Sharps Delay

Eggmund, possibly from his "oval" office, comments on my previous post asking:

Could it be that average punters are betting on the home team well before tip-off (do they still have that?) and then the professionals are smoothing out pricing discrepancies in a liquid market from just before the game starts through to the final whistle?

NBA games do still have tip-offs, although I don't see why they don't just let the home team start from the baseline for the first and fourth quarters and let the road team have possession at the start of the second and third, but then, no one has ever asked me.

The problem with Eggmund's theory is that I'm not sure there's any evidence to suggest that the Jonny Guessers (squares) of this world all bet well before an event starts, and then step away while the more enlightened Green All Over readers, (sharps) move in.

Professionals like the softer, opening, lines because the closer to start time you are, the more efficient the prices are.

Also, just to be clear, how the price moves in-play 'through to the final whistle' is irrelevant, as we are not trading.

The mystery is why such edges persist for as long as they do.