Jaws Of The Oddsmaker
By
MIKE LEE
Superstar director Steven Spielberg's favorite scene from his 1975 landmark movie “Jaws” was the soliloquy Robert Shaw (Quint) delivered in the middle of the film as he explained to Richard Dreyfuss (Hooper) and Roy Schieder (Brody) the horror of being attacked by a shark (Great White). That scene reads something like this.By
MIKE LEE
“He has these dull, lifeless eyes. Black eyes; like a doll’s eyes. Then he bites you and those eyes roll over wide. The sea turns red and despite all the thrashing, kicking and screaming, he just (sigh) rips you to pieces.”
Carefully test the “handicapping waters” before diving into the new football season. Put a big toe in and see if the water is cold, hot or just right. The shark, by the way, is the ODDSMAKER! The victim is the UNPREPARED PLAYER who dives into the depths without the right equipment. Here are some pieces of gear you may need for your pigskin dive this season.
LINE MOVE ANALYSIS – Until you get some reliable stats under your belt, a lot of your information can be gained by watching line moves. Going back to bookmarks, your odds/lines bookmark will really come in handy. In the same way a stock investor keeps an eye on the commodities market, you should do the same with your sports investment market. Watch those line moves throughout the day and week. Become an expert in determining WHY a line moves in a certain direction and then play accordingly. You’ll soon develop a feel for determining the “peak” of a line move. That would be similar to buying and selling stock at the right time in the market.
COMPUTER PROGRAMS – These may be your own handicapping programs or ones you purchase from other companies. There are many programs out there, some better than others. The best programs, however, are the ones you can program yourself. If you aren’t a computer programmer (like most of us handicappers), there are many excellent computer whiz-kids out there who can get the job done for you. Have programs that set up the statistics, angles and sub-sets of the two exactly the way you want to view them.
Here are a few other one-liners that may help you stay out of harm’s way.
KEEP POWER RATINGS
ANALYZE BOX SCORES
TAKE THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED
DON’T OVERREACT TO THE PREVIOUS WEEK’S RESULTS
BET 3-8% OF YOUR BANKROLL ON EACH PLAY
Being forewarned is forearmed. And speaking of “arm”, don’t lose one in the jaws of the oddsmaker. And when it comes to a “leg”, have a leg-up on the oddsmaker with the right preparation and arsenal. This is DEADLY, serious stuff here. The business of beating the line floats in shark-infested waters and when that Great White comes along, you should be prepared (as Brody did in "Jaws") to knock his teeth out!
fomsports@gmail.com
