Public / Public Bettor
Also known as: square
Casual recreational bettors. Tends to bet favorites, overs, and primetime games. Sportsbooks make most of their money here.
The public is the mass of recreational bettors. Tendencies:
- Bets favorites more than underdogs
- Bets overs more than unders
- Bets primetime and marquee games heavily
- Reacts to last week’s results
- Bets parlays for the dream payout
“Fading the public”; betting the opposite of the popular side; works in specific situations (heavy public on one side with no line movement = sharps quietly on the other). But the public is often correct, especially on chalk favorites.
Opposite of: sharp, wiseguy.