It’s that time of the year once again when the big Las Vegas sportsbooks begin to post their early numbers on the upcoming college football season. Neither setting the lines nor wagering on them is ever exactly easy at this point in time.
Back in the old days, before the advent of offshore sportbooks, the numbers posted every Sunday night at the big casinos were passed around the country via pay phones, found mostly on the back wall of a popular sports bar somewhere.
This week is a bit like that except for the fact that we now have instant worldwide communication via the Internet and cellar mobile devices. Still in all, the lines are brand new and the bettor does not have many other points of reference, unless he or she has done a lot of time consuming research on the college football scene.
Of course there are folks who do just that and the first days after the new lines come out are always exciting ones for the handicappers and oddsmakers on both sides of the betting window. Which games will they pounce on first? We can expect to see some adjustments made to these early numbers as the wiseguys get their money down on perceived value.
That holds true most of the time. Limit plays come in from all over when bettors could shave a half-a-point or, better still, get the best of a line barely on or off the most valuable number in football, the three (3). However, most of the casinos continue to run the promotions anyway to increase volume and built traffic.
Tony Miller of the Golden Nugget recently opened wagering on the 2014-2015 college football season by posting numbers on his top 200 ‘Games of the Year’ with bettors already lined up and waiting to make their best educated guesses about college teams that have not even gone into full practice mode as yet.
Nevada handicappers are very high oh UCLA this year and have installed them as 8.5 point favorites in their early game against Texas at Arlington. Nick Saban’s Alabama squad still garners so much respect that the Crimson Tide is a 21 point favorite when the Florida Gators come to town.
Casino managers have already learned from past experiences that a big line at the window on opening day is a clear indication that something is not exactly right with the numbers. One old timer said, “No one waits in line if they thing they’re getting hosed on a number. They’re only there because they think…or know, they’re getting an edge”.
