BetonSports.com underdog lines...

[bg193]

Hello everyone I am new here, and have a question. I have been playing the underdog lines at betonsports.com after seeing how inflated they were on the covers.com matchup report. I logged on yesterday to find that the lines they were offering me vs the lines listed on covers.com and lines that my friend had were VERY different. Are they tracking the fact I bet on dogs a lot and are now giving me "normal" lines? I called their CS and they said everyone has the same lines. Bascially they are lying to me and I pulled all of my cash out of this book. Waiting for it to be sent to my neteller account today. Anyway I wanted to ask is there a way to stop them from tacking me? I deleted my cookies and history, and it did not help. I guess those lines were to good to be true!

Thanks,

BG

[hanco21]

I believe they show soft lines to bring in new clients. Once you start betting those lines you are put to sharp lines. A lot of sportsbooks do this. I bet one game on BOS for $300 and the next day I was put to sharp lines. I am just suprised they let you withdraw your money without meeting your rollover requirements for bonuses.

[bg193]

Thanks...that helps a great deal! I only had like $30 in bonuses. I met those requirements this weekend. I opened an account with them a long time ago and met the wagering requirements. I love the fact they can change the lines on you like that...pretty tricky. Covers.com should tell folks that when they sign up looking at those lines.

BG

[SBR_John]

bg,
They have profiled your play and determined they would make more money dealing you the sharp line. Most books have 2 set of lines, a square and a sharp. Sounds like they have switched you to sharp. Clearing your cookies will have no effect whatsoever.

[bg193]

Thanks! I was not aware of this at all. The dumb part is I wish they would have told me that, but they kept denying they had two lines. Thanks for the heads up. It's not a big deal and I have not lost money, but if someone thinks they are going to get these lines all of the time they are mistaken. Like I said if it's to good to be true it probably is.

BG

[hanco21]

All or most sportsbooks will deny this including Bowmans. The best is Bet365 which will lower your limits as low as $10. I called customer service and asked them why and she said thats all they could offer or something like that. The CS agent said they would review my account and call me back. Well this was 3 weeks ago and I still have not got a call. they said it would take a week.

These are suppose to one of best sportsbooks in the industry and they pull the same BS as most of the smaller books.

[Mudcat]

I love the fact they can change the lines on you like that...pretty tricky. Covers.com should tell folks that when they sign up looking at those lines.

Covers doesn't have any accountability for their advertisers. It's not that kind of forum. They just take the cheques and post the banners.

If you have a problem with one of their advertisers and you contact Covers admin, the answer you will probably get is: "What are you telling us for?"

[BSTPNM68]

Once you start betting those lines you are put to sharp lines.

At the risk of sounding naive, how do I know if I am getting sharp lines?

[hanco21]

When you stop seeing those soft lines then you are on sharp lines. Sportsbooks like Betonsports purposely throw a couple games a day with soft lines out there and if you happen to bet that game then they consider you a sharp and then your lines will change. Its kind of a trap, they want to see what kind of client they have, a sharp or square.

[TLD]

“Sharp” lines just means the regular lines that almost all books use, i.e., the consensus lines for that event.

“Square” lines means a book shades one side in the direction they expect will enable them to collect more from the typical customer, the “square.” Most often this means making the price worse to bet a favorite and consequently better to bet an underdog.

The way to know which you’re getting is to compare with other books. Let’s say a basketball game is 6 almost everywhere with maybe a few 6.5s. If at your book in question it’s a 6, then that’s the sharp line. If it’s a 7 then that’s the square line.

If you are dumb enough to consistently bet the –7 in that kind of situation, they’ll continue to keep you on the square lines and make extra money off you. If you instead tend to bet the +7, they’ll switch you to the sharp lines.

Many people say, “Oh, I don’t mind if they switch me to the sharp lines. I’ll just fool them and bet the other way.” But they’re misunderstanding what’s happening. It’s an advantage to be able to bet the +7 square line in the above situation because it’s off the consensus of the market. It is not an advantage to bet the –6 sharp line because you can find the same line at hundreds of other books, some no doubt at lower juice.

So once a book switches you to the sharp lines it’s probably going to be largely useless to you, unless you are there for bonuses or some reason other than the lines. You probably won’t be betting the other side; you’ll be passing.

And I wouldn’t say it’s all that common to deal dual lines. Some books do; many don’t. At most of the bigger, more reputable books like The Greek, CRIS, Pinnacle, etc., you’ll never be switched to some other set of lines based on your betting patterns. Their lines are their lines. (The only exception might be certain very high roller sharps might have to negotiate a price. So if I’m a big syndicate player and I call and want $20,000 at –6, the supervisor might say, “I can only give you $5,000 at -6, but if you’re willing to take –6.5 I can give you the other $15,000 at that,” etc. So I’m technically not getting the posted line in that case, but that’s a very different phenomenon from what we’re talking about at Bowmans, the VIP books, etc.)

[BSTPNM68]

Thanks for the detailed responses.

Given the amount I shop (among 9 books) for lines, I think I am getting sharp lines at the books that have two lines.

[TLD]

A lot of times you can also tell by checking the lines on a website before logging in and then again after to see if they’re different. Most books that deal dual lines will show unlogged in viewers the square lines.

[Chuck Sims]

"I wish they would have told me that, but they kept denying they had two lines."

No surprise BetOnSports are lying to you. Wait until they start cancelling winning wagers citing "software error".

[SBR_John]

Chuck is right. Just a reminder with the world cup approaching; BoS gets a lot of complaints in 3 way events like soccer for cancelling bets after the contest is over in some cases.

Very nice posting TLD...

[imgv94]

When you stop seeing those soft lines then you are on sharp lines. Sportsbooks like Betonsports purposely throw a couple games a day with soft lines out there and if you happen to bet that game then they consider you a sharp and then your lines will change. Its kind of a trap, they want to see what kind of client they have, a sharp or square.

This is true!!!

[Terris]

seems they bought every so called watchdog and gambling site too...makes it easier to shade cancelled bets etc.?
Are they putting up way-off lines to trick bettors into playing, and cancel the bets if they win?

Whats going on John, they are rated 10 at tow now i noticed (best rating), its hard to believe really.
RX and everyone else seems to shill for them, is it possible to buy back reputation like that? Its scary...