Steam Moves

• Sports Insights defines a Steam Move as sudden, drastic and uniform line movement across the entire sports betting marketplace.

Steam is the result of a sudden overload of money placed at multiple sportsbooks and, in most cases, occurs due to betting groups, betting syndicates and a few key players with the resources to “get down heavily” at multiple locations, all at once.

Since the advent of sports betting, the holy grail in sports betting strategies has been to beat the Steam.

This strategy had its ups and downs for years. Blindly following every steam move caused a lot of players to go broke. Wiseguys knowingly bet on the wrong side just to obtain a more favorable number when they finally “bought back” on the other side.

Some of biggest names in sports betting (The Billy Walters’ of the world) would do exactly that. By betting $50K on the home team they’d force an overreaction in the market. Once this occurred, they’d then bet $150K on the side they wanted, usually getting a 1.5-point to 2-point move in their favor.

Understanding the inherent problems with blindly following every major line move, SportsInsights.com developed the Steam Moves strategy. Its goal is to help members better evaluate the worth of any steam move. Should you play into the move or against it after the dust settles?

What makes our Steam Move Betting System unique is that we track which sportsbook initiated the Steam Move, plus the overall record of betting with the move or against the move. Some sportsbooks are inherently sharper than others because they cater to a special kind of sports bettor: wiseguys, sharps and betting syndicates. These are the types of players or groups that place larger $25-$100K wagers, causing the market to move.

If you’re interested in learning more about Steam Moves, please check out our articles on How to Win with Steam Moves and Identifying False Line Moves.