Anti Public Play$

[RiverRat]

Seattle Seahawks vs Green Bay Packers

The NFL playoffs create a lot of betting interest – and the public is solidly on the Seattle Seahawks. Almost two out every three bets is coming in on a Seattle team that trounced Washington and ended the season strongly. On the other hand, Green Bay has been “flying under the radar” for much of the season. The public doesn’t seem to respect the Packers and this gives us value.

The line opened at Green Bay -8 (-9 at + vig at Pinnacle) but has already reached Green Bay -7 at some sportsbooks. That is a huge 1 to 2 point value near the “key number” of 7.

Green Bay has not yet earned the public’s respect, but they have beaten many quality opponents this season and look like a solid value. Take Green Bay and be on the side of the long-term winners: the sports books.

Green Bay Packers -7

New York Giants vs Dallas Cowboys

The Giants are collecting 70% of the bets placed on this game, based mainly on their strong performances over the past few weeks. Last week, Eli Manning looked solid in the Giants’ 24-14 over a good Tampa Bay squad. This followed a huge showing versus the Patriots, even in defeat. That game, which was a heavily-watched nationally-televised media event, earned the Giants many believers.

On the other hand, the Dallas Cowboy juggernaut seems to have slowed down near the end of the season. There are a lot of Cowboy question marks, including Romo’s thumb and TO’s ankle. We feel, however, that the Giants have question marks of their own: particularly Eli Manning’s historic inconsistency. Based on this information, our readers know that we see this as a good contrarian play: buying Dallas at a “low” and selling the Giants at a “high.”

Our oddsmaker contacts at the sportsbooks agree. The line opened at Dallas -7.5 and has stubbornly stayed at that level. The linesmakers tell us that heavy public betting on the Giants is balancing “sharp money” on the Cowboys. With the increased betting interest during the NFL playoffs, however, we may see public money pushing the line down to Dallas -7 across the board. We already see Dallas -7 at the Greek.

Dallas Cowboys -7

[Piranha]

Those may be my two biggest play this weekend.

[Bags]

AGREE WITH BOTH!

GL2U!

[NoNewbieca]

It's amazing the disrespect for the Dallas team that has already beaten the G-men twice this year. The theory goes that it's hard to beat a team three times, but at home with a week of rest, the Boys should be ready.