I probably should organize a more well thought out column on this subject, but I am busy this week so a relatively quick post will have to do.
I have seen a lot of discussion both at Mad Jack's and other gambling forums about reduced juice books and high bonus books. If you would have talked to me two years ago I would have fallen right in line with those folks who scope out reduced juice and bonuses when making the decision of which book to post up with, but now my opinion has changed. Reduced vig and bonuses are still very nice perks, but they must be understood to be just that: perks.
In the same way you pay the forty bucks at Lawry's for the steak rather than the scrumptuous salad, you should choose your books based on how the meat of your gambling (your wagering style) is satisfied rather than the garnish (bonuses & reduced vig). You all know how you like to bet, so before you post up take a look around the book to see if their odds and options are going to fit your wagering style rather than just jumping at the bonus or reduced vig offers.
Do you play sides, totals, parlays, teasers or a combination of those types of wagers? Do you make frequent deposits and withdrawls or do you make your yearly deposit in August and make your yearly withdrawl in January? Do you wager overnight, or do you like to read the morning paper and watch Sportscenter before you buy your tickets? Which sports do you wager on? These are all important questions. Obviously I don't know how all of you play, but I can give you my example to illustrate why I have a rotation of 3 (sometimes 4) solid outs that I go back to over and over, despite that fact that none of them offer full time reduced vig and only one of them has an exceptional bonus policy.
My most coveted feature of a book is unique lines. Nowadays Don Best and Billy Walters seem to be the two most important names in gambling (it's a joke, please don't argue the minutae of that statement), so cookie cutter lines are everywhere. It seems that very few books move on action anymore or have lines that are "opinionated". Unique lines matter to me because I have used multiple books that move their lines "on air" in the past and for the most part it became a waste of time and effort to maintain those accounts.
When I log in and find the Anaheim Over 5 at +100 at all 3 or 5 books that I am playing at, I get pissed off. When I find 7 of 8 lines on an average NBA night to be identical, I get really pissed off. When that started happening with frequency, it pissed me off enough that I basically dropped all the high bonus books that I was playing with at the time and looked to the bigger books like CRIS and Olympic that tend to set lines rather than move off the lines others set.
Unique lines is so important to me and so far ahead of every other method of choosing a sportsbook to me that I am almost doing an injustice by including other criteria in the same post. Still, there are other criteria.
I like to keep at least one book that deals overnight lines. I often curse myself for this because sometimes the previous day's results can cloud your judgement when handicapping the night before, but I like the option of betting overnight. This is especially true in baseball and hockey, where favorites often move greatly before morning lines are posted at all books. A book like BetPanAm is nice in a lot of ways with their 10 cent baseball lines and 14 cent hockey lines, but there are many, many times when you can find a better price on CRIS or Olympic's overnight lines that are dealt at 20 cents in both sports.
Since I am talking about CRIS and Olympic, that brings up the fact that the range of betting options is very important as well. One bet I like a lot is 5 inning totals in MLB. Last season only CRIS and WWTS (to my knowledge) dealt those lines at 20 cents (BoDog and possibly a few others had them at 30 cents). I also like to take a look at Team Totals, which Olympic deals at 40 cents. 40 cents is certainly very high vigorish, but if they are played sparingly, often times team totals can take advantage of a certain situation that can be handicapped more precisely than a regular side or total. Obviously the wide range of props at books like Olympic and 5 Dimes are attractive, too.
O.K. I have to have unique lines. I like to have overnight lines for at least one of my books and I like to have certain options for certain sports. So what don't I like? Books that scare me.
I know, it sounds dumb. The fact is that Canbet's soccer lines scare the crap out of me. Their vig is just so low compared to most books that they have to be sharp to deal those soccer lines. That is not just screwy theoretical logic, either. I have tracked many soccer plays and they are sharp. Same goes for Pinnacle in virtually any sport. Some day I may change my mind, but for now I just won't play there because when I used them in the past, I always lost money because the games I bet where Pinnacle offered the best line lost way more often than they won. Olympic is that way as well to a degree, but at least for me not as strongly as with Canbet's soccer lines or Pinnacle's lines in virtually any sport. That is two reduced vig books right there down the crapper because when I play there they beat the living tar out of me.
The final, and most difficult to quantify, criteria is favorable lines to my betting style. I mostly bet underdogs. Underdog moneylines in basketball, mostly underdogs in baseball and underdogs getting the half puck in hockey. I also bet overs from time to time. NFL teasers, too. So I look for books that offer attractive lines on these bets. Unfortunately, that changes from season to season and from sport to sport, but since I've been at this crap since 1997, I feel like I've gotten a decent feel for what books are going to offer lines that will give me value over what most books are offering.
Please don't take this column to mean that bonuses and reduced juice are totally unimportant. Like the analogy I made before to Lawry's delicious California Cut, they are the garnish which often makes a great book even more delectible. At the books I play at, I certainly try to take advantage of those promotions when they are offered. But they are still just that: promotions.
There are certainly exceptions to every rule, but my basic rule is to find a book that you would be comfortable playing at if they were dealing 10 cent vig with no bonuses. Once you have found this book, then look to play their promotions.
My final word on this is that I have heard a large number of gamblers give theoretcial computations about how much money you would save by betting this or that reduced vig number, but none of these folks have given their own examples in side by side comparison with another book. Don't take everything written about reduced vig at face value (including this very post). Do your own research and pick the book first, promotions second.
I have seen a lot of discussion both at Mad Jack's and other gambling forums about reduced juice books and high bonus books. If you would have talked to me two years ago I would have fallen right in line with those folks who scope out reduced juice and bonuses when making the decision of which book to post up with, but now my opinion has changed. Reduced vig and bonuses are still very nice perks, but they must be understood to be just that: perks.
In the same way you pay the forty bucks at Lawry's for the steak rather than the scrumptuous salad, you should choose your books based on how the meat of your gambling (your wagering style) is satisfied rather than the garnish (bonuses & reduced vig). You all know how you like to bet, so before you post up take a look around the book to see if their odds and options are going to fit your wagering style rather than just jumping at the bonus or reduced vig offers.
Do you play sides, totals, parlays, teasers or a combination of those types of wagers? Do you make frequent deposits and withdrawls or do you make your yearly deposit in August and make your yearly withdrawl in January? Do you wager overnight, or do you like to read the morning paper and watch Sportscenter before you buy your tickets? Which sports do you wager on? These are all important questions. Obviously I don't know how all of you play, but I can give you my example to illustrate why I have a rotation of 3 (sometimes 4) solid outs that I go back to over and over, despite that fact that none of them offer full time reduced vig and only one of them has an exceptional bonus policy.
My most coveted feature of a book is unique lines. Nowadays Don Best and Billy Walters seem to be the two most important names in gambling (it's a joke, please don't argue the minutae of that statement), so cookie cutter lines are everywhere. It seems that very few books move on action anymore or have lines that are "opinionated". Unique lines matter to me because I have used multiple books that move their lines "on air" in the past and for the most part it became a waste of time and effort to maintain those accounts.
When I log in and find the Anaheim Over 5 at +100 at all 3 or 5 books that I am playing at, I get pissed off. When I find 7 of 8 lines on an average NBA night to be identical, I get really pissed off. When that started happening with frequency, it pissed me off enough that I basically dropped all the high bonus books that I was playing with at the time and looked to the bigger books like CRIS and Olympic that tend to set lines rather than move off the lines others set.
Unique lines is so important to me and so far ahead of every other method of choosing a sportsbook to me that I am almost doing an injustice by including other criteria in the same post. Still, there are other criteria.
I like to keep at least one book that deals overnight lines. I often curse myself for this because sometimes the previous day's results can cloud your judgement when handicapping the night before, but I like the option of betting overnight. This is especially true in baseball and hockey, where favorites often move greatly before morning lines are posted at all books. A book like BetPanAm is nice in a lot of ways with their 10 cent baseball lines and 14 cent hockey lines, but there are many, many times when you can find a better price on CRIS or Olympic's overnight lines that are dealt at 20 cents in both sports.
Since I am talking about CRIS and Olympic, that brings up the fact that the range of betting options is very important as well. One bet I like a lot is 5 inning totals in MLB. Last season only CRIS and WWTS (to my knowledge) dealt those lines at 20 cents (BoDog and possibly a few others had them at 30 cents). I also like to take a look at Team Totals, which Olympic deals at 40 cents. 40 cents is certainly very high vigorish, but if they are played sparingly, often times team totals can take advantage of a certain situation that can be handicapped more precisely than a regular side or total. Obviously the wide range of props at books like Olympic and 5 Dimes are attractive, too.
O.K. I have to have unique lines. I like to have overnight lines for at least one of my books and I like to have certain options for certain sports. So what don't I like? Books that scare me.
I know, it sounds dumb. The fact is that Canbet's soccer lines scare the crap out of me. Their vig is just so low compared to most books that they have to be sharp to deal those soccer lines. That is not just screwy theoretical logic, either. I have tracked many soccer plays and they are sharp. Same goes for Pinnacle in virtually any sport. Some day I may change my mind, but for now I just won't play there because when I used them in the past, I always lost money because the games I bet where Pinnacle offered the best line lost way more often than they won. Olympic is that way as well to a degree, but at least for me not as strongly as with Canbet's soccer lines or Pinnacle's lines in virtually any sport. That is two reduced vig books right there down the crapper because when I play there they beat the living tar out of me.
The final, and most difficult to quantify, criteria is favorable lines to my betting style. I mostly bet underdogs. Underdog moneylines in basketball, mostly underdogs in baseball and underdogs getting the half puck in hockey. I also bet overs from time to time. NFL teasers, too. So I look for books that offer attractive lines on these bets. Unfortunately, that changes from season to season and from sport to sport, but since I've been at this crap since 1997, I feel like I've gotten a decent feel for what books are going to offer lines that will give me value over what most books are offering.
Please don't take this column to mean that bonuses and reduced juice are totally unimportant. Like the analogy I made before to Lawry's delicious California Cut, they are the garnish which often makes a great book even more delectible. At the books I play at, I certainly try to take advantage of those promotions when they are offered. But they are still just that: promotions.
There are certainly exceptions to every rule, but my basic rule is to find a book that you would be comfortable playing at if they were dealing 10 cent vig with no bonuses. Once you have found this book, then look to play their promotions.
My final word on this is that I have heard a large number of gamblers give theoretcial computations about how much money you would save by betting this or that reduced vig number, but none of these folks have given their own examples in side by side comparison with another book. Don't take everything written about reduced vig at face value (including this very post). Do your own research and pick the book first, promotions second.
