Well I feel kind of silly writing this after dedicating a whole article to the idea that this new noon deadline for Pro-Line/Point Spread was just a myth. But after checking out the Pro Line site guess what? As of September 25, 2005 we’re now looking at noon cutoffs on all Pro-Line and Point Spread football cards.

It’s not enough that the OLGC really rips into its customers by forcing us into hugely unfair parlay plays. Now they seem to want to a bigger piece of the pie. I’m not sure how movement on the real Vegas lines effected Pro-line profits, but I’m assuming the suits figured it made sense to cut off any and every advantage a Pro-Line player might have.

Now last week Vegas was really taking a ton of action on Tampa Bay as the game neared kickoff. Pro-Line had the Bucs as 2.5 favorites, but Vegas was betting them up to 3. The same thing happens every week, but that doesn’t mean this move’s acceptable. Pro-Line sets their lines on Friday, and in most cases the number they hang is way off the Vegas line anyway. There’s always some value as the lines swing on Saturday and Sunday mornings, but that has to be mitigated by the odds of winning a parlay ticket. So I don’t care if Houston’s 6 point underdogs on Pro-Line and a 3-point favourite in Vegas. Because you’ve got to parlay them with at least one other team!

I know a lot of people will say you’ve got to be an idiot to play Pro-Line. And I agree to some extent. I have a Bowmans account. And I use it. But since I’m not a big-time gambler it’s kind of convenient to stop in at the corner store and pick up, say, $10 in tickets. And you know what, it’s not uncommon for me to win a 3-team parlay. Because that’s all I’ll bet. 3 teams. Don’t give them the satisfaction of juicing their line even more with a 4 teamer, or a 5.

With these new rules and pathetic odds that $10 has quickly become a donation to the Ontario government. I had Carolina, Chicago, Cincy, Denver, and Seattle to win last week and I ended up netting $6 on some Point-Spread tickets. Why? Because Denver and Seattle won by 3! Yes, they won. But not according to Pro-Line. According to Pro-Line they TIED!

I’d love to hear anyone else’s thoughts on this move. The tie rule is bad enough. It’s an absolute joke and a disgrace. But this noon deadline really has me riled. You can’t beat the house. But just watch them keep stacking the odds.

I remember when hockey ties paid 6-1. Now you can find 2.9s! And you can’t bet a 6-tie ticket anymore. I don’t understand why. I guess they had to pay out a couple.