[Hardcoar]

It's a question of how fast bettors act (and the respective bookmaker's react to their actions, consequently), rather than the books getting ahold of the information before everyone else. This only applies in cases where lines have already been opened by bookmakers, of course.

It's a small part of events obviously, but fairly often in absolute terms if you beat other bettors to the chase. Bookmakers also have vastly different reaction times between each other. I didn't find this out by myself. I read a couple of Tweets and saw this thread, coincidentally.

[frugalgambler]

Good job, HC. You've been at this longer than I have, how often does this kind of thing happen (i.e., where we get reliable info before the books can react)?

Poet, if you read my first posts: it was not clear from the get-go that Russians would be bringing their C-team, but the probability was pretty high. Even after a player after player was confirming she should not playing in the Finals, the odds were still set as if Russia's B-team would be playing. I liked this bet because best of 5 matches reduced the possibility of bad luck.

Now, I am sure this stuff happens a fair bit, especially with player injuries/suspensions. The problem is: it is usually not posted in the open. I do not remember another option where the odds shot from -170 to -1500 and one still had some time to react in the process. E.g. right now it is not clear if Tipsarevic will be 100% for the Davis Cup finals. If not, Czechs should be closer to ~+120, not +250. But who nows what his status is.

[poet]

Thanks Frug and HC for clearing things up. I cam on to the scene very late, I think two or three days after your first post. From the sound of it, we won't see an opportunity like this in a while. Let's hope I'm wrong.