A look back at this past weekend from a bettor?s point-of-view
By Jimmy Mason, Director of Sportsbook Operations, www.betcom.com
Nov 15
This is the most intriguing time of year to bet sports, as many teams in the NCAA are jockeying for bowl game position, winter is setting in and affecting the totals in both NCAA and NFL, and the NBA is just getting started. This is when the pros really go to work. Ironically, the three biggest plays by the pros this weekend all went bad on them.
Saturday saw the highest profile NCAA handicapper in the business ?release? Oregon as his ?Lock of the year?. He ?released? the Ducks at ?5, and by the time his subscribers had played it, they told their friends to play it, who of course told their friends to play it, the line had blown right through the key numbers of 6, 6 ?, 7 and closed as high -9. Our ticket count, which normally would have been nearly even in a game featuring two equally appealing Pac-10 schools, was more than 3 to 1 on Oregon. As I have discussed in previous issues of The Wrap, these professional handicappers run hot and cold. This ?Lock of the year? was ice cold as the Ducks actually lost outright 34-26 to UCLA, and left many a player walking off the cliff like lemmings.
The NBA Saturday action saw one of the most drastic moves on an NBA total in years when the Golden St. Warriors and the expansion Charlotte Bobcats total opened in the morning at 187, but then dropped all the way down and closed at 177! Having a 5-point move on NBA totals is big, but not uncommon. However, a 10-point move is nearly unheard of. Although the Bobcats have not demonstrated it yet this year, expansion teams have a knack for playing low scoring games. They tend to rely on defense, and slowing down the game via clock management to stay close to more talented opponents. That being said the final total was 190, so another big play by the pros went down in flames.
In the NFL there was one play that really stood out. The Cleveland Browns at home in their fiercest rivalry of the year, hosted the Steelers, who were riding high coming off of two impressive wins over undefeated teams. I circled this game last week before the line had even come up as a game I liked. As one insider I spoke to said: ?The only thing that concerns me about the Browns is that EVERY wise guy we know loves them?. It?s rare that you find a consensus pick by the pros. For some odd reason, the consensus picks don?t seem to work out very well. Steelers win convincingly, as do the majority of our players. All in all, it was a good week for recreational players, but not so hot for the pros who went 0-3 on their biggest bets this weekend.
Well, that?s it for this past weekend. Till next week?.
Get in on the action: www.betcom.com
By Jimmy Mason, Director of Sportsbook Operations, www.betcom.com
Nov 15
This is the most intriguing time of year to bet sports, as many teams in the NCAA are jockeying for bowl game position, winter is setting in and affecting the totals in both NCAA and NFL, and the NBA is just getting started. This is when the pros really go to work. Ironically, the three biggest plays by the pros this weekend all went bad on them.
Saturday saw the highest profile NCAA handicapper in the business ?release? Oregon as his ?Lock of the year?. He ?released? the Ducks at ?5, and by the time his subscribers had played it, they told their friends to play it, who of course told their friends to play it, the line had blown right through the key numbers of 6, 6 ?, 7 and closed as high -9. Our ticket count, which normally would have been nearly even in a game featuring two equally appealing Pac-10 schools, was more than 3 to 1 on Oregon. As I have discussed in previous issues of The Wrap, these professional handicappers run hot and cold. This ?Lock of the year? was ice cold as the Ducks actually lost outright 34-26 to UCLA, and left many a player walking off the cliff like lemmings.
The NBA Saturday action saw one of the most drastic moves on an NBA total in years when the Golden St. Warriors and the expansion Charlotte Bobcats total opened in the morning at 187, but then dropped all the way down and closed at 177! Having a 5-point move on NBA totals is big, but not uncommon. However, a 10-point move is nearly unheard of. Although the Bobcats have not demonstrated it yet this year, expansion teams have a knack for playing low scoring games. They tend to rely on defense, and slowing down the game via clock management to stay close to more talented opponents. That being said the final total was 190, so another big play by the pros went down in flames.
In the NFL there was one play that really stood out. The Cleveland Browns at home in their fiercest rivalry of the year, hosted the Steelers, who were riding high coming off of two impressive wins over undefeated teams. I circled this game last week before the line had even come up as a game I liked. As one insider I spoke to said: ?The only thing that concerns me about the Browns is that EVERY wise guy we know loves them?. It?s rare that you find a consensus pick by the pros. For some odd reason, the consensus picks don?t seem to work out very well. Steelers win convincingly, as do the majority of our players. All in all, it was a good week for recreational players, but not so hot for the pros who went 0-3 on their biggest bets this weekend.
Well, that?s it for this past weekend. Till next week?.
Get in on the action: www.betcom.com
