Bowmans did it again! Shady, real shady!

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2006 People Magazine's Sexiest Handicapper Alive
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It's too bad, I've always liked Bowmans. But my patience is really wearing thin. I looked for the line on my hockey play for tonight...

Bowmans regular line (what they give probably 90% of their clients)....NY Rangers pk -110

Bowmans bullsh*t "sharp" line they give to me....NY Rangers -125

then as if that wasn't enough to piss me off, I look to pick up BAL tonight...

Bowmans regular line....BAL Ravens +13 -105

Bowmans "sharp" line which they have attached to my account...BAL +11.5

Maybe it's just me, but shouldn't these shady dual lines (1 for regular players, 1 for who they deem to be "sharps") be reserved for the smaller, less reputable sportsbooks?

Does Pinnacle have to stoop to this level? Or Canbet? WSEX? Sportingbet.com? I don't think so. What a shame. Bowman's has had such a great reputation for so many years............emphasis on 'had'
 

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Personally, as a client of a sportsbook, do not like DUAL LINES.

However, it is of my personal opinion that they are doing nothing shady and it is something one just has to stick out if they plan on staying with that particular book.
 

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Christian said:
It's too bad, I've always liked Bowmans. But my patience is really wearing thin. I looked for the line on my hockey play for tonight...

Bowmans regular line (what they give probably 90% of their clients)....NY Rangers pk -110

Bowmans bullsh*t "sharp" line they give to me....NY Rangers -125

then as if that wasn't enough to piss me off, I look to pick up BAL tonight...

Bowmans regular line....BAL Ravens +13 -105

Bowmans "sharp" line which they have attached to my account...BAL +11.5

Maybe it's just me, but shouldn't these shady dual lines (1 for regular players, 1 for who they deem to be "sharps") be reserved for the smaller, less reputable sportsbooks?

Does Pinnacle have to stoop to this level? Or Canbet? WSEX? Sportingbet.com? I don't think so. What a shame. Bowman's has had such a great reputation for so many years............emphasis on 'had'

All British Sportsbooks are shit.

Bet365 cuts your limits if you win more than 10.00 a week, another crap british book.
 

I am sorry for using the "R" word - and NOTHING EL
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Fishhead said:
However, it is of my personal opinion that they are doing nothing shady and it is something one just has to stick out if they plan on staying with that particular book.

BULLSHIT

Sticking someone with Dual Lines is BULLSHIT and something a book should be disgraced about. what would happen if he wanted the Steelers - would they make him lay -14.5? if so - that is a 3-point gap and BOGUS!

ANY BOOk that does this is a DISGRACE!
 

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winkyduck said:
BULLSHIT

Sticking someone with Dual Lines is BULLSHIT and something a book should be disgraced about. what would happen if he wanted the Steelers - would they make him lay -14.5? if so - that is a 3-point gap and BOGUS!

ANY BOOk that does this is a DISGRACE!

No.....LOL!

As far as I know, BOWMANS only uses DUAL lines...........not MULTIPLE lines.

I do disagree with one thing though and that is if a book is going to use DUAL lines, they may as well stay off all LIVE LINE services as it is basically pointless to do so.
 

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yeah, of course, "it's their company and it's your "privilege" to bet there....and if you don't like it, you can go somewhere else....."

i realize that, i know. and technically, that's correct.

i'm just saying that a book doesn't have to do that. pinnacle a lot of other books seems to be getting along just fine without having to change lines on people.

another books that does that is royal sports. does bowmans like being put into the same category as a royal sports? you are the company you keep.

bowmans make be able to make a little more money in the short-term by doing this, but their long-term reputation is what's going to suffer.

it's just hard for some people to see long-term and think about the future. oh well, they'll learn.
 

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Christian said:
yeah, of course, "it's their company and it's your "privilege" to bet there....and if you don't like it, you can go somewhere else....."

i realize that, i know. and technically, that's correct.

i'm just saying that a book doesn't have to do that. pinnacle a lot of other books seems to be getting along just fine without having to change lines on people.

another books that does that is royal sports. does bowmans like being put into the same category as a royal sports? you are the company you keep.

bowmans make be able to make a little more money in the short-term by doing this, but their long-term reputation is what's going to suffer.

it's just hard for some people to see long-term and think about the future. oh well, they'll learn.

Well, this has been commonplace at BOWMANS for quite sometime now, so they obviously must feel this is to their advantage over the longterm.

Again, don't like it, but think there are alot more things to be more concerned with in rating a sportsbook.
 

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i'm not trying to slam bowmans on here, cause don't get me wrong, they're a great book, reliable, excellent customer service, etc....

it's just this one complaint, they chose to use a tactic that is normally reserved for the poorly managed books.

i've been familiar with bowmans for years, and not until just a few years ago did i ever find out about this technique they've been using.

i just hope all those supposed fair and impartial sportsbook monitoring services will start putting this in their write-ups, that bowmans uses dual lines (one for who they deem to be sharp players)
 

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fishead, you're right on your last statement....for most people, anyways.

but this is how i make my living. getting shorted .15 cents on an underdog is huge. losing out a 1 1/2 on a football underdog is huge!

i spend a lot of time checking lines all day, and it's just frustrating having to setup fictitious accounts with some of my books just to check those lines to make sure my regular account isn't being given bad lines.

with royal sports, they had so many problems (more than just dual lines) i had no problem at all taking my money out....but i love bowmans, they're a great company. i would love to do business with them in the future....they're just making it real tough to do so!
 

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yeah, but they usually shade the line against the side they think most pros are going to go after....

take the MNF tonight....

they're offering pit -13, bal +13

for the guys they think are "sharp" players it's pit -11.5, bal +11.5

but they know full well, none of their sharps are going to take pit -11.5, they think we're all looking for baltimore with the 13 points.

they usually short the underdog side of the game if they feel vulnerable to pros, cause they know most pros have a much higher percentage of underdog bets than most regular players.

this is not the case all the time, sometimes they'll short a favorite too. it just depends.

i've had hockey favorites who were pk -110 or -115, shorted all the way up to -130 before.......

but usually they short the underdog side of the game, trying to prevent me from wanting to bet there.........mission accomplished :)
 

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There's been more than one occasion when they've shorted too far, creating a scalp oppertunity.
 

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The reason I consider dual lines unethical is that the effective line is 30c when it's advertised as 20c. That's false advertising which to my knowledge is illegal in just about every other industry, presumably because it's a shady thing to do.
 

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Ive always liked Bowmans, but some of their rules are garbage. The way I see it, you might want to see how you can use this to your advantage.


First, Use more than one book. If Bowmans are gonna play with their lines, then try to middle the game. Take Pitt @-11.5 at bowmans and Balt at +13-13.5 at an other book. It is not often you have a 2 pt gap to middle.

I am not one for middling, but its a thought.

Since as you said, its their company and your "privedge" to play there, maybe you should take your money and go to another book. You may want to call them after you collect your money and explain to them why you have moved your money to a different book. Id bet that they change their tune and are more open to working with you.

I have found that Bowmans CS is always very good, even when they used to drive me crazy.
 

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yeah, i already use 8 outs (i had 9, but i dropped royal sports recently, too many concerns)


that wasn't the problem, finding more outs i mean, it's just that i really like bowmans and had the utmost respect for them...

i was just disappointed they choose to use this technique. that's all. i thought they were better than that. i guess not.
 

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This is my take. if someone is really "sharp" they should be making a ton of money and should not have a problem using 10 different books and finding the best lines possible and spreading their plays out so as to not raise as much suspicion. Most of my plays are between 100-300 and i use 3 and sometimes 4 different books. So if one book changed the lines on me, i would just play somehwere else.

And if they never offered good lines i would withdraw and pick from the many other reliable sportsbooks.

This is like when people complain about party poker being rigged and then they continue to play there when there are literally dozens of other poker sites.
 

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i understand your point, but imagine if pinnacle started doing this? or wsex?

it's not the fact that a book is doing this, it's that a RESPECTED, REPUTABLE book is doing it. that's the difference.

there are no certainties in this business. when you find reliable books you stick with them (pinnacle, bowmans, canbet, wsex, sportingbet, etc.).

sure you keep another 3 or 4 books in your "portfolio" that you're confident (olympic, skybook, betcris, for example)....

but you always keep the big boys (pinnacle, bowmasn, canbet, etc.) as your core holdings, just like your blue chip stocks in your stocks portfolio

bowmans historically has actually had pretty bad lines for any bettors. they always short underdogs.

in the past, i only averaged 1-2 plays there per week anyway (compared to probably 20 plays per week at pinnacle), but now it's even worse since i'm getting their sharp line.

now i may go weeks in between finding a play at their site worth my money.

i was just disappointed to see they would continue to sacrifice their reputation by this. is it really worth the extra money, they 'think' this is going to earn them?
 

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in that context i agree. If it became a pattern amongst books it could become a problem.
 

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the dual lines have historically been a technique by the less than reputable books.....with very few exceptions.

it's the old "you are the company you keep"

and now bowmans has that reputation (well, from what i've heard they've done it for years...it was just never widely publicized)

DO NOT GET ME WRONG, if you are a recreational/part-time gambler i would still HIGHLY recommend bowmans to you....

for reliability, customer service, etc. they're top-notch

but for serious players who go nuts if they get shorted even 10 cents on a hockey underdog (like me:) bowmans won't offer too many worthwhile plays for you (maybe a couple per month max.)
 

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