Steam, fading the public, squares - help?

mizagot · Feb 21, 2005

OK, very newbie-ish question here. please don't laugh. I'm serious.

I take it "Steam" is when there is a move in a certain direction - is it only a "large" move, or is it considered any move? Is it the wiseguys that cause the move (i.e. only they have enough money to move the line that much in a short time)?

What about "fading the public": the public may have a majority of the #plays on a team, but the wiseguys often has the most money, right (e.g. bigger events)?

So if the public is on a certain side, that is the "square" side, and is usually less money/volume than the wiseguy side?

Is it easy to tell when a line move is due to wiseguys vs. the public? (Guess: one is a fast move, the other is over time???)

I'm sure I'll have follow-up questions to this, but help is appreciated...

CHOPTALK · Feb 21, 2005

I wish you would post this in the offshore forum to get more exposure.

TheGeneral+ · Feb 21, 2005

mizagot said:
OK, very newbie-ish question here. please don't laugh. I'm serious.

I take it "Steam" is when there is a move in a certain direction - is it only a "large" move, or is it considered any move? Is it the wiseguys that cause the move (i.e. only they have enough money to move the line that much in a short time)?

Large moves in the lines.

What about "fading the public": the public may have a majority of the #plays on a team, but the wiseguys often has the most money, right (e.g. bigger events)?

Fading the public opinion may not make you rich, but it will not break you if you use good Money Management. ($100 per wager for example)

So if the public is on a certain side, that is the "square" side, and is usually less money/volume than the wiseguy side?

Public side is many times considered square side, but the money could be more on the public side.

Is it easy to tell when a line move is due to wiseguys vs. the public? (Guess: one is a fast move, the other is over time???)

Not easy

I'm sure I'll have follow-up questions to this, but help is appreciated...

Steam is a very questionable thing because it is very debatable as to whether follow it or not. You will find in tracking that they about average out IMO.

Good luck

TheGeneral+ · Feb 21, 2005

Copied to offshore for more answers from the Pros.

TheGeneral+ · Feb 21, 2005

http://forum.therx.com/showthread.php?t=229010&highlight=Steam

Here is a thread also.

Fishhead · Feb 22, 2005

Rainbow · Feb 22, 2005

Wise guys usually control the Donbest screen. for Example in football LSU is 4pt favorite over Alabama, and the steam bets Alabama +4 and the line goes down to 3 and 3.5. I seen the times where LSU would go back to 4pt favorite and sometimes 4.5pt favorite. just because a wiseguy bets a game that doesnt mean that they will have more money bet on that side. alot of bookies will put themselves on the side the wiseguy plays. and also alot of games the public money is much more than the steam. but the most important thing about a wiseguy is to know which one you respect the most, they have alot of wiseguys out there, but theres alot out there that I dont respect at all. its really hard to explain exactly what I am trying to say.