If you follow me on Twitter you probably know that I get into arguments with a lot of people regarding the importance of line-shopping. One would think there really is nothing to debate, but there is a corner of the world that believes points do not really matter. Most of these people are individuals who use Bovada as their only sports-betting website, which is a serious problem.
The line on Thursday night’s football game pretty much stayed as expected following Big Ben’s injury. It opened up at 2 and 2.5 on the normal betting sites, and 3 on the square ones. There was a bit of fluctuation between 2.5 and 3 for those that offered the former at some point. I probably do not need to describe what went on in the game (especially if you were a Steelers backer), as two missed field-goals from kicker Josh Scobee set up the game-tying marker in the closing seconds of the game for Baltimore.
But things got much worse than that. Despite having one of the best running backs in the league, the Steelers refused to use his skill-set on two 4th down situations (since they could not count on their kicker in those spots). Baltimore eventually won the game on a 52 yard attempt by Justin Tucker. While Scobee should and will take the majority of the blame, one cannot overlook some of the decision making from Pittsburgh’s coaching staff.
There was absolutely no reason for anyone to be standing with a pushed -3 or a lost +2.5. Getting the best number is really not that hard. I do not need to even open up a line comparison page to know that a square site like Bovada is going to be shaded at least half a point to the public side compared to a site like 5Dimes or BetOnline. You do not even need to keep a running balance at a handful of sites, all you need is two: One square, and one fair. The only time I hound people for using Bovada is when it’s their only site. Someone who uses it to bet on sharp sides (typically underdogs and unders since that’s how things go) knows what they are doing. Every single point matters, regardless of where the number is. But since people are obsessed with “important numbers” like 3 and 7, I thought tonight was a good night to drill it into your skulls. This is just a simple thing you can do to increase your edge in the long run.
The night is still young, but I imagine I will get into a few arguments with Bovada-defenders who believed there was nothing wrong with their -3 tickets.