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How Do Bookies Make Money – Ultimate Guide to Understanding the Bookmakers

Bookies or bookmakers are sport betting fanatics. They employ various strategies and guidelines to ensure that they always win in bets. It is possible to consistently bet on your favorite game without losing a single coin. You can make tons of profits by simply applying the principles that have been tested over the years.

Bookmakers have attested to these facts.  Bookmakers have well-designed layouts that help them win against the opponent. You will have to be very smart to know how to beat the bookies at any game. To bet on sports successfully, it is important to understand how do bookies make money on football, how do bookies work, and how to beat them and make money betting on football.

Our article is a comprehensive guide compiled by sport betting experts. The team is knowledgeable about sports and how do online bookies make money and you can apply these to your basic betting tips and strategies.

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How Exactly Do Bookmakers Make Money?

Bookies make money by using specific methods that help them gain an advantage against their opponents. Bookmakers make money at each game they price up a market on. Is this possible? Well, gambling is a game of chance and luck but some individuals who have mastered the art of beating this fact

If you are a gambling enthusiast you might have placed a bad bet or two and it cost you a lot of money.  So, how do bookies set odds? and what does a bookie do to avoid these losses? They master the art of bookmaking by:

  • Taking advantage of the vig

Setting the right betting prices ensures that bookmarkers make money. The bets are set at the beginning of the game and will change as the game progresses.  These prices will also ensure that the bets are not exaggerated i.e. they are not too little for them or they are not too high for the customers.

  • Adjusting the betting lines

Bookies have found ways through which they can adjust the betting lines to their benefit. The set the betting line and change it as necessary. Despite all odds, bookies have an advantage.

  • Eliminating any risks that may arise

Creating a balanced book helps the bookie have minimal chances of losing a bet. Bookmakers never want to lose their profits no matter how little the stakes are. Margins can be calculated by an understanding of various mathematical calculations of odds, probabilities and implied probability.

  • Using the opponent’s weakness to their gain

Sounds like a bad thing right? But this is the ultimate art of bookmarking. The ability to deduce a bettor’s feelings and emotions when placing a bet on any sport will help the bookmaker win. Bettors should always bet as per the odds for a sports event and take time to reflect the odds of the team and the team’s chance of winning the match.

Bookmarkers do not place bets depending on their favorite players. They ensure they have a mathematical advantage over their customers which gives them confidence in a particular outcome.

Understanding How Do Bookmarkers Work

Bookmakers are in the business of making money. To be able to understand how do local bookies make money or how do illegal bookies make money, we have to discuss the principle applied by the bookies. This principle ensures that bookies consistently win against their customers regardless of the sport or event.

Bookies provide betting platforms for all kinds of sport namely cricket, football, or horse races. They choose the most popular sports with millions of fans across the globe. Bookmakers lay bets for their customers who place stakes against the bets.

After the game or race is over, a lucky customer who wins the bet gets to walk away with the money. So how do bookies make money on football if they are paying out to lucky bettors? Bookies ensure that the money paid out to the lucky customer or customers is less than that which was deposited by the players.

They have a mathematical advantage over their customers so the chances of the customers’ winning are very low. Compilers set the odds for the game or race. Each of the odds accurately reflects the expected outcomes of the game thereby attracting as many customers as possible. But another method to attract more customers is to have a variety of currencies available like Czech Koruna CZK and other exotic moneys.

Bookies have an idea of the outcome of the game based on statistics but cannot predict the outcome of the sports.  As such, they ensure they have total control of the profits and losses on their end depending on the results. Profit or loss margins are calculated before to ensure the bookies make money.

How Bookies Set the Odds for Sports Events

Bookmakers have a winning advantage against their customers at all times. More often than not, they pay out very little to their customers leaving them with huge profits. Bookies hardly make any losses. They apply specific techniques that work in their favor but the bettors have no idea of this.

Margins or vigorish (commonly referred to as the vig) is carefully incorporated into the odds of each game. The vig makes sure that the bookie makes a profit. If this is the case, is being a bookie legal?

To explain this further, bookies work with the ‘win or lose’ situation of a march. Bets can either be won or lost. This means that are 50% chances of winning and 50% of loosing. Depending on different lines of odds, bookies offer even money.

Say for example we work with the decimal odds. In our case, a 2 decimal odd is applicable because there are 2 chances. Bookmakers will make money from the stakes if all the customers lose. If all the customers win, then they will make losses. If half the customers win and half lose, then no profits are made.

The overround or the vig comes into play here to give them an advantage against the customers.  Bookies will use odds such as 1.9091 for games that have equal winning or losing chances instead of 2.00 for decimal betting lines.  For each bet, the bookies make a profit of 0.909 on each bet.

If there are 100 bettors for the event, they will make $90.9 vig which is about 9.09% for our case. Regardless of whether they pay out wins or not, the vig is guaranteed for all the games. Vigs are expressed as percentages.

Bookmakers have a much harder task when it comes to events such as football which have more than 2  expected outcomes. In such cases, they employ odds compilers whose role is to analyze and compile the odds and to ensure that the bookies have a winning advantage using the vig or the overround.

Sometimes the bookies just can’t predict who the winner of a match will be. In this case they sometimes may offer even odds for both options. Placing bets with even odds is known as EVS betting.

Why Calculating Bookmaker Margins Is Vital

Bookies calculate margins for many reasons. The main reason is to always make a profit. Understanding of various mathematical calculations helps the bookmakers know how much does the bookie make through the vig is going to bring in. It is also a foresight of any profits or loss margins that may be incurred for any sporting event.

The profit margin determining calculations are most vital as they are the backbone of the bookies’ business. Many factors are put into consideration by the odds compilers including the likelihood of outcomes and customer’s chances of winning the match.

The Role of Odds Compilers

Odds compilers are employed by bookmakers to put together the odds of various events. The odds they set will be a guideline or rather will give an overview of what the bookmaker will win or will make for every game. Simply put, they determine the profits that a company makes. Odd compilers or traders price the betting markets in favor of their companies.

Bookmakers, through the odds compilers, reflect the likelihood outcomes of the games. The outcomes are accurate but to ensure the bookmaker still makes money, the vig or the overround is incorporated into the odds.

As discussed above, the bookmarker still has an advantage regardless of how the game turns out. If you know the percentage vig for any bookmaker, it is possible to calculate how much money does a bookie make per year.

Odds compilers are knowledgeable about sports and calculate the vig based on statistics. To price up a market, the odds compilers need to know the background of the players in the game and any statistics or history about previous matches between the teams or the races.

Odds are then compiled based on these first and once the desired percentage is reached, they include the vig into the odds that will be displayed in the betting markets. Odds compilers are also tasked with ensuring that the bookmaker has balanced books after creating an in-built profit margin.

Creating Balanced Books

Balanced books are put together by the odds compiler(s). These books ensure that the total profit margin from the events remains constant and does not vary with the results of the game. If the odds compilers proposed to generate profits of $1000 from an event, this should be so irrespective of whether there are customers that win or lose.

It is very hard to keep books balanced due to the unexpected results of the games. Odds compilers work constantly during the game to ensure that there are no incidences of imbalanced books that would result in the company’s losses.

Odds keep changing during a game. Why? The compilers strive to ensure that the books remain balanced and they get the profit margins they had calculated prior. Odds will encourage customers to keep betting on the winning team and thus ensure that the deposits remain steady. Balancing books ensures that the chances of losing are as narrow as possible.

Odds compilers can also create imbalanced books. This is the case especially when they are sure about the results of a particular game. Customers are lured to place bets on the team that will most likely lose. At the end of a session, the team losses and the bookmaker makes abnormal profits regardless of any payouts made.

How Do Bookies Lock-In Profit?

Consistent profits are every bookie’s dream but this not usually the case.  Bookmakers try as much as possible to have an advantage over their visitors to ensure that they keep their profits steady.  Bookmakers have different betting markets on their sites.

Wins on these betting markets are not always guaranteed. Having a mathematical advantage over their customers keeps them ahead of the game. This makes up the art of bookmarking and if you are wondering how bookies make money on horses or how does a bookie make their money, take time to reflect on these chances and place odds based on statistics.

How Else Do Bookmakers Make Money?

Bookmakers use every opportunity on the betting markets to make profits. To maximize returns, they take advantage of all the bad bets placed by players during sporting events. Careless bets will cost the customer. Customers should only place bets if they are confident about in a particular outcome and do not place the bets depending on emotions and team preferences.

Bet prices are in favor of the bookmaker. All markets priced up are calculated accurately to ensure that the firms make enough money for every event. Bookies do not take chances, therefore, eliminate any risks that would result in losses on the games.

As the game progresses, the betting lines keep changing in favor of the bookie as the company tries to achieve a balanced book. Betting lines lure customers and increase the deposits.

How Can the Punter Fight Back and Ensure You Beat The Bookie?

Statistical analysis of each game or odds for each player is very vital. Customers should not place bets on games for the sake. Place a bet that you are confident about to have an upper hand against the bookie. History of similar events and that of the players or the teams are a plus before you make any deposits.

FAQ About How Do Bookies Make Money

Bookies are not interested in who wins or loses. They are just interested in making a profit no matter who wins. To do that, they change the odds in their favor as explained in this article.

They calculate the real odds first and add their profit rates to them, as explained above. This way, they can make a profit no matter which team and/or player wins.

This calculation is done according to the difference between the real probability and the odds offered by the bookie. They simply add different profit margins to the actual probability rates and determine the odds that will be offered to bettors

Yes, they can. Sometimes they calculate their profit margins a little less, sometimes a team or a player gains too much attention, so their calculations become ineffective. However, this is a very rare situation.

No. Every bookie has a maximum winning limit in sports betting (you can see this in the terms & conditions) and no bookmaker can ban you for winning that much (unless you cheated, of course).

This limit is set in the terms & conditions, and it is different in every bookie. Most of the time, it is 100.000 GBP for some specific bet types. Read the T&C of your bookmaker to see the actual limits.

How Do Bookmakers Work And How To Beat Them!

Bookies have devised principles and strategies that help them make money from customers. If you are a gambling fan and would love to make money with sports betting, our guide on how do bookies make money delves into the tips and strategies employed by the firms and how you can have a winning advantage over the firm.

We also discuss tips on how to place good bets that are a sure way of making real profits from the firm and what you need to. Choose a bookmaker site and start winning today.

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