price on favorites and overs.
It’s also important to have at least one account at a reduced juice
sports book where you can often find best price on both sides of the
game. For example take PinnacleSports.com which was the first sports
book to introduce reduced margin wagering. At Pinnacle Sports Book we
use a -104 style pricing model on NFL sides giving players up to 60%
better value than other bookmakers.
For this weekend’s playoff games, you might want to take a closer look
at teasers before pulling the trigger, as these can be treacherous
during the first week of the playoffs. For the last 15 years, the
average margin of victory in the regular season has been 11.4 points.
One would think that the playoffs would be closer, since the wildcard
round has relative parity, but this isn’t the case. Instead of having
closer games, the average margin of victory goes UP to 13.2 (and stays
above 13.2 for all rounds of the playoffs and the Super Bowl). When the
margin of victory goes up, points you get from a teaser become less
valuable.
There is another surprising trend in this world of relative parity –
home field advantage during the playoffs. Since 1990, home teams have
covered the spread 58% of the time in the first round and 76% of the
time when teased. As you may recall from earlier Pulse articles, you
need to add at least 20% to your win-rate to make playing a teaser
worthwhile.
For this weekend’s wildcard games, consider this information and how to
play or tease them.
Washington (+2.5) at Tampa Bay
Washington finished the season with five straight wins to snatch a
wildcard in the NFC. They did this with a balanced offense and defense
that, while neither was dominant, both were above average. Tampa Bay won
its division by winning four of its last five games. The Bucs did it
with the #1 defense in the NFL allowing just 278 yards per game. Their
offense was conservative, which relied on a low-risk running attack to
eat up time and shorten games.
We initially opened the Redskins at +3 -121 and saw heavy two-way
action. The sharps are divided on this game, but seem to slightly favor
the Redskins. The public also favors Washington, which caused this line
to nudge down. We’re also taking moderate volume on Washington teasers,
but this is not from our sharper players.
Jacksonville (+8) at New England
After starting at 4-4, New England won four of its last five games to
clinch its division. They did this despite being the only playoff team
with a negative turnover differential (at -6 for the season).
Jacksonville finished at 12-4, 2 games better than the Patriots, but
thanks to sharing a division with the 14-2 Colts, the Jaguars could only
win a wildcard, and are on the road.
After opening at Jacksonville +7.5, we saw heavy balanced two-way
action. The sharps are split on this game as well, taking the points or
playing the Patriots bought down to -6.5 and -7. Some sharps are also
playing teasers on the Patriots from -8 to -2. By moving the line to New
England -8 +101, we are dealing about the same price as -7.5 -104, but
it makes teasing less attractive.
Carolina (+2.5) at New York Giants
After having the inside track to the NFC South title, Carolina lost two
home games in December and yielded the title to Tampa Bay. Consequently,
the Panthers begin their playoff journey on the road in New York. The
Giants managed to win four of their last five games, but Eli Manning has
had difficulties. In December, he’s thrown 7 interceptions to just 4
touchdowns and his passer rating was an abysmal 64.9%. Tiki Barber has
stepped up for the offense in that same time period, netting 742 yards
in those 5 games.
This is our highest volume game of the week. After opening with Panthers
+3 -120, the sharps drove the line to +2.5. This is a classic money duel
between the sharps on Carolina, offset by public money on the Giants.
Money continues to pour in on both sides, with the sharps matching the
public bettors dollar for dollar.
Pittsburgh (-3) at Cincinnati
It is rare that a home team is an underdog in the first week of the
playoffs. In the last 10 years, it has only happened 5 times. How have
the home dogs fared? 5-0 against the spread, and 5-0 straight up.
Our opener of Steelers -2.5 -113 saw heavy two-way action. Once again,
the sharps were split evenly on this game, taking Pittsburgh at -2.5 and
Cincinnati at +3. The public is also evenly split, but slightly favors
the Steelers.
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About PinnacleSports.com
PinnacleSports.com is the Internet’s largest sports betting site serving
customers in more than 80 countries worldwide. Founded in 1998,
PinnacleSports.com was the first sports book to introduce reduced margin
wagering using a -105 pricing model that gives bettors up to 50% better
value on wagers than traditional bookmakers. With low minimum bet
requirements and the highest maximum limits on the Web,
PinnacleSports.com has earned an industry leading reputation for
providing consistent value to the player, professional customer service
and the quickest payouts online. Fully licensed and regulated in Curacao
and the United Kingdom, the company offers a secure environment for
sports betting, racing and casino gaming.
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