Pacing Themselves
Futility comes in different forms (think Chicago Cubs with their unending quest to be World Series champions). Professional franchises go long stretches without titles, making the playoffs, or even rattling off a .500 season here and there. However, right this very moment there’s a dubious distinction ready to be bestowed on a team that calls our country’s heartland home. The Pacers struggles are well chronicled and while they’ve seen their lead in the East completely vanish, there is something disappearing even faster than their playoff seeding: bettor’s bankrolls. Over their last 25 games Indiana is a wallet breaking 3-22 ATS. Even the 76ers were 8-17-1 against the number while they rattled off 26 straight outright losses. Given the Pacers struggle to cash tickets and their place among the so called elite teams in the NBA, it was interesting to get the perspective from 2 offshore sportsbooks on the unique betting trends that have emerged.
How far has Indiana fallen in some power ratings? Click here for the complete list
” To say the Pacers are a mess is an understatement. They have no failed to cover in 9 straight games and their locker room seems to be joke. They seem to be tanking at exactly the wrong time, a time when they could have wrapped up the #1 seed in the East,” Mike Perry told me.
He wasn’t done there regarding the impact it’s had on his operation at Sportsbook.com.
“Despite their recent skid, the Pacers have been backed by the majority of bettors cash in 7 of the now 9 straight games (Needed Indy vs Heat on March 26th & vs Spurs on Mar. 31st) that they have failed to cover. I think it all comes to who they play. Even though Atlanta smoked the Pacers on Sunday, I expect us to need the lowly Bucks on the spread when they lock horns with Indy on Wednesday,” he told me when we had a chance to chat yesterday afternoon.
Perry was right on point knowing his book’s needs when Indiana opened a modest 4 pt favorite before the number climbed as high as 5 for their tilt against Eastern Conference cellar dweller Milwaukee. However, sportsbooks were dealt a fortuitous break when Indiana announced earlier today they’d be resting most of their key cogs creating a major market adjustment making Indiana only a 2 pt favorite.
Dave Mason from Betonline told me his house has seen this poor run of play as damn near a blessing for bookmakers “Surprisingly the public isn’t blindly fading the Pacers ATS due to their recent covering woes. Perhaps (we’re) seeing a little more action on their opponents than before, but nothing crazy. Considering the Pacers are still viewed as one of the top teams in the East, their horrible ATS record has been good for the house.”
It really is amazing to monitor bettors behavior during streaks of this duration. Public perception always plays a role in recreational sports bettors gambling habits meaning it’s hard for them to adjust their view on the Pacers given how good this team was earlier in the season. However I can’t sit on a soapbox and say I’ve profited from this recent run of poor play myself knowing I’ve faded the Pacers 0 times the last 25 times they’ve hit the court.
I’d have to imagine there’s more than a couple bookmakers in the state of Indiana making quite a few bucks these past 6 weeks…
