What is "Sharp Money"?
In the world of sports betting, a common phrase you will hear is "sharp money". Many new bettors and even a lot of long time recreational bettors could not say what sharp money really means.
Sharp money is the money that is being thrown around by the "professional" sports bettors of the world. There is a different between square and sharp bettors, with square being the regular run of the mill bettors that a lot of times find themselves betting on emotion of their team, the game, or just plain boredom. Sharps are those that study the games, study the teams, study the players, and find every angle to give themselves an advantage over the book.
Sharp money is when the sharp bettors place significant amount of money on a certain line, and the majority of people followed them. This causes a line movement, and most of the time will cause the house to lose. Just like in horse racing when bettors watch the lines up until the last minute to see if there is any last minute money coming on either side.
What happens when sharp money comes in, an opening line may start at 8, and then after several sharps come in on the favorite, the line keeps moving up. For example, several sharps come in and bet the favorite and the line moves to 9, 10, 11, 12, etc.
With the use of the right technology, bettors are able to track every direction the money goes before the game begins, so they can make a final decision right before the opening tip/coin toss. A lot of times sharp money is very large amounts of money. This is not always the case but very few “recreational” bettors will be putting that much money on a side.
When you follow the sharp money, a lot of times it takes the biasness out of play. If you can follow the sharp money, you can take the opinion of the equation. A lot of times when you are betting on your favorite time, you can become wrapped up in the emotion of being a fan. If you follow the sharp money, that is not the case. Most of the times it feels a little uncomfortable betting with the sharp money. Most of the time it is opposite what the “public” would like to bet on. This feels wrong but in the end is usually the correct bet.
There are times you may see mind games between sharp bettors and the bookies. A line may open a few points higher/lower then maybe it should be based on the bookies assumption of where the line will go. While sharps are not always right, it can become a profitable decision to bet with the sharp money.
What most new bettors will do is find a sportsbook that offers less juice, and then another book. When you do that, you can find the best lines on both sides without any sharp money or square bets coming in. Does this help explain what sharp money really is? In another future article we will explain who these sharp bettors actually are and why it’s good to be on their side.
