future of NBA Totals in doubt...remember that?

[WhiteShoes]

it was 1997 i believe...Vegas stores
were getting tired of a daily whack
at the hands of the totals' boys. Every
beat writer in town was pronouncing the
end of totals, or at least a change to the
money line in many places. Limits were
down to measly proportions at most places.

Now 3 years later there's hardly any book,
off shore or in vegas that puts up a
money line. I could be wrong but the
only books that do it all the time now
are the Mirage in LV and WTTS's wise
guy line.

I could be wrong about the number of books
dealing the money line but I know there can't
be many.

Are the books no longer afraid of the NBA
total player or did the books find they
didn't like the money lines?

[AussieVamp2]

megasports, centrebet have NBA money lines all the time as far as I have seen... centrebet even on high spreads - they stopped college basketball altogether due to lack of interest - sportingbet does them too that I have seen

[ShiftySheik]

AV2, I think Whiteshoes is talking about moneylines on totals. Post Time puts moneylines on totals but I never seen them go over -125. WWTS goes as high as -140 before moving the number. I doubt any book is afraid of NBA totals nowadays, the old movers must be retired, you don't see those 3-4 point moves any more.

[BigMoney]

Perhaps it is just that the lines have gotten sharper.

[AussieVamp2]

oh, yeah, now that makes sense in context - sorry

[gooden]

Sportingbet has moneylines, but they are usually not complete. Intertops usually has a moneyline for every NBA game on a given night. FYI, Willhill has a moneyline for hockey, just in case anyone is worried about a tie on a team giving a half. That's a big reason why I use these books, and I wish some more books would use it. There will always be a Chicago 90, Portland 89; or a Chicago 5, Red Wings 3 a few times a season, so the books do have wonderful opportunities to score.

[BigMoney]

AussiaVamp2, I don't get it, I guess. My point was that if the lines are sharper on NBA totals, then there are fewer big moves and fewer opportunities for the books to get hammered/middled. So this could lead to less desire on the books part to go to money lines on the totals.

[randyrohm]

BigMoney, I think AV2 didn't realize we were talking about money lines attached to the total. My guess is that the offshores offer so much choice that it must be offered. I still see many moves from the overnight til tip that many gaps emerge. Knowing which way it will move is what I could get better at. The #'s are landing close on a high % of games so if you get the gap I always go for the middle and not try to survive on my handicap to show a profit. At the start of the season many thought that totals would have to wait a week or two, but the plethra of outs we have at our disposal forced most to offer it from day 1.

[AussieVamp2]

BigMoney,

Randy is right - did not read the post closely enough I guess, or being 2 a.m. might have had something to do with it, and the context that totals could have moneylines changed on them like hockey, or baseball......