Everybody knows that “the house always wins”, right? In the sports betting business, there is a clear understanding about that, the house, or the bookie, always has the better chance to walk away with a win, regardless of the odds and the probabilities for anything to happen.
However, this is not a magic trick or a coincidence, it’s not that the games are fixed or that bookmakers can see the future; no, it’s nothing like that. On the contrary, bookmaking has become an art, and an art you should learn how to do and appreciate, if you’re planning to be good at it.
The “trick” here relies on the fact that bookmakers need to learn to balance their games, and even out the action, to assure that, no matter what the result of any game is, they will always win. This is why we hear, over and over, that sportsbooks, or bookies, are looking for volume and not necessarily big players or high rollers, it’s just about getting the volume in and keeping It in a constant flow. Of course, there are games where you will win a lot or lose a lot, depending on how favorite a team is, that’s inevitable from time to time, but as far as you remain constant and are able to offer your players options to keep them happy and active, you will keep making good money.
How do bookies win?
If you bet on anything in the world, and just choose a side, most probably, you’re getting a 50-50 chance of winning. However, being the fact that sports usually have a favorite for every game, oddsmakers could not just sit around and hope to win once in a while; on the other hand, this is why handicaps and “juice” were created, to give the edge back to the bookie and make sure he or she can always win.
Let’s see a simple example using an NBA game. Let’s say that #1 team in the West, the Lakers, are playing the last team in the conference, the Golden State Warriors, at Staples Center. It’s clear that the Lakers at home are a heavy favorite to win this game, by far. So, if there was no handicap, then of course, everybody would bet on the Lakers to win, and most probably, they would hit their bets; everyone’s happy except for the bookie.
However, this is why bookies invented the handicap and the juice. In this case, we’ll say that the Lakers get a -10 point handicap and a -110 money line. What this means is that the players will have to take the Lakers to cover by 10 points to win their bet, and on top, they risk $110 to win $100. For thi example, let’s say we have 2 players, one takes the Lakers -10 for $110 to won $100, the other one takes the Warriors +10, $110 to make $100. It doesn’t matter who wins the game or covers the spread, the bookie will always win. Why? If player 1 took the Lakers and they won, he wins $100, while the player who took the Warriors and lost, will lose $110. This means the bookie made $10 anyway. It works the same way if the Warriors would have won the game, one will win and one will lose. Catch the drift? Imagine this multiplied by 1000 bets on the game, can you make that math?
A balancing act, that’s all a bookie needs. If you want to know more about this and how you can be a successful bookie, contact us at PayPerHead247 right now and let’s talk about your options.