Dawg, the info you provide is much appreciated. As always, people can take it or leave it. To the newbies out there or anyone, you should never follow information blindly. Watch it, track it, use it as a part of your tools to play games and make money. But if you do not understand it be very careful. The more information that is shared the better understanding we all have how to find the winners.
When I was a local several years ago I was good friends and shared info with a quite a few other small local books. One basketball season one of the other books started laying off games on me and several of the other local books because he had been drilled for several days in a row by a player that had never won consitently before and was betting more than he ever had. On settlement day the player told him that he had been introduced to a "local syndicate" that needed his help on getting money down on as many locals as possible.
I was never much one to believe that any player or group of players could beat a book but I became a believer in short order. I was drilled for nearly 15K in less than three weeks with a $500 max (so they were plus some 30 games). It was a serious hit to me and several other smaller books I knew. It was not that these guys were just on a roll, it was like they knew something. Win percentages and streaks usually occur due a number of close pointspread victories in the players favor. Their games were not even close to the number. I cut them off before the end of week three, others let them keep playing. In six weeks that their plays were around they did not even have close to losing week. Just as these plays came out of nowhere they were soon gone. They seemed to realize they had tapped out the locals and were moving on.
Sometimes things can not be explained. In all my years of being on both sides of the game, it was the strangest thing I ever have seen.