How to bookies make money

Introduction

Bookmakers make money by charging a fee for each of their bets, called “tights” or “wigs”, and pay when their customers win a bet.  Their goal, sensibly, is to make sure that the income is higher than the outsider.  This is usually achieved by adjusting the odds so that the number of bets on a win or loss is the same.

How to bookies make money

One of the main attractions of sports betting is that it is possible to make a consistent profit. You need to know what you are doing and apply the right strategy, but it can be done. However, most gamblers lose money in the long run.  There are many reasons for this, one of which is the fact that bookmakers use certain techniques to make sure they always make a profit.

The basic principles of a bookmaker’s business model

Although a bookmaker cannot control the outcome of a sporting event, he or she can largely control how much he or she will likely win or lose on any outcome. And the basic premise of their business model is that they charge more than they pay for.  To do this, they pre-determine difficulties that are not only based on probability, but also add a margin to ensure that they make a small profit on each of their bets.

How to make a good bet

So, now that you know the bookmaker’s business model and how they increase margins to make a profit, win or lose, can you really ‘beat the bookie’? Well, you can increase your chances of winning more than losing by doing your homework, knowing your chosen game from the inside out, and playing more strategic betting games. Play a long game to have more fun and win consistently over time. Betting on the nap of the day is a great way to be confident about betting even if you don’t know much about horse racing.

The importance of calculating bookmaker margins

Since speculators do not represent the open market in the way that exchanges do, it is useful to be able to calculate betting margins.

Once you are able to calculate them, you can recognize and understand the difference between speculators and how it can affect your potential profits.

The value of betting relates to the market as a whole, which means you need to consider the odds for all results. The larger the margin, the worse the overall value will be for speculators.

 Why does the exchange offer higher prices?

An exchange presents a true picture of the value of a bet. But how?

Users bet against other users on the betting exchange – eliminating the need for a bookmaker. The market is driven by supply and demand, which often leads to better problems than speculators.

Instead of speculative margins, exchanges receive commissions on winning bets.  Markets offer less than 2% commission on net profit from industry. It offers higher prices than other exchanges, which can charge up to 5%, while some users may have to pay a premium fee which can be up to 60% higher.

The average bookmaker’s margin is 6%, which represents a significant difference in potential value for bookmakers compared to betting.

Conclusion

Now it should be clear why bookmakers have a mathematical advantage over their users. They do not always win money on every market they value, but this benefit helps ensure that they win money in the long run.

However, the benefits can be defeated.  It’s not like a casino game, no matter what you do. That being said, the only reason speculators make money is not the mathematical advantage. Their success also depends on the simple fact that most bettors make worse bets than good bets.