Originally Posted by
BettingWizard
Kornegay dispelled a myth about the goal of line-setters, which we all always have been told is to draw equal money on both teams. By doing so, the house would always profit because for the one placing the wager, winning $100 requires betting $110. “Our goal is to win more than we lose,” Kornegay said. “That’s what we try to do. It’s rare that you have a game that you have equal action on both sides. Is that what the line’s supposed to do? Yeah. It rarely happens. I would say one out of 10 games we look at and say ‘It doesn’t matter who wins, we’re going to win (because there is roughly equal money on both sides).’”
The reaction to the seven-point spread didn’t surprise the oddsmakers.
“I would say most of the tickets were on Baylor, no doubt about it,” Kornegay said. “We heard them talking about it on the other side of the counter, and they were saying what we thought they would say, ‘Undefeated, ranked third. I can’t believe it. This doesn’t make sense.’”
The folks setting the lines have to take into consideration more than the average bettor’s anticipated reaction.
“We have to protect against the sharps,” Kornegay said.
The sharps?
“The professionals, the wise guys,” Kornegay said, meaning the hard-core, serious gamblers who come armed with research and a knack for picking games. “They have their opinions as well. Most of our lines are to keep those guys in check. Most of the money that comes in on a daily basis is from these types of players.”
Everybody should read that 10 times