Trap Plays - Week 10

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<TABLE class=tborder id=post5934516 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="100%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD class=alt1 id=td_post_5934516 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #fdde82 1px solid">The post below was written by Don Dollars about 2 years ago and was very successful. Then he stoped posting. I tried to pick up the thread last week using these rules and had a loser. Although if I would have waited until Sun morning to make my pick I would not have had a pick for week 9. The criterion were not met. I rushed and forced a pick and it turned out to be a loser. I will have more patience from now on and will not make the pick until Sun morning.


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Don Dollars' rules for Sucker Bets

Don Dollars:

Rule 1- when the lines come out, take a look at them. Is there any line that sticks out and seems "too good to be true"? A good way to test this is to talk to friends that gamble on football games, yet they do not put in any time handicapping. They are truly the "public eye". Ask them which games they like this week. My guess is that they will be wagering on the games that appeared (at first glance) "too good to be true".

Rule 2 - determine the %'s of people betting on the game. Look for games that have around 70% or more of the wagers coming in on one side. Often times the game that you thought was "too good to be true" will be one that is getting POUNDED and has a high % of wagers. Those with too high of a % of wagers are SUCKER BET candidates.

Rule 3- Watch the lines all week. If a line opens at PHILADELPHIA -3 and everyone is pounding Philadelphia, often times the book will realize that they have put a sketchy line out and will raise it. In some instances this game may end up at Philadelphia -6 or some other # representing a need by the books to raise the line. Why would the books raise the line? If a disproportionate amount of MONEY is coming in on one side and they are NOT CONFIDENT in standing firm on the other side.....or if the SHARPS are siding with that team also.

So in Rule 3 what are we looking for? LINES THAT MOVE IN THE WRONG DIRECTION. For example, if a line was Philadelphia -3 and 75% of the wagers were coming in on Philadelphia, however the line moved to Philadelphia - 2.5 ......A GIANT RED FLAG SHOULD BE RAISED. A "reverse" line movement is a key indicator of something sketchy going on.

On the same note, keep an eye on games that have one side being POUNDED, however the line stays the same. In the Philadelphia example, if the line stayed at Philadelphia -3 I would look into it further. I would ask: Why isn't the book raising this to -3.5? This is especially true with the KEY NUMBERS 3, 4, 7, 10, etc... In my opinion a line STAYING at -3, is even stronger than a line that moves from 5.5 down to 4.5. It isn't about the size of the movement, rather it is about the significance of the movement.

These two things happen when the % of wagers are disproportionate to the % of actual $$$ coming in on a side (largely in part to SHARPS), or a book wants to stand on a line.

RULE 4 - I know a lot of people do not believe in Rule 4, but I am a STRONG believer in it. It asks, WHAT DOES PINNACLE WANT ME TO DO? I believe strongly that Pinnacle is a genius book that uses influence to take leans on games. For instance if the line on the SAME game appears as such:

BetCris - Philadelphia -3
WSEX - Philadelphia -3
5-Dimes - Philadelphia -3
BetUS- Philadelphia -3
Pinnacle - Philadelphia -2.5

In this case I would be asking myself.....WHY IS PINNACLE BEGGING ME TO TAKE PHIALDELPHIA AT THEIR SITE? Anyone that is line shopping is going to take Philadelphia at Pinnacle.....and usually Pinnacle seems to have no problems with this.....and usually (keep an eye on it) Pinnacle ends up with the MONEY. It is a tough book to beat. *** On a more sophisticated note, keep an eye on the juice. Remember that Philly -3 at -115 is much, much worse than Philly -3 at -102.

Rule 5 - This is one of the most important rules, however seems to get neglected way too often.

WHAT IS THE PUBLIC'S PERCEPTION OF THE TWO TEAMS PLAYING?

You are optimally looking for a team with a STRONG/POSITIVE public image to be playing a team with a WEAK/NEGATIVE public image. Often times these images are exaggerated by the public due to one or two performances that were either noteworthy or on a public stage. This rule leaves room for Subjectivity, but I'm afraid that is part of the game.

This is OBVIOUSLY not the only way to handicap, and I am not claiming that it is the best way to handicap, however I am saying one thing:

THIS IS ONE WAY TO HANDICAP GAMES. In most years, going against the public is going to be a good thing.

This is what I have defined (in my mind) to be a: SUCKER BET

I use several web sites to get my info and the problem I have is that the info varies widely from website to website. So I will state where I am getting my info from.
If anyone has a suggestion for a better website I am open to it.

SBR Lines which gives info from the major offshore books has the following games over 70% along with the opening lines
NE 73%
Miami 77%
Carolina 87%
Giants 76%
Baltimore 71%
Arizona 86%

SBR's opening lines are:
NE -4.5
Miami -9
Carolina -7.5
Giants +3
Baltimore +2
Arizona -9.5

Currently Pinnacle's lines are:

NE -3.5
Miami -9.5
Carolina -9.5
Giants +3
Baltimore -1
Arizona -9.5

So, right now it looks like NE may be the only game that could be considered as a trap game, based on the line movement. (Although several sites have NE opening at
-4 and still at -4. And 1 site with 16,500 bets placed on the game has NE as 60% of the bets.

So that's the picture right now. I'll update tomorrow.

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Clipper Nation!
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<TABLE class=tborder id=post5934516 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="100%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD class=alt1 id=td_post_5934516 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #fdde82 1px solid">The post below was written by Don Dollars about 2 years ago and was very successful. Then he stoped posting. I tried to pick up the thread last week using these rules and had a loser. Although if I would have waited until Sun morning to make my pick I would not have had a pick for week 9. The criterion were not met. I rushed and forced a pick and it turned out to be a loser. I will have more patience from now on and will not make the pick until Sun morning.


icon1.gif
Don Dollars' rules for Sucker Bets

Don Dollars:

Rule 1- when the lines come out, take a look at them. Is there any line that sticks out and seems "too good to be true"? A good way to test this is to talk to friends that gamble on football games, yet they do not put in any time handicapping. They are truly the "public eye". Ask them which games they like this week. My guess is that they will be wagering on the games that appeared (at first glance) "too good to be true".

Rule 2 - determine the %'s of people betting on the game. Look for games that have around 70% or more of the wagers coming in on one side. Often times the game that you thought was "too good to be true" will be one that is getting POUNDED and has a high % of wagers. Those with too high of a % of wagers are SUCKER BET candidates.

Rule 3- Watch the lines all week. If a line opens at PHILADELPHIA -3 and everyone is pounding Philadelphia, often times the book will realize that they have put a sketchy line out and will raise it. In some instances this game may end up at Philadelphia -6 or some other # representing a need by the books to raise the line. Why would the books raise the line? If a disproportionate amount of MONEY is coming in on one side and they are NOT CONFIDENT in standing firm on the other side.....or if the SHARPS are siding with that team also.

So in Rule 3 what are we looking for? LINES THAT MOVE IN THE WRONG DIRECTION. For example, if a line was Philadelphia -3 and 75% of the wagers were coming in on Philadelphia, however the line moved to Philadelphia - 2.5 ......A GIANT RED FLAG SHOULD BE RAISED. A "reverse" line movement is a key indicator of something sketchy going on.

On the same note, keep an eye on games that have one side being POUNDED, however the line stays the same. In the Philadelphia example, if the line stayed at Philadelphia -3 I would look into it further. I would ask: Why isn't the book raising this to -3.5? This is especially true with the KEY NUMBERS 3, 4, 7, 10, etc... In my opinion a line STAYING at -3, is even stronger than a line that moves from 5.5 down to 4.5. It isn't about the size of the movement, rather it is about the significance of the movement.

These two things happen when the % of wagers are disproportionate to the % of actual $$$ coming in on a side (largely in part to SHARPS), or a book wants to stand on a line.

RULE 4 - I know a lot of people do not believe in Rule 4, but I am a STRONG believer in it. It asks, WHAT DOES PINNACLE WANT ME TO DO? I believe strongly that Pinnacle is a genius book that uses influence to take leans on games. For instance if the line on the SAME game appears as such:

BetCris - Philadelphia -3
WSEX - Philadelphia -3
5-Dimes - Philadelphia -3
BetUS- Philadelphia -3
Pinnacle - Philadelphia -2.5

In this case I would be asking myself.....WHY IS PINNACLE BEGGING ME TO TAKE PHIALDELPHIA AT THEIR SITE? Anyone that is line shopping is going to take Philadelphia at Pinnacle.....and usually Pinnacle seems to have no problems with this.....and usually (keep an eye on it) Pinnacle ends up with the MONEY. It is a tough book to beat. *** On a more sophisticated note, keep an eye on the juice. Remember that Philly -3 at -115 is much, much worse than Philly -3 at -102.

Rule 5 - This is one of the most important rules, however seems to get neglected way too often.

WHAT IS THE PUBLIC'S PERCEPTION OF THE TWO TEAMS PLAYING?

You are optimally looking for a team with a STRONG/POSITIVE public image to be playing a team with a WEAK/NEGATIVE public image. Often times these images are exaggerated by the public due to one or two performances that were either noteworthy or on a public stage. This rule leaves room for Subjectivity, but I'm afraid that is part of the game.

This is OBVIOUSLY not the only way to handicap, and I am not claiming that it is the best way to handicap, however I am saying one thing:

THIS IS ONE WAY TO HANDICAP GAMES. In most years, going against the public is going to be a good thing.

This is what I have defined (in my mind) to be a: SUCKER BET

I use several web sites to get my info and the problem I have is that the info varies widely from website to website. So I will state where I am getting my info from.
If anyone has a suggestion for a better website I am open to it.

SBR Lines which gives info from the major offshore books has the following games over 70% along with the opening lines
NE 73%
Miami 77%
Carolina 87%
Giants 76%
Baltimore 71%
Arizona 86%

SBR's opening lines are:
NE -4.5
Miami -9
Carolina -7.5
Giants +3
Baltimore +2
Arizona -9.5

Currently Pinnacle's lines are:

NE -3.5
Miami -9.5
Carolina -9.5
Giants +3
Baltimore -1
Arizona -9.5

So, right now it looks like NE may be the only game that could be considered as a trap game, based on the line movement. (Although several sites have NE opening at
-4 and still at -4. And 1 site with 16,500 bets placed on the game has NE as 60% of the bets.

So that's the picture right now. I'll update tomorrow.

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wow good shit. Interested in hearing your plays for Sunday. GL :103631605
 

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I find that when you have an underdog that the public is backing, the fave tends to come in. The Giants are an overwhelming public team as a dog. When the public is on the dog...take the fave.

Pinny is just trying to screw the Giants bettors in a game that can be decided by 3 points! People that like the giants feel they will win outright.
 

Rx. Junior
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I find that when you have an underdog that the public is backing, the fave tends to come in. The Giants are an overwhelming public team as a dog. When the public is on the dog...take the fave.

Pinny is just trying to screw the Giants bettors in a game that can be decided by 3 points! People that like the giants feel they will win outright.

Correct....
 

Stumblin' around, drunk on burgundy wine.
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I find that when you have an underdog that the public is backing, the fave tends to come in. The Giants are an overwhelming public team as a dog. When the public is on the dog...take the fave.

This is a great angle. Love betting against public dogs.
 

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I wonder how this would fair agianst college ball-Lots of fave dogs have hit especially the midweek games-
 

Oh boy!
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I wonder how this would fair agianst college ball-Lots of fave dogs have hit especially the midweek games-

I've been using a similar system for college, NBA and NFL. I bet using 3 rules from Don Dollars' system:

1.) Wagerline % over 65%? Look at taking the other team.
2.) Pinnacle lean: if Pinnacle gives you a better line for the 65%+ favorite.
3.) Line movement: if the line moves to give the 65%+ favorite a better line.

Tonight, Nevada and the Chicago Bulls fit this system.
 

EX BOOKIE
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I've been using a similar system for college, NBA and NFL. I bet using 3 rules from Don Dollars' system:

1.) Wagerline % over 65%? Look at taking the other team.
2.) Pinnacle lean: if Pinnacle gives you a better line for the 65%+ favorite.
3.) Line movement: if the line moves to give the 65%+ favorite a better line.

Tonight, Nevada and the Chicago Bulls fit this system.

I track games over 65%...they are 50-50 this year 34 win 34 lost
 
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OK guys lets work at this together.

This is my perception of this week's qualifiers:

1) Line too good to be true
-NYG +3
-KCy +15
-Azo -9'
-Mia -9'
-NEn -4
-Car -9'

2) Wagerline percentages
-NYG 61%
-KCy 61%
-Azo 65%
-Mia 50%
-NEn 59%
-Car 68%

3a) Wrong direction line move
-KCy +14; +16; +15 (would this qualify?)
-Azo -10; -9'
-NEn -4; -3'

3b) Line holding despite disproportionate betting
-NYG +3

4) Pinnacle lean
-need help here

5) Strong/Positive vs Weak/Negative public image
-I find this to be a tough one as views are constantly shifting but of the games I isolated in 1) I would say
-Azo/SFo
-Mia/Sea
-NEn/Buf
-Car/Oak

Anyone wanna input the Pinnacle lean?

What do you guys think?
 

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OK guys lets work at this together.

This is my perception of this week's qualifiers:

1) Line too good to be true
-NYG +3
-KCy +15
-Azo -9'
-Mia -9'
-NEn -4
-Car -9'

2) Wagerline percentages
-NYG 61%
-KCy 61%
-Azo 65%
-Mia 50%
-NEn 59%
-Car 68%

3a) Wrong direction line move
-KCy +14; +16; +15 (would this qualify?)
-Azo -10; -9'
-NEn -4; -3'

3b) Line holding despite disproportionate betting
-NYG +3

4) Pinnacle lean
-need help here

5) Strong/Positive vs Weak/Negative public image
-I find this to be a tough one as views are constantly shifting but of the games I isolated in 1) I would say
-Azo/SFo
-Mia/Sea
-NEn/Buf
-Car/Oak

Anyone wanna input the Pinnacle lean?

What do you guys think?

My comments on your analysis are:
1. I don't think any line qualifies as "to good to be true".
2. Based on Wagerline's %'s no team qualifies because they al all under 70%. That's what I said above. Every site has different numbers. I used SBR for %'s and find that they agree with several other sites.
3. a) I think that only NE and Miami qualify for wrong direction of line movement
b) The Giants are a possibility as their line has held steady at 3.
4. One of the biggest points that I am watching is that Pinnacle is holding the line at Miami -9.5 where most other books have it at 8.5 and 8. They want you to bet Seattle. So that would eliminate Miami from consideration. If Pinnacle would drop its line, that would be a strong point.
5. I think you are right about 3/4 of those games. I don't think that Buffalo is perceived as a weak team. So that might knock them out of consideration.

So right now I'm considering all the above info and I have a gut feeling that there will be no qualifier this week unless something changes by Sunday morning.
I'll decide then.
 

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OK guys lets work at this together.

This is my perception of this week's qualifiers:

1) Line too good to be true
-NYG +3
-KCy +15
-Azo -9'
-Mia -9'
-NEn -4
-Car -9'

What do you guys think?

I dont think any line over -6.5 has ever jumped out as too good to be true.

i really only see the giants being a typical too good to be true line since they are the defending champs and playing great this year. but i have been high on philly all yr and think the lines about right.
 

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This is a great angle. Love betting against public dogs.

As with anything else, we have to pick our spots. I believe Pittsburgh was a public dog last week and Washington just got nailed. I was on the Redskins but lesson learnt.
 

Member Emeritus
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I dont think any line over -6.5 has ever jumped out as too good to be true.

i really only see the giants being a typical too good to be true line since they are the defending champs and playing great this year. but i have been high on philly all yr and think the lines about right.

Ny/Phil game has some special circumstances in that Westbrook is finally near 100% and even more important, Phil really, really needs the win. If they lose, they're down 3 with 7 to play.

This is good stuff. Thanks
 

Oh boy!
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4. One of the biggest points that I am watching is that Pinnacle is holding the line at Miami -9.5 where most other books have it at 8.5 and 8. They want you to bet Seattle. So that would eliminate Miami from consideration. If Pinnacle would drop its line, that would be a strong point.

One thing to keep in mind with Pinnacle is that they don't set their lines between -7.5 and -9 to prevent people from teasing to -2 1/2. Notice that the juice on -9.5 is at +116. If you log in to Pinnacle and use the drop-down menu you will see that you can get Miami at -8 -102 and that is the true number that should be used when considering a Pinnacle lean.

For those who are not familiar with the Pinnacle lean, it occurs when Pinnacle gives a better line to a team with a large percentage of bettors on it (usually 65% or more) when all the other books are hanging a worse line on that team. Pinnacle is giving that better line so they will get that large percentage of bettors to bet with their book rather than another book.
 

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Jags -6.5 is the sucker bet of the week!!!

First game listed on the board
Jags are known for their defense and running attack
Detroit is winless and missing their top 2 QB to IR
Culpepper is starting yet he just got signed this week
Majority is betting Jags yet the line hasn't gone to 7. Hmmmmmm!!!
 

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I would like to say that Houston can be labeled as thee play.

1. 71% of betting public on Baltimore.
2. Baltimore off of a convincing win at Cleveland.
3. Houston off of loss againt Minny.
4. Houston QB out of game, but line has not moved?

This game's line is as fishy as Mia/Buf & Buf/SD!

as always...aloha.
 

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I would like to say that Houston can be labeled as thee play.

1. 71% of betting public on Baltimore.
2. Baltimore off of a convincing win at Cleveland.
3. Houston off of loss againt Minny.
4. Houston QB out of game, but line has not moved?

This game's line is as fishy as Mia/Buf & Buf/SD!

as always...aloha.

You may be right but Houston is at home, has a very capable backup QB, and the line movement (or lack there of) isn't around a key line (3 or 7)
 

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If you look at Pinny's line on the Titans game, you lay the 3 like everywhere else, but you get +111 to do so. Tell me that doesn't make you beg to take the Titans. I like the Bears bigtime tomorrow.
 

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You may be right but Houston is at home, has a very capable backup QB, and the line movement (or lack there of) isn't around a key line (3 or 7)

Doesn't necessarily have to be a key line. It's just one of games that make you say, hhhmmmm? Why so low? Just as the case was w/Mia-1 to Buf & Buf Pk against SD.

as always... aloha.
 

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