A look back at this past weekend from a bettor?s point-of-view
By Jimmy Mason, Director of Sportsbook Operations,
www.betcom.com
As a bookie this time of year is sort of like a Wednesday. Hump-day. It?s better than a Monday, but it?s no Friday! Football is over now and I for one am feeling the doldrums of pre-tournament basketball. This time of year there are rarely big decisions, and there are so many games that it?s almost hard for the books to not grind out a profit, it is on the other hand a perfect time for a smart player to pick his spots and cash in while the bookies have their guards down a bit!
Things got off on the wrong foot for the house Saturday as #11 Mich St., and #1 Illinois both won and covered early. Later #4 North Carolina, #8 Oklahoma St., #17 UConn, #10 Arizona and #12 Louisville all won and covered over their non-ranked opponents which predictably cashed many a ticket for the players.
Offsetting the lumps the house took was #2 Kansas getting knocked off on their own floor by Iowa St. That loss alone killed 68% of all live parlays and 79% of all live teasers at the time of scoring. Later in the afternoon our head linesman Rick McColley set a trap. Rick had it on good authority that the UAB ?blazers? would be a strong ?wise guy? play and left the line a bit low on Cincy as a trap. When the line opened Cincy -12, Rick used -11 ? and so on as the game finally closed at -11. The ?bearcats? squeezed out a 3 point win 72-69 and we were about even for the weekend.
Then we have the grinders, where the house just writes the action and hopes for a blowout. First up was #6 Boston College hosting #9 Syracuse on Saturday, and Sunday the biggest game of the weekend # 5 Wake Forest at #7 Duke. Both games saw great two way action which was to be expected on Saturday as many casual fans still aren?t sold on Boston College, where as Syracuse is a sexy, fan favorite every year. The shocker was, what I envisioned as a Duke betting orgy was bet surprisingly evenly. We found out near game time that one of the biggest handicappers in the country ?released? Wake Forest as his five star play of the month and many other ?cappers? had followed suit. Mystery solved, and the books make a ?ham sandwich?.
Until next week, when we?ll break it all down again??.
Jimmy Mason
www.betcom.com
By Jimmy Mason, Director of Sportsbook Operations,
www.betcom.com
As a bookie this time of year is sort of like a Wednesday. Hump-day. It?s better than a Monday, but it?s no Friday! Football is over now and I for one am feeling the doldrums of pre-tournament basketball. This time of year there are rarely big decisions, and there are so many games that it?s almost hard for the books to not grind out a profit, it is on the other hand a perfect time for a smart player to pick his spots and cash in while the bookies have their guards down a bit!
Things got off on the wrong foot for the house Saturday as #11 Mich St., and #1 Illinois both won and covered early. Later #4 North Carolina, #8 Oklahoma St., #17 UConn, #10 Arizona and #12 Louisville all won and covered over their non-ranked opponents which predictably cashed many a ticket for the players.
Offsetting the lumps the house took was #2 Kansas getting knocked off on their own floor by Iowa St. That loss alone killed 68% of all live parlays and 79% of all live teasers at the time of scoring. Later in the afternoon our head linesman Rick McColley set a trap. Rick had it on good authority that the UAB ?blazers? would be a strong ?wise guy? play and left the line a bit low on Cincy as a trap. When the line opened Cincy -12, Rick used -11 ? and so on as the game finally closed at -11. The ?bearcats? squeezed out a 3 point win 72-69 and we were about even for the weekend.
Then we have the grinders, where the house just writes the action and hopes for a blowout. First up was #6 Boston College hosting #9 Syracuse on Saturday, and Sunday the biggest game of the weekend # 5 Wake Forest at #7 Duke. Both games saw great two way action which was to be expected on Saturday as many casual fans still aren?t sold on Boston College, where as Syracuse is a sexy, fan favorite every year. The shocker was, what I envisioned as a Duke betting orgy was bet surprisingly evenly. We found out near game time that one of the biggest handicappers in the country ?released? Wake Forest as his five star play of the month and many other ?cappers? had followed suit. Mystery solved, and the books make a ?ham sandwich?.
Until next week, when we?ll break it all down again??.
Jimmy Mason
www.betcom.com
