Chasing Steam​

Content curated from and authored by Clear Data Sports

Using some of the same principles that are applied for fading the public, chasing steam is another sports betting strategy that focuses on line movement and the bets made by others. But to chase steam, you first need to understand what a steam move is, and how to spot them.

What Is A Steam Move?

A steam move is a large shift in sports betting odds that is a result of heavy betting from professionals (or sharps).

Sportsbooks value the knowledge and opinions of sharps, so they respond to their betting trends in much more dramatic ways than they do for the public.

Steam moves are large wager amounts that come in very quickly, and quite often to a large number of sportsbooks at the same time. The betting public is rarely so unified so quickly, which makes it possible to distinguish public betting trends from those of the professionals.

Slow line movement over the course of a week can be attributed to the public. If you see fast line movement, and across many sportsbooks, it’s likely a steam move made by professionals.

Chasing Steam

You’re monitoring the sportsbooks, and all of them are agreed that the Packers are six-point favorites for their upcoming game. Then just like that, one of the sportsbooks changes the line to -7 for the Packers. A full point of movement, and so quickly, is a good sign that someone just made a steam move.

The key is to chase that steam (follow that bet with your bet) before all of the point spreads go to -7. Clearly, there is a professional that thinks -6 is great value, and you want to jump on it before that value goes away.

Most sportsbooks will follow the steam, and rather quickly. Eventually, they will all move the line to -7. But if you are on top of things, you can spot the slow responding sportsbook and get your bet locked in before the value is gone.

Keys To Successful Steam Chasing

Steam chasing is a difficult strategy to pull off, but there are things that you can do to help make your efforts more successful.

Since speed is the key, you should already have accounts at multiple sportsbooks. In the time it takes you to register for a new account and make an account deposit, the opportunity to chase the steam may be gone.

Don’t wait to get yourself into a position to make a move. You must be ready when the time presents itself.

You also need to find websites that show you real-time odds of multiple sportsbooks at the same time. If you try to go from book to book to monitor the odds, steam is harder to spot. And by the time you do spot it, it may be too late.

And finally, be prepared to lose. No matter how great the professionals are, they still lose. So if you’re chasing steam, you will lose too. But since this is a long-term strategy, losses from game to game shouldn’t be enough to derail you.