Bookie Betting

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• Super Bowl betting generates the biggest handle of the year for most bookies. Sportsbook - An establishment that takes bets, also known as a book. An individual who takes bets is a bookie. Juice - This is the percentage of all bets taken by the bookie as profit.
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According to a study by the American Gaming Association, 38 million American adults planned to bet on the 2019 NFL season. That’s 15% of the adult population, betting only on professional football. That’s a huge potential client base.

It’s nice to win bets, but the guaranteed money is in bookmaking. Once you see the profits from betting explained, you won’t want to be a gambler anymore. You’ll want to be a bookie.

What Do Bookies Do?

Before looking at how bookmakers, or bookies, get paid, it’s worth considering what bookies do. In other words, why should bookies get paid at all?

A bookie is someone who facilitates gambling. They make it possible for people to place bets by:

• Setting the odds (and sometimes changing them, but more on that later)
• Accepting and placing bets
• Paying out winnings

In popular culture, bookies are often shady figures. There are countless movies where a bookie sends some goons to break some problem gambler’s knees after he can’t pay.

Real bookies are nothing like that, especially now that sports gambling is legal in many places. Even with legal gambling, most bettors still place their wagers with local bookies. If these bookies broke knees, they would quickly lose all their customers.

In reality, a bookie is just a person who makes it possible for you to gamble. Like anyone else who provides a service, they exact a fee for it.

Betting Explained: The Vig

The fee that bookies charge is called the vigorish, or the vig. People also call it the juice, the take, or the margin. Because bookies usually don’t place bets themselves, they make their money from this extra fee they charge on every bet, win or lose.

The place you can see the vig the clearest is in the moneyline for a particular game. Let’s use a football game, Eagles versus Bears, as an example.

Suppose the Eagles are the home team and are the favorite to win the game. The point spread for the game might be Eagles -6.5. That means the Eagles must win by at least seven points for you to win your bet, or to “cover” the spread.

But, the betting line will also include the moneyline. As the favorite, the Eagles are probably sitting at -110. That means if you bet $100, you would only win $90 (in addition to receiving your original bet back). If you wanted to win $100, you’d have to bet $110.

The easiest way to think about the moneyline is the amount you would have to bet to win $100. In this case, that extra $10 is the vig or the fee for the bookie.

There is no standard vig. The most common one is -110 (in other words, an 11 to 10 advantage for the bookmaker), but that varies depending on the game, the teams, and the bookmaker.

The moneyline could even go the other way. If the bookie wanted to encourage more people to bet the Bears, they could set the moneyline at +110. That means for every $100 you bet, you would win $110.

Balancing the Book: Betting Lines Explained

Because bookies make their money from the vig, they want to encourage equal numbers of people to bet on each side of a game.

From our example, they want the same number of people to bet the Eagles and the Bears. The bookie will not have to cover any winning bets himself and can pocket his 10% profit.

With sports gambling, there are two ways a bookie can adjust which side people bet on: shifting the point spread or shifting the moneyline.

Suppose after the bookmaker set the point spread at Eagles -6.5, most people placed their bets on the Eagles. The bookmaker, seeing this, would move the spread to Eagles -7.5 or higher to encourage people to bet the Bears.

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Again, the bookmaker wants to get the bets on each side close to even to avoid an unbalanced book.

On the other hand, if the bookmaker did not want to move the spread, he could shift the moneyline down to -120 or -130. Then the payout for winning a bet on the Eagles would be lower (which is the same as having fewer bets).

Bookmakers want a balanced book, so it’s imperative that they set the right line, or adjust it as more bets come in. The volume of bets helps too: the more bets that come in, the more likely the bookie will adjust the line correctly.

Because the line is so important, the biggest bookmakers will have teams of statisticians helping them create and adjust their lines. They also recognize strong, or “sharp”, gamblers and respond to those bets by shifting the lines.

Most neighborhood bookies do not set their own lines. Instead, they rely on bookmaking services or copy lines from larger bookmakers.

What the Vig Means for Gamblers

People placing bets should never lose sight of the vig, especially if they hope to make money over the long term and not just on single bets. It changes the break-even point for betting.

With a -110 Moneyline, each time you lose a bet, you lose $100. But, each time you win, you only win back $90. Your wins are insufficient to cover your losses if you are betting the same amount each time.

In other words, the break-even percentage for winning is no longer 50%. Instead, it’s higher, maybe around 53% or 54% depending on the exact vig. Given bookies set betting lines to encourage equal play on both sides, it’s actually pretty easy to win 50% of your bets.

But, a sports gambler who wins half their bets will soon run out of money. Gamblers must win enough to cover the vig, hopefully with some profit left over.

For the Bookie, It’s Not Really Gambling

The nice part about being the bookie is that so long as you set the right lines, you’re no longer gambling. It’s just math: the winners and losers cancel each other out, and you pocket your fee, every time. That’s betting explained for bookies.

But, just because it’s simple doesn’t mean it’s easy. Otherwise, everyone would do it. Luckily, the right pay-per-head sportsbook service can help you start and grow your sportsbook as an independent bookie.

A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays off bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds.

History[edit]

The first bookmaker, Ogden, stood at Newmarket in 1795.^[1]

Range of events[edit]

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Bookmakers in many countries focus on accepting bets on professional sports, especially horse racing and association football (soccer). However, a wider range of bets, including on political elections, awards ceremonies such as the Oscars, and novelty bets are accepted by bookmakers in some countries.

Operational procedures[edit]

By 'adjusting the odds' in their favour (paying out amounts using odds that are less than what they determined to be the true odds) or by having a point spread, bookmakers aim to guarantee a profit by achieving a 'balanced book', either by getting an equal number of bets for each possible outcome or (when they are offering odds) by getting the amounts wagered on each outcome to reflect the odds.^[2] When a large bet comes in, a bookmaker may also try to lay off the risk by buying bets from other bookmakers. Bookmakers do not generally attempt to make money from the bets themselves but rather by acting as market makers and profiting from the event regardless of the outcome. Their working methods are similar to those of an actuary, who does a similar balancing of financial outcomes of events for the assurance and insurance industries.

Legality[edit]

Bookie Betting Online

Depending on the country, bookmaking may be legal or illegal and is often regulated. In the United Kingdom, since 1 May 1961, bookmaking has been legal and has even been a small contributor to the British economy, with a recent explosion of interest with regard to the international gaming sector industry. However, gambling debts were unenforceable under British law until the Gambling Act 2005. Many bookmakers are members of IBAS, an industry organisation used to settle disputes.

Bookmaking is generally illegal in the United States, with Nevada being an exception due to the influence of Las Vegas. In May 2018, a United States Supreme Court ruling struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992, which prevented individual states from legalizing bookmaking.

In some countries, such as Singapore, Sweden, Canada, and Japan, the only legal bookmaker is owned and operated by the state. In Canada, this is part of the lottery programme and is known as Sport Select.

United Kingdom gambling industry[edit]

The first bookmaker in the United Kingdom is considered to be Harry Ogden, who opened a business in the 1790s, although similar activities had existed in other forms earlier in the eighteenth century.^[3][4]

Following the Gaming Act 1845, the only gambling allowed in the United Kingdom was at race tracks. The introduction of special excursion trains meant that all classes of society could attend the new racecourses opening across the country. Cash flowed to the bookmakers who employed bodyguards against protection gangs operating within the vast crowds.^[5] Illegal betting shops were fined, but some, like Bella Thomasson, ran betting businesses that the police appeared to turn a blind eye to.^[6]

In 1961, Harold Macmillan's Conservative government legalised betting shops, with tough measures enacted to ensure that bookmakers remained honest. A large industry has grown since. At one time, there were over 15,000 betting shops. Now, through consolidation, they have been reduced to between 9,100 and 9,200 in 2013.^[7] The group of the largest bookmakers in the country, known as the 'Big Three', comprises William Hill, Ladbrokes, and Coral.^[8]

Improved TV coverage and the modernisation of the law have allowed betting in shops and casinos in most countries. In the UK, on-track bookies still mark up the odds on boards beside the race course and use tic-tac or mobile telephones to communicate the odds between their staff and to other bookies, but, with the modernisation of United Kingdom bookmaking laws, online and high street gambling are at an all-time high. A so-called super-casino had been planned for construction in Manchester, but the government announced that this plan had been scrapped on 26 February 2008.

Internet gambling[edit]

Although online gambling first started in 1994 when the licensing authority of Antigua and Barbuda passed the Free Trade & Processes Act, bookmakers did not get involved until 2001. They were forced to act when research at the time found there were eight million online players worldwide.^[9]

With the arrival of the World Wide Web, many bookmakers have an online brand, but independently owned bookmakers often still maintain a 'bricks and mortar' only operation as the software and hardware required to operate a successful online betting operation are complex and their costs are quite prohibitive; other bookmakers operate 'skins' or 'white label' websites, which they purchase from one of the large firms. The main websites require bets to be from countries where Internet gambling is allowed and from people over 18 years old. Some small bookmakers and startups purchase software from specialised white label solution providers. Since gambling products have a high conversion rate from one niche to another, most online betting websites also feature other gambling products such as poker, live dealer casino games, lottery, bingo, slots and other casino games. Controversially, the explosion in Internet gambling is being linked to a rise in gambling addiction, according to the UK's help and advice organisations for addicts, GamCare and Gamblers Anonymous.

Increasingly, online bettors are turning to the use of betting exchanges such as Betfair and BETDAQ, which automatically match back and lay bets between different bettors, thus effectively cutting out the bookmaker's traditional profit margin also called an overround.

These online exchange markets operate a market index of prices near but usually not at 100% competitiveness, as exchanges take commissions on winnings. True wholesale odds are odds that operate at 100% of probabilistic outcomes.

Betting exchanges compete with the traditional bookmaker. They are generally able to offer punters better odds because of their much lower overheads but also give opportunities for arbitrage, the practice of taking advantage of a price differential between two or more markets. However, traditionally, arbitrage has always been possible by backing all outcomes with bookmakers (dutching), as opposed to laying an outcome on an exchange. Exchanges, however, allow bookmakers to see the state of the market and set their odds accordingly.

With the increasing number of online betting exchanges, betting exchanges are now providing free bet offers in an attempt to lure customers away from the competition. These free bets are generally based on the size of the deposit made into the gambling account. For example, if a customer made a deposit of $20, the betting exchange would deposit an additional $20 for the customer to use.^[10] Free bet rules vary depending on the betting exchange.

Some bookmakers have even taken to using betting exchanges as a way of laying off unfavourable bets and thus reducing their overall exposure. This has led to insecurity from some TABs in Australia, state-run betting agencies that attempted to deny Betfair an Australian licence by running unfavourable ads in the media regarding the company. When Tasmania granted Betfair a licence despite these efforts, the Western Australian state legislature passed a law that specifically criminalised using betting exchanges from within the state; however, the law was later ruled to be unconstitutional. As a result, internet gambling in Australia required a new legal framework. The Interactive Gambling Act 2001 regulates the online gambling market in Australia, together with all its amendments. The last amendment was introduced on 13 September 2017. This bill states that online casinos, online poker and live betting is illegal in Australia. The Australian Communication and Media Authority (ACMA) is the regulatory body that is in charge of all supervising online gambling activities. Online sports betting is legal, however.^[11]

Bets are also taken via phones, using email and SMS text messages,^[12] though poker and other sports are more suited to other media. As technology moves on, the gambling world ensures it is a major player in new technology operations.

Most televised sports in the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe are now sponsored wholly or partly by Internet and high street bookmakers, with sometimes several bookmakers and online casinos being displayed on players' shirts, advertising hoardings, stadium signs and competition event titles. Sponsors are especially highlighted in the football category since football fans present a significant percentage of the target group the bookmakers serve.

Many of the bookmakers are sponsoring some of the major football teams in the major European football leagues,^[13] although Werder Bremen are currently fighting the German courts for the freedom to continue featuring bookmaker Bwin on their shirts, as Germany and France take action against online gamers. For example, as of 1 January 2020, Germany bettors will not be able to bet more than €1,000 a month. The latest amendment of the ITG states that. New online sportsbook laws are expected in the near future in Germany, as this law is only temporary: the expiration date is set to be on 20 June 2020.^[14]

The situation is not that strict in France, however. Online sports betting in France is divided into two sections: Autorité de Régulation des Jeux en Ligne (ARJEL) regulates online sports betting, while online horse betting is regulated by the law 'Decree 2010-498 from 17 May 2010. International bookmakers are allowed to enter the French market, thanks to the Law No. 2010-476 from 12 May 2010.^[15][16]

With the recent banning of tobacco sponsorship^[17] and the significant commercial budgets available to the gaming industry, sponsorship by car manufacturers, alcoholic drinks, soft drinks and fast-food marketers is being rapidly replaced by sponsorship from gaming companies in the Far East and Europe.

The United Kingdom's Gambling Act 2005 introduced a new regulatory system for governing gambling in Great Britain. This system includes new provisions for regulating the advertising of gambling products. These provisions of the Act came into effect in September 2007. It is an offence to advertise in the UK, gambling that physically takes place in a non-European Economic Area (EEA) or, in the case of gambling by remote means, gambling that is not regulated by the gambling laws of an EEA state. The Gambling Commission is the body that makes sure all sites and operators follow the new restrictions. In addition to the Gambling Act of 2005, according to the new gambling bill, online gambling sites are only allowed to offer services within the United Kingdom, if they are registered at the UK Gambling Commission.^[18]

The situation is more confused in the United States, which has attempted to restrict operators of foreign gambling websites accessing their domestic market. This resulted in 2007 in a ruling against the US government by the World Trade Organization.^[19] However, common online gambling laws in the United States still don't exist - it differs from state to state. All forms of online gambling are illegal within the states of Utah and Hawaii, while the states of Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey took a different approach: almost all forms of online gambling are legal in these states. These are the only US states where online casino sites can be legally registered. It is important to mention that Native Americans have their own gambling legislation - the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988. However, they need their state's approval in order to be able to offer their services online.^[20]

See also[edit]

• Bookies – a German film

References[edit]

1. ^Barrett, Norman, ed. (1995). The Daily Telegraph Chronicle of Horse Racing. Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Publishing. p. 10.
2. ^Cortis, Dominic (2015). 'Expected Values and variance in bookmaker payouts: A Theoretical Approach towards setting limits on odds'. Journal of Prediction Markets. 1. 9.
3. ^Munting, Roger (1996). An Economic and Social History of Gambling in Britain and the USA. Manchester University Press. p. 89.
4. ^Vamplew, Wray; Kay, Joyce. (2005). Encyclopedia of British Horseracing. Routledge. p. 50.
5. ^Dick Kirby, The Race Track Gangs, The Peeler issue 7 July 2002, 'Friends of the Met Police Museum'
6. ^'Thomason, Ann Arabella [known as Bella Thomasson] (1874–1959), bookmaker'. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/56685.
7. ^Gambling Commission Gambling industry statistics April 2009 to September 2012
8. ^Vamplew and Kay, p. 51.
9. ^'A history of online casinos: infographic'. rightcasino.com.
10. ^'The Most Common Sportsbook Bonus Types'. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
11. ^Communications. 'Interactive Gambling Act 2001'. www.legislation.gov.au. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
12. ^'Betfred.com Chooses OtherLevels' Platform to Power Their Mobile Marketing Campaigns'. Market Watch. 28 July 2014. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
13. ^'A Look At Bookmakers Sponsoring Football Clubs'. ReliableBookies.com. 19 March 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
14. ^'Entwurf eines Dritten Staatsvertrages zur Änderung des Staatsvertrages zum Glücksspielwesen in Deutschland (Dritter Glücksspieländerungsstaatsvertrag)'(PDF). Landtag Nordrhein-Westfalen.
15. ^LOI n° 2010-476 du 12 mai 2010 relative à l'ouverture à la concurrence et à la régulation du secteur des jeux d'argent et de hasard en ligne (1). Legifrance. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
16. ^Décret n° 2010-498 du 17 mai 2010 relatif à la définition des courses hippiques supports des paris en ligne et aux principes généraux du pari mutuel. Legifrance. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
17. ^Holman, C D'Arcy; Donovan, Robert; Corti, Billie; Jalleh, Geoffrey; Frizzell, Shirley; Carroll, Addy. 'Banning tobacco sponsorship: replacing tobacco with health messages and creating health-promoting environments'. The British Medical Journal. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
18. ^'The Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act 2014'. UK Gambling Commission. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
19. ^'WTO rules against US gaming ban'. BBC News. 30 March 2007. Retrieved 1 September 2011.
20. ^'Public Law 100-497-OCT. 17, 1988: An Act to regulate gaming on Indian lands'(PDF). Government Publishing Office [US]. Retrieved 4 September 2019.