[Dawgfan1980]

Is a steam play when several books are hammered at the same time by a particular side or total? Is that basically it? What are some things that separate "steam plays" from the betting public moving the money? Is it only considered "steam" if the sharps are moving the lines? How does software like Don Best or SportsOptions decipher if it is sharps moving the line or not?

Thanks for your input. I hope this question is not too elementary for some of you.

[GoIrish682]

thank you so much for posting this question, and separating the 'general public square' money form sharp money? I always wondered how some services can offer what percentage of money is sharp?
thanks so much.

[joshschild11]

yes steam play is when a large sum of money is wagered at various books. this then forces books to adjust lines to lower their risk on one side of a contest. just to be clear this does not always offer a winner. in fact many betting syndicates will pump up a line just to come back even harder on a game and catch a middle in doing so. generally a good rule of thumb is to see what the closing line is. that will give you an idea of where the heaviest money came in

[tsip]

Having spent many years in the casino biz I can tell you a few things....First, most of what the average gambler calls "steam"
is nothing more than hot air and B.S. it's just a game where the public is heavy on one side. That's not real STEAM. If you watched the 60 minutes piece on Billy Walters, that's the kind of STEAM that you have to try to uncover. On the inside, this is how a lot of the "REAL" steam starts......A sportsbook manager will spot a person who is known to be a runner for Billy Walters or one of the other big groups in Vegas and when they make their bet, they circulate the information that "Billy" is on Team A. So even though many of the books haven't even taken much action on that game they'll still move their line as a deterrent for other big groups to make a move.

Software like sports options defines steam as a wager that triggers 3 books to move their line within 30 seconds of that wager. That idea is ok but that's not enough books to make it "steam" in my opinion.

The thing to remember is that just because a line moves a few points that it's somehow "steam" or that someone "knows" something. Chances are its just the public taking a 2 point line move....assuming it's "steam" and running wild. A good example is 1/27/2011...Miami at the Knicks....The total opened 208....by mid morning the line was up to 210 and then the public thinks someone is in the know and they kill the over all day and lose by 40 as the game goes in the 170's.

Finding TRUE STEAM...the kind of play you'd like to follow takes a lot of work and patience....because many of the major betting groups and guys like Billy Walters can manipulate the lines to get what they want. They'll float small bets on one side all day and get the line to move only to come back with their BIG bet on the other side when they get the number they want.

If I were going to look for steam I would start with games that seem to be making small moves one way all day and then about a half hour before start time or less you see a sudden "SNAP" back in the line where it starts to reverse and head the other way.

Hope this helps

[Thremp]

The poster above me is very wrong.

[chemicalbrother]

haha

[That Foreign Guy]

The poster above me is very wrong.

Do you have this as a macro?

[GoIrish682]

i just read the whole post of that guy a few above me...seems like a lot of debate over what steam is

[Chandler]

it seems that many have different operational definitions of what "steam" is.

but a good place to start, is when and why books will collar or boot you for "chasing steam"

[blix177]

Stream is when you take their money, and they need a reason to stop you.

[testudo]

To make a long story short, it is when everyone (sharps bw etc...) is betting the same side of a game and you beat the book to a number before they can move the line.

[JoeVig]

To make a long story short, it is when everyone (sharps bw etc...) is betting the same side of a game and you beat the book to a number before they can move the line.

Like when a book manager limits me to $50 and says "You always seem to get our best numbers". I said, "Well, someone has to and it might as well be me".

One man's steam is another man's "value shopping".

[Aristocles]

To make a long story short, it is when everyone (sharps bw etc...) is betting the same side of a game and you beat the book to a number before they can move the line.

So there is really no way to differentiate the wagerers?

[CyberSleuth]

I've never really understood what steam is. I think I have an idea now.

[Love The Action]

The poster above me is very wrong.

You simply state he is wrong, without any reasoning. Can you please back up your statement.

[Peeig]

You simply state he is wrong, without any reasoning. Can you please back up your statement.

the search function might help you figure out this quandry

[flamethrower]

so what is the actual definition of a steam play yall?

[Peregrine Stoop]

So there is really no way to differentiate the wagerers?

more money = better wagerer

(not quite true, but 80% of it)