Pinnacle Pulse

The Inside Wagering Line From Pinnacle Sports Book By Simon NobleOfficiating can be a factor that makes handicapping games that much moredifficult and last weekend witnessed some of the most questionable NFLofficiating ever seen. No matter how much time you spend analyzing amatch-up, a judgment call can be the ultimate decider of who wins and wholoses. Losing bettors and fans remember these calls for a very long time…The officiating last weekend was so bad that the NFL admitted making amistake when Troy Polamalu’s diving interception in the fourth quarter wasoverturned. Fortunately, that mistake had no effect on the overall outcomeof the game. However, for those players that bet on the second half, itwas a different story.Pittsburgh backers took the Steelers +7.5 for the second half. After theinterception reversal, the Colts scored a TD followed by a 2-pointconversion on the drive. Without that score, Indianapolis -7.5 would nothave covered and Steelers bettors would have won the money.Earlier in the same game, the Steelers were facing fourth and inches whentwo Colts charged across the line of scrimmage and pointed at a Steelerlineman. Play was halted and no penalty called although there should havebeen a call for either a false-start or off-sides.The New England-Denver game also had a number of questionable callsappearing to favor the home team. In the first quarter, Patriotscornerback Asante Samuel was called for pass interference, advancing theBroncos 39 yards to the 1-yard line for an eventual score. Replay showedthat Samuel had position and made very little contact with Denver receiverAshley Lelie on the play.Later in the game, Denver’s Champ Bailey intercepted a pass in theend-zone and nearly returned it for a touchdown before he was hit andfumbled out of bounds. The officials ruled it remained Denver’s ballalthough it appeared that the ball went out of bounds in the end-zone, andNew England should have regained possession at their own 20 yard-line viaa touchback.Let’s hope things are better this weekend as there are now just three morecompetitive games before the curtain comes down on the NFL this season.Although these are clearly the biggest games of the year, it’s wise tostay focused on your money management. There’s always a temptation to betmore, but these games should be treated no differently than any other froma handicapper’s perspective.Resist the temptation to bet more on a side or total simply because theseason is coming to an end. It’s all about winning and you couldpotentially find more value to justify a stronger play on Sunday’sNiagara-St. Peter’s NCAA match-up for instance, than betting the house onthe AFC Championship game.If you find props or other bets you like, spread your money out as younormally would, but don’t throw it all on one side bet. Too many factors(or even referee calls) can go wrong in one game to justify overextendingyourself.Before making your plays this weekend, remember that there’s a limitedtime between the AFC and NFC Championship games to get your bets in -typically, just 15 minutes or less. With all the viewers of the AFC titlegame running to their computers to get action on the Panthers-Seahawksgame, there is an annual 15-minute period that’s traditionally the mostintense time of the year for online sports books.From past experience, many sports books will unfortunately not be able tohandle the stress this puts on their Web servers and database. Websitesmay be slow or worse still, they might be down altogether as their serversbuckle under the load. If you want to get action on the NFC title game ata sports book other than Pinnacle Sports, consider making your plays wellbefore the Pittsburgh-Denver game ends.If you fail to get your bets in before the game kicks off in Seattle, youstill have another option - live betting at Pinnacle Sports. The PinnacleSports book is known for outstanding value on sides and totals, and ourlive lines are no different. For in-running betting throughout the game,we use a -108 style pricing model, which still offers better value thanthe normal price offered by other sportsbooks before the game kicks off.If you like to get your plays in early, you can benefit even more fromPinnacle Sportsbook’s reduced margin wagering, which uses a -104 pricingmodel that gives bettors up to 60% better value on NFL sides than otherbookmakers. If you haven’t placed your wagers yet, you might want toconsider who the sharps and public like this weekend:Pittsburgh (+3 +106) at Denver O/U 41The Steelers have impressed, winning two straight playoff road games overthe Bengals and the Colts. Pittsburgh has made it this far by utilizing astrategy similar to Denver’s – running the ball and defending the runfirst.Denver and Pittsburgh had the second and fifth-ranked rushing attacksrespectively in the NFL and on run-defense, they ranked #2 and #3.Featuring the run has helped both teams reduce turnovers as sacks andturnovers happen with far more frequency when teams are forced to pass. Byfocusing on the run and rush defense, both teams have avoidedinterceptions and get more opportunities to pressure opposing teams’quarterbacks.We’ve seen heavy volume on this game after opening the spread with theSteelers at +3 (-116). The public clearly favors the Steelers, placingfive bets on Pittsburgh for every two on the Broncos. The sharps arebetting this game also, but they’re split on the game.After opening the total at 42.5 we have seen a classic, sharp versuspublic duel. The sharps are mostly on the under, while a majority of thebets placed have been on the over. As is often the case, the wise guyshave been placing bigger wagers and despite the larger bet count on theover from the public, sharp action has forced the total down to 41.Carolina (+3.5 -102) at Seattle O/U 43.5Carolina and Pittsburgh are both attempting to become the first team towin three consecutive road playoff games since the playoff format changedin 1990. Only two wildcard teams have even won 2 consecutive gamespreviously – Indy in 1995-96 and Jacksonville in 1996-97. If the lines areany indication though, Sunday might be the “day of the dog” – as 3 and 3.5point underdogs, the market strongly suggests that one of these teamscould win outright.We initially opened the Panthers as 6-point dogs in the NFC title game.The early money quickly pushed this down to +3.5 and we’re still takingmore bets on Carolina by a ratio of 2:1. Some of our sharps took thePanthers at +6 but there’s no clear consensus between the wise guys at+3.5.We opened the total at 43 and the public and sharps are again fightingover the number. At 43 we took twice as many bets on the over as on theunder. The market as a whole has crept up, even though the sharps weremainly taking the under. On high profile games like this the public tendsto line up on the over and the sharps will often take a contrarianposition.Pinnacle Sports Book & Online BettingPinnacle Sportsbook is an online betting company providing the best oddson sportsbook gambling, online horseracing, online casino gaming, andonline poker.With excellent 24/7 customer service, fast payouts, and secure Internetbetting, Pinnacle Sports Book satisfies all your sports book bettingrequirements and game wagering needs.The Pinnacle Sports Book also offers reduced juice betting lines andrebates of up to 7% on its sportsbook wagering so sign-up now withPinnacle SportsBook Betting and get wagering today!