Las Vegas Sports Consultants (LVSC) is the source and creator of most, if not
all, of the betting lines of sports games. Casinos and online sportsbooks rely
on LVSC to set the odds, thus ensuring a “universal” line among all
sportsbooks. During the early days of the sportsbooks, many different casinos
had different lines, thus enabling the savvy gambler to “middle,” a practice
that ensures a virtual low risk, but high return gamble. So, what is the main
purpose of a line? Contrary to popular, public belief, most lines set by LVSC
does not really “predict the final outcome” of a game; for if this were true,
parlaying favorites on the moneyline would never be a losing proposition. What
then is the line?
The line, which can refer to the side/spread (betting on a team) or total
(betting on the final score of the game to go under or over), is a quite
interesting thing. It is mostly based on the oddsmakers “handicapping” the
general public. In general, the line is not the “true” power rating between the
two sides of any game; it is theoretically set to divide the general population
to take side A and side B equally.
However, in high-profile games, such as the SuperBowl or a National
Championship game, the line is mostly skewed, so as to make one side REALLY
attractive. How many of you thought the USC line of –7 was such an easy bet? In
this matchup you have the defending National Champion playing in their own
backyard, with two Heisman winners against a “good” Texas team who is yet to
prove itself in the national spotlight…how could the Trojans not possibly cover
that –7 spread, let alone lose the game? Well, we know what happened in that
game. Well my friends, in the next couple of articles, I will try to explain how
the line is formed, and offer my insights and tips into beating the
sportsbooks.
