The San Francisco 49ers were anywhere from a field goal to 3.5 point underdog to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers entering the weekend. That has changed with some sharp money coming in on San Francisco over the last 24 hours. The line is now as low as 1.5 points, according to sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.
A sharp bettor is someone who is viewed as a smarter bettor compared to your average public bettor. They analyze news and trends and a smaller sharp bet can sometimes move a line more than a larger public bet.
Sunday morning, Bet Online’s Dave Mason dropped the 49ers line from a field goal to 1.5 points. Additionally, William Hill published their pre-game report on where people are betting. As of this morning, 67% of tickets bet in this game were on the Bucs, but 63% of money was on the 49ers. When you have that kind of split, it often means the public is on the Bucs and the sharp bettors are on the 49ers.
This does not mean sharp bettors think the 49ers will win the game. Rather, they see a close game that could go either way, and liked getting three or 3.5 points before sportsbooks caught up with it. I picked the 49ers as one of my five SuperContest picks in part because I was able to get them as 3.5-point underdogs. I think the 49ers win this game outright, but the more points the better for me!