very tough to bet steam,,,,, Ive found that following the steam of favorites will lead to a 0 balance at your book,,,, but if you watch and follow underdog steam,,,,,, that may put you where you want to be,,,
good luck,,,,
tater
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by bobk:
Hi. I read here about steam bets? So what are they how do you figure out what is steam and what are you supposed to do with them? TIA bobk<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Steam is a big jump of the line signifying that a mass of bettors or money like a certain side for some reason. Either watch for the moves yourself at a book like Pinnacle or set your line service to alarm you. What to do with them is highly debatable.
Steam is the line moving because everybody is playing one side. The linesmakers adjust the line trying to get equal $ on both sides because they don't want to gamble, they want the vig.
Take the opening line and any move 3 points for college and 1 1/2 for NFL is steam. There is an old saying--Nobody ever went broke betting against steam. There are exceptions that can change the numbers such as last minute key injuries or illness, weather, ect.. It is our job as handicappers to find out why the numbers are changing and act or not act accordingly.
You can really see steam an hour or so from game, especially TV games.