People who like to pretend that they know all about College Football often use the term "sharps" to describe bettors who wager large amounts of money and who are quite successful at it. Nothing can be further from the truth. The fact is that many sportsbook managers like to use that term to sucker players into making wagers on the sides they want. Here are two quotes from Ed Salmons, who was the head oddsmaker at the Super book in 2016, regarding 2016 wagers on various bowl games:
"The SuperBook took a limit bet on Ohio State -3 versus Clemson in mid-December. "That was definitely sharp," Salmons said. The SuperBook also took early action, characterized by Salmons as sharp, on Florida State +7, Stanford -3 and Pittsburgh -3.5."
The only team to cover those games was Florida State. So the alleged "Sharps" went 1-3 in those games. "Sharps do not go 1-3 in Bowl games. Bowl games are not like weekly conference games where teams know each other and are more prone to upsets.
Another very interesting stat is this. Jeff Stoneback, assistant sportsbook manager at the MGM Mirage, estimates "80 to 90 percent" of the money wagered on bowl games is placed on the day of the game. That means that it is impossible for ANYONE in here to know what the sharps are doing because they wait until the last minute to place their wagers. Anyone in here want to claim that they know who the "sharps" are and what teams they wager on?