Bookie A shady character that takes illegal bets on horse races, fights, sports games. Such people usually are robbed regularly as they have large amounts of money. Oh shit, I went to the bookie but. Being a successful bookie is a culmination of several different skills: you need to master content, sales, psychology, customer service, and good old-fashioned marketing if you want to grow your sports. A bookie is someone who facilitates gambling by setting odds, accepting and placing bets, and then paying out the winnings. It's short for the term bookmaker. A bookie was a slang term more often used. A bookie is someone who takes bets on sporting events as a business. In most of the United States, it’s been illegal to bet on sports for decades. Recent legislation has legalized sports betting in roughly half. Bookmaking, gambling practice of determining odds and receiving and paying off bets on the outcome of sporting events (particularly horse racing), political contests, and other competitions.Some.

A bookie is someone who accepts cash bets on a particular outcome, and pays off on these bets if they turn out to be correct. The legality of this profession varies, depending on the region of the world in which one is in, but even in countries where betting is theoretically illegal, bookies are often easy to find, as humans seem to have an intense interest in and fascination with betting. In regions where gambling is legal, these individuals are typically regulated by the government, and they may be obliged to pay certain fees to the government as well; this tactic is used to support regional and national budgets in many areas of the world.

The word “bookie” is short for “bookmaker.” They are also known as turf accountants, in a reference to their frequent appearances on racecourses. Bookies offer betting opportunities in a wide range of sports, including horse racing, greyhound racing, auto racing, tennis, American football, basketball, and so forth. Some also take bets on the probability of various events, like major scientific breakthroughs or the results of a reality television show.

Generally, this person is an expert in the field in which he offers bets. He has to be extremely knowledgeable, or he will not be able to turn a profit. The goal is to set up a point spread which allows him to profit no matter what the outcome of an event is. This requires a constant adjustment of the odds, and in some cases, one may even buy bets from another bookie to create a desired spread.

The bookie is an interesting and sometimes enigmatic figure. Many are known to be extremely intelligent and very good at mathematics, constructing a “book” of bets, possible outcomes, and odds that can get extremely complex. They are also savvy businesspeople who are knowledgeable about a wide variety of things. In some regions, the job is associated with dishonesty, especially in regions where betting is illegal or where the people who take bets operate in nebulous circumstances, and many people have lost money through bets with unlicensed or unscrupulous bookies.

In areas where bookmaking is entirely legal, it is often possible to place bets directly at a sports event like a race. In other regions, bookies operate in storefronts well away from the track or arena; in some cases, these operations may actually operate within the law, but in other instances they risk law enforcement raids to run their businesses. Thanks to the widespread availability of Internet access in many parts of the world, some also operate online; people who want to bet online should be extremely careful, because while there are perfectly legitimate online betting systems, it is not uncommon to encounter a scam.

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.

How To Be A Bookie

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.

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

What Is A Bookie Definition

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.