If you want to get into the sports betting business, you need to turn to a bookmaker. This has been the case in the past and is no different today – but nowadays you can turn to online bookmakers, who take a lot of work off your hands and simplify the process of placing sports bets. What you should know about a bookmaker, what their tasks are and how the bookmaking business is done online nowadays, you can find out here.
Definition of a bookmaker
When you hear the term “bookmaker”, you might not think of modern betting providers that operate on the Internet and provide you with sports betting. However, that is exactly what a bookmaker is in today’s world. The bookmaker is also known as a “bookmaker” (comes from English), although the abbreviated variant “bookie” is also used in some cases.
Once upon a time, the bookmaker lived up to his name because he kept records of his customers’ stakes, betting odds and the corresponding payouts – hence the term “bookmaker”. Even today, a bookmaker is responsible for documentation and also provides a lot of other information for users.
Whether bookmaker, betting provider or betting office (more stationary) – a term denotes the possibility of submitting bets and, with correct tips, earning corresponding profits.
How you can become a bookmaker yourself
If you are interested in the topic of sports betting and also have the necessary know-how, it is still not that easy to become a bookmaker yourself. You need financial resources to get the concessions first of all. If, on the other hand, you do not want to become a sports betting provider yourself, but would like to act as a bookmaker with a well-known company, then the following factors are crucial for you:
- knowledge about different sports
- mathematical skills
- logical thinking
- stress resistance
- communication skills
- usually also willingness to travel and fluent English skills
Depending on the provider and the job description, other factors, experience and references are also required to enter the bookmaking industry at a betting provider.
When is a bookmaker allowed to offer sports betting?
Sports betting is of course not allowed to be offered just like that, whereby there are – as in every industry – also a few black sheep in the sports betting business. Serious and safe bookmakers, on the other hand, really always have a valid and active license that allows them to legally offer sports betting.
Most of the licenses for a bookmaker come from Malta or Gibraltar, partly also from the UK and in some cases also from Germany. Therefore, you must always find transparent and open information about the EU license and regulation of the bookmaker on the corresponding website of the bookmaker.
The procedure with a bookmaker
Once you have decided on a sports betting provider or bookmaker, you register with the provider conveniently online and then load your betting budget. Now you decide on
- a sport
- a league
- a game
- and one or more tips
The tip is recorded in a betting slip and evaluated after the match is over. Now you will find out whether you are right with your guess and whether you will be paid a profit by the bookmaker. If so, the odds now also play a major role, because they say at what odds your bet will be multiplied.
If you have bet 50 Euros on a tip and are correct, the odds were 1.50 for this bet, then you may now multiply your stake (50 Euros) by 1.5 – this results in a total profit of 75 Euros. So not only did you get your 50 Euro bet back in, but you also made an additional 25 Euro pure profit. If the odds had been 2.50 instead of 1.50, you would have received 125 euros instead of 75 – a full 50 euros more. The odds of a bookmaker are therefore absolutely crucial.
Income of a bookmaker
A bookmaker is, of course, also an entrepreneur or a company that has the intention of making a profit. Of course, this does not mean that you will be exempt from a good bookmaker – on the contrary, the bookmaker calculates only the minimum profit in order to be able to present you with the best possible odds and the highest possible payout key.
This payout key is a value that is usually between 90 and 99 percent. Good bookmakers, for example, return 95 to 97 percent of the revenue to the players, so a very high payout key leads to good odds for the players. If the payout key is lower, the bookmaker makes more money for itself, but in the long term sports betting fans are dissatisfied because of the poorer odds – this also affects the success of the company.
How the bookmaking business has changed
After bets were made secretly as early as the Middle Ages, but were rather dubbed “sinful,” the great boom of horse racing followed in the 19th century. With and with sports betting became more suitable for everyday life and established itself even in upscale circles.
One of the oldest providers is Ladbrokes, founded in 1886. It’s no wonder that this provider also comes from England, where the sports betting business – at least in the modern version – got its start.
The bookmakers have also changed a lot in terms of variety. At the beginning, almost only tips on wins or defeats were possible. This was followed by other betting variants, and now some games and providers offer over 60 ways to place a bet on just one event.
Live betting is also one of the modern developments that have allowed the bookmaking business to flourish. Users can place bets in real time, make decisions in the middle of the game and follow the action directly via live stream. Nowadays, the whole thing works not only on desktop computers, but also on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.