BetOnline's Mason: It's a Fairy Tale to Think Books Want Balanced Action

"This is the biggest decision of the season so far," BetOnline's Dave Mason said of the Tampa Bay Bucs vs. Chicago Bears Thursday Night Football game. "Never seen this much total volume on one side for a regular season game."

The dollar amount wagered: 80% on Bucs -3.5, 80% on Bucs -191, 63% on Over 44.

Gambling911.com was able to sniff this one out a mile away and jumped all over the Bears after catching books moving the line down a half point ahead of kickoff.

"Books have moved the line from as high as Tampa -6 down to -3.5.  Bovada has the number at -4. There is definitely an opinion here that the Bears can cover a 3.5 spread."

Bovada is what's commonly referred to as a "scared" book. They tend to like balanced action as they cater to a mostly recreational player base.  It's a business model that works well for them.

Then there's the likes of a Dave Mason.  His position is that "real" bookmakers love one-sided action when they feel strongly the public is being short-sighted.  In the case of Tampa Bay vs. Chicago, that shiney object over there happens to be Tom Brady.  Surely Brady can do no wrong against the Chicago Bears.  Mason knows this season's Bears squad, led by Nick Foles, is a good one.  The betting public, mesmerized by Brady for the better part of two decades, could not have predicted he would mistake a 4th down for a 3rd down in the game's final remaining seconds.

Mason tweeted out at the conclusion of this game:

My five favorite fairy-tales:

5. Snowwhite
4. Rumplestilskin
3. Hansel and Grettel
2. Jack and the Beanstalk
1. Sportsbooks want to balance the action 50/50

— Dave Mason (@DaveMasonBOL) October 9, 2020

- Don Shapiro, Gambling911.com