Question regarding line services

Regardless of which books I may have an account with, are there books that are essential to have in my line service display? For example, perhaps there are certain books where the line is apt to move first, or perhaps there are certain books that might give me a better indication of which way the line is likely headed?

Hope this isn't a dumb question.

BB -

Great question. I have always felt that line-services are under-used by many players.

Here are some strategies that you can use with a line service, even if you only have one or two accounts:

1. Always getting the best number. Even if you only have a couple of accounts, there will be times when you miss a better price while you are checking different accounts. With a line-service, you can find the best price with just a quick glance. Even if this only happens a couple of times a month, it will easily pay for the price of the service.

2. Not playing against the wise-guys. There is a difference between a line that moves from 2 to 4 in the span of a day vs the same move in the span of a few minutes. When a big group hits a game, the line skyrockets, and some services will give you an alter on these types of moves. I'm not saying that the wise-guys always win, but if I had a play that was on the opposite side of them, I would reevaluate just to be sure.

3. Getting the latest injury updates. Even if you don't follow injuries, you would still want to adjust to anything big. Last year we saw injury moves as big as 8 points. And if you have a slow 'out' you can really take advantage of the injury information, especially on middles.

4. Knowing when to make your plays. This is probably the most over-looked strategy. By looking at the lines from over 35 sportsbooks, you can sometimes get an idea of where the line is going. For example, let's say you like Dallas and they are -4 at your book. If you look at a line-service, and most of the books on the service are -4.5, you can assume that the line is trending that way, so you should jump on the -4. However, if most of the books on the service are at -3.5, you may want to wait to see if your book follows suit. You can continue to monitor what the other books are doing, and if you see a couple of them jump to -4, you can grab the -4 at your book. This strategy alone will pay for the cost of a service.

I hope this helps, and if you would like to try a service just shoot me an email and I will get you a trial of SportsOptions going.

Thanks
Rick

Thanks Rick! Very helpful, and as far as a trial goes I just got set up with SO. At first glance, looks like a great tool. I just want to make sure I take full advantage if I decide to go with the service.