Having access to opening and closing lines is important for all bettors trying to monitor real-time line movement. However, simply relying on opening and current numbers often masks how sharps are getting down on games.
Saturday's Oregon-Washington State matchup provides a fantastic example of why bettors need accurate archived line data to properly diagnose betting action.
Washington State opened as a 2-point favorite, and the line has already moved up to Cougars -3. That adjustment alone is noteworthy considering the importance of three points in football betting.
But the line history and Sports Insights' Bet Signals tell a much more interesting story regarding the path this betting line has taken so far this week.
After opening at -2, Washington State actually flipped to a 1.5-point underdog as recently as late Monday morning.
However, professionals didn't let that number hang around for long.
Sports Insights' Bet Signals triggered three separate Steam Moves on the Cougars, pounding this line back to -3 at most shops across the market and even -3.5 at one book.
Steam is defined as sudden, uniform line movement across the entire betting market that is usually the result of professionals betting the same side of a game at multiple different sportsbooks, all at once.
In this instance, the opening and current lines imply a one-point move.
However, the line history and Sports Insights' proprietary betting tools reveal that sharp action drove it from Wazzu +1.5 to -3 and even -3.5 at key market-setting sportsbooks.
