Syndicates

A syndicate can be as simple as a group of friends to a large multifaceted betting circle that follow a specific set of betting rules. The Engine which I mentioned before in IP’s for the major books also does much more than just check IP’s. They compare IP’s, wager times, amounts, location, MAC, frequency, tendency and extraordinary wagers. Any time these triggers can flag player accounts. In the case of the smaller local agent like yourself it will be important to pay attention to bet types and frequency of players. In the case that you feel you are being hit by a syndicate you can call and ask our customer service to run a sharp check on the players suspected. We will run a comparison to sharp plays that we are aware of.

Service Plays

If you have a string of players who use services for handicapping games you most likely will notice several of your players on the same game. On top of that they may be risking more than their average play on a particular game. In most cases service plays are just as accurate as the next which is below 50%, but in the case they get a little hot try to find out where the games are coming from. Our Premium service includes a list of many well known services and their daily available. On major games like playoffs, super bowl, NCAA tournaments, NBA championships, NHL and Soccer defining service plays may be more difficult because there is only a single game available.

Steam Plays

A steam play is based on a long trend from sharp players who play games before the lines begins to shift in the publics favor. Steam plays usually causes a large line shift to where there is no more value and our lines reflect that, but in any case we will have steam plays from that day available for you to monitor. If a player still plays steam plays later in the day even at the higer line he may be getting his information from a particular syndicate or person who has access to such information.

Buddy Betting

In a lot of cases gamblers are friends. Especially in local areas or towns. In the case your players know each other you may see one of them bet a game first and then soon after the rest of them bet the same line and same game. Now lets say that your players live in Nebraska and they all bet the Huskies minus the points, I doubt that has any correlation but in the case they randomly all pick a San Diego State college basketball total or game you might want to look at that. Setting a limit profile for these guys is a must particularly if they are seeming to win. Sometimes, your players are going to win. The goal is to make it so they all don’t win on the same day. If you are curious you can check the IP log on the agent back end and it will let you know if they are all sitting around the same computer or close enough to use the same wi-fi.

Social Media

Almost every player or person out there has some form of social media these days. As the agent it’s not always the best idea to have these sites, but a lot of time you can predict betting trends from a player if they are posting about a tailgating at a game or traveling to a specific event. Horse races, play offs and other events may be something that can change a players habits. Knowing these ahead of time will give you the confidence to increase or decrease his wagering amount dependent upon these changes. If he is a Browns fan and the Browns make the playoffs he will play with his heart and risk money on them just because they are in the playoffs for the first time in a time. Sorry if that offends any Browns fans, but it’s a perfect example.

Use The Layoff

Sometimes, the only window you have is after the fact. After the wager is already placed laying the action off will take the fear out of sharp Sunday and Monday nights. Having a secure book to dump some of the action where you know you’ll get paid is invaluable. I touch on this in the “Rich Guys” article as well. It remains the same suggestion here always keep a few g’s stashed where you can lay it off.

So what does it all mean? What looking for these will give you is security in your bank roll. The best idea is to know your player. The biggest books out there have software that rivals the anti terror groups when it comes to learning the players habits. We are talking fully automated systems that track wager patterns, wager limits, IP’s, MAC addresses, locations, social media and any other things that may keep the money in house. It really is big business to know your guys.