Are bettors psychologically programmed to bet on the favorite?

[SportsMushroom]

and if so, does vegas try to take advantage of this?

[phillybadboy]

faves win 50% of time

[THE PROFIT]

yes, people want to bet on the favorites, because they are gonna win the game, and people want a winner

[aca]

I ageee!

[SportsMushroom]

it seems that on occassions, line setters favor one team with the purpose of drawing money on that team

[pavyracer]

Here is my thinking..When a line is between -5 and +5 I treat the teams as equal without looking at lines. I do my capping and then place the bet on the ML for dog and spread on the favorite. But it doesn't sway my pick if the team I like is the dog.

[Chandler]

linesmakers will shade the line for big games, like national tv games, primetime games ect.

especially when its a big public team with many fans and alumni squares with deep pockets.

Yankess
bosox
duke b-ball
lakers
dallas cowboys
Ohio st. football
Texas football ect.

the problem is, if you put a line out there like lakers -12.5 and you know the true no vig line might indeed be -10.5 and you try to trap the public square homers.

you might get 1000 guys betting 110-100 on lakers -12.5

but it only takes 4 or 5 sharp guys betting 10k on the 12.5 to bury you.

sorry the market usually ends up being efficient and that line will go down to balance the action out.

somtimes a book does take a strong and opinionated position though. and tries to WIN

[alukk]

Yes.

[robmpink]

yes and the over.

[RockBottom]

Who wants to bet on the lesser team? The favorite will have the public assume they are better.

[k13]

Yes, they might like Arizona over Duke now.

[big joe 1212]

Bodog sure thinks so!

[Karayilan9]

Nothing wrong with betting on favorites don't understand the hang up over it, betting dogs or favs has nothing to do with being sharp.

[SportsMushroom]

Nothing wrong with betting on favorites don't understand the hang up over it, betting dogs or favs has nothing to do with being sharp.

there is nothing wrong with betting a fav when it is properly and objectively capped

what i am asking is if some bettors tend to subconsiously have a preference in betting the fav, and so are sometimes not able to cap the game objectively

and if the lines makers try to take advantage of this fact

[FourLengthsClear]

Yes and yes.
Lines in US sports are shaded slightly towards the favourite but not by enough to make blindly betting underdogs viable.

[FourLengthsClear]

faves win 50% of time

No they don't.

[tonycarr]

from what Ive seen you look for a game that you feel the line is off 1 way or the other and you bet it. Dont worry about if the line is wrong fav or dog worry about how far off. Make your plays accordingly.

[str]

Yes and yes.