How is Pinnacle "sharp"?

[Stag]

I have heard several times that Pinnacle is very sharp with their lines. But what exactly does this mean?

More importantly, can we take advantage of this at other books?

 

[BleedDodgerBlue]

Okay, I'll try and explain this in lamens terms. Pinnacle is sharp basically, because they aren't giving their money away. Actually none of the books are, but they are the best at it. Pinnacle has the highest max limits to my knowledge, or are at least in the top 1 or 2 for max limits out there. Hell, they had 4k halftime action max in nba. Because of this, they get the "sharpest" gamblers out there becuase they can wager for more there. That doesn't mean they don't have a bunch of whales who wager big with tons of money, but they know who wins and who doesn't. All books keep dossiers(sp?) of all their clients. They know how each client does, and generally in which sports or areas they excel at. Basically they know winners when they don't. Pinnacle also has the sharpest oddsmakers, and by just reading their lines and comparing them to the square shops, you have a good idea of when to lay off a game you really like.
Pinnacle moves their lines as they see fit, and on "sharp" players money, and believe me they know who they are. The square shops for the most part move their lines off of action, which pinnacle rarely does. They aren't afraid to take stances on a game when the sharp money is going one way and they are unevenly balanced with "whale" or public money going the other way even if they are proportionally unbalanced.
So, if you want to open an account there, make sure you have at least 3 or 4 other accounts with the "square" books. Pinnacle will give you the best baseball odds in most instances because of their 8 cent lines, so they definitely IMO are the best book out there, but be careful what to look for.
Ill try and explain it with a brief example so you can get the point:
About a month ago (i could have teams and days wrong, but it doesn't matter, its the example that matters) the Bucks were playing the Rockets in Milwaukee. At the square shops like squareinteraction or blodog, they were posting the rockets -2 and were moving their opening line from a pick because apparently everyone was betting the rockets. Pinnacle moved from pick to Milwaukee -1. I have no idea if their books were balanced or not on the game, but their "sharps" were laying heavy action on the bucks and they had a pretty good idea that the rockets were gonna lose which they did. So it looked like if you liked the rockets you were getting a steal at +1 for the game at pinnacle instead of -2 at the square shops, but gifts that look too good to be true usually are.

Hope this helps and good luck.

 

[Antonio]

BDB....Excellent, excellent, excellent post. Juice copy this...print it out and keep it near your monitor at all times!!!!

 

[picasso]

Very nice explanatation, BDB -- one of the best posts I've read on this site! I follow line moves at a number of books very closely. I also do a lot of middling/scalping. Do this long enough and the square book/sharp book distribution becomes quite clear.

 

[TJBELL]

Very well said BDB!!!!!! :thumb:

And so goes another day at Pinnacle!!

 

[THE HITMAN]

A good example of this occured last night in two late start games:
San Diego was -135 at 7 other shops that I checked, all 10 cent or less lines, while Pinnacle was at only -125, asking for SD money. They were asking because SD lost 5-0. Next scene was Texas/Sea over 9. My search showed the over at minus everywhere, anywhere from -105 to -111. Pinnacle was at +101 and may have gone to +102, I am not sure. They were begging for over $ to come in. Well, the under came in with only 5 runs scored, with a Texas team that has been just murdering the ball this week. I was wise enough to back off of the Sea/Tex over, but they caught me on SDiego.
This is worth studying and noting..............If you want a service or picks and don't want to pay for it, just monitor their lines and go with their flow.
GL, THE HITMAN

 

[homedog]

San Diego was + last night against the Unit.

 

[THE HITMAN]

Homedog, you are right. Thanks for pointing that out. It was another night that it took place............my notes & chicken scratch ings sometimes leave alot to be desired But, the point remains, it is a trend & it happens often. GL

 

[chump]

another pinnacle prime example:

tonight

florida -137 at pinny, -150 most other places

let's see if the Atl wins...

 

[chump]

Yep, Pinny is doing their thing as usual

fla looking horrible, other public plays losing are KC and Tampa.

 

[Stag]

thanks for the great replies....good luck to everyone

 

[rrc]

A quick look of Pinn/SIA Tuesday...

A quick look of Pinn/SIA Tuesday...

Cubs -165 sia -152 pinn
LA -115 sia -104 pinn
Sf -145 sia -139 pinn
An -140 sia -133 pinn

Look hard at Pitt, Colo, Sd, Tex

Good luck

 

[verbalkint]

pinnicle does not try and predict outcomes of games.
they do follow a program which automatically changes lines according to a mathmaticall formula [no dout different for each sport], which is designed to maximize there profit [ie hold] regardless of the eventual winner or winners.....


A smart [very] smart individual could follow movents and use this info to help predict the winners of individual events.

 

[NySportsfan]

I monitored a bunch of the overnight lines, and saw pinnacle had some different from 5dimes and a few others, no surprise there. On a related note, I noticed some lines changed drastically from overnight until now, 1pm the next day. I bet with 5-7 books and the time, if you played joe obvious public for a second, you could predict which way the odds will move the next day. Ie: you'd take yankees -145 which they were last night at a few places, and come back and take the white sox +150 which I saw today, Now I dont know if these books let you bet both sides of a game? they should, but some dont, but if you have different books. Of course if the line doesnt move in your favor you need to buy back and take a small loss, another glaring example was stlouis-houston.......st louis was -118 houston +108 in overnight, checked a consensus site and saw more houston action even if thats not a true indicator, but now today houston is -102, and st louis -106 at pinny, now 2 cents probably not worth all the trouble, but I thought it was interesting, involves some risk and confidence figuring which way the public will bet, but Id guess usually the yanks, houston, sf will go up, ala giants also started -145 now are in the low -160s... anyone ever bother with this kind of stuff, I know it takes too much time which I dont have at this time, but is it worth considering, and also, the ones of you that monitor lines, how do you do it, do you have some sort of program? thanks, just thought this was interesting after reading about pinny being "sharp" in the sportsbook forum, good luck

Mike

 

[rrc]

Follow up...

Follow up...

3 of the 4 dogs posted above got the money.

 

[Jorgesca]

but doesnt sportsinteraction always have favorites heavier than other books i mean most of the time pinnacle will have the favorite at a lower price? anyway i saw today something interesting, at most places houston was -200 and at pinnacle it jumped just before game time to -208 which was higher than the other books and from what ive seen pinnacle doesnt have favorites higher than other books.

 

[stomie]

"Sharp" is like the "unicorn" - If there was any truth to it people would be rich, but the legend makes sportsbooks richer.

 

[picasso]

"Sharp" is like the "unicorn" - If there was any truth to it people would be rich, but the legend makes sportsbooks richer.

Do enough scalping and you might think otherwise.

 

[verbalkint]

scalping is hard work with the emphasis on work. but you will win, amount only limited by your bankroll and time.

 

[NySportsfan]

more examples on how pinnacle is SHARP. I took my money out of there because it was messing with my head with their different lines, now I just look at the lines and try to make plays off it.....example being, watch the line movement right before a game, and they tend to move it to the sharp side......ie, seattle/texas the over 10.5 was -140 a little before the game, then right before the game it went down to like -110, while other places had it -120 or higher, and at halftime of the nuggets tonight, I checked 5 different books, ALL had 6,6.5, even 7 for minnesota giving to denver, I go to pinnacle they are stuck on 5.5! I guess this is how they win money, people like minnesota and thiink "wow I'll take the less line" but often times it's the wrong side, This doesnt always work, but watch the line moves before game time.......also, they stayed on minnesota -3 tonight vs denver, while all the other had minnesota -3.5 or 4, so what does that tell you? I would NOT play there and give them one dollar, the good moneylines on sides I liked were tempting but I learned often times it was the wrong side, Its better off using them to just monitor the line for information, Hope this helps!

Mike