What is a Bookmaker?

Written by :

C Costigan

Published on :

27 February, 2020

If you're looking to start betting regularly or become a bookie, it's important that you have an understanding of who bookmakers are and what they do.

So, what is a bookmaker? We're going to explore that idea and more in this article, giving you a better idea of how to understand the odds and make the most of them should you choose to start making bets.

Let's get started:

What is a Bookmaker?

A bookmaker, or "bookie" is someone who orchestrates the betting in a particular area or event. With no knowledge of the industry, you might think that bookmakers operate with the same odds as the average person, doing everything with true odds.

Making bets in this way is much different than making a bet with a friend on a coin toss, though. The odds of a coin toss are 50/50, meaning that you and your friend both have the same odds of selecting the right side.

Whoever picks the side that lands upwards gets the entirety of the bet. This bet, and bets like it, are fun ways to gamble with individuals who are doing it for enjoyment. You enter into a slightly different set of rules when you work with an online bookie.

How Bookmakers Make Money

When you enter into a casino or sit down at a slot machine, you know that you're probably going to lose a little bit of money. The odds of winning more than you spend are slim, but there is a chance that you'll win a lot more than you spend.

The odds are stacked against you, though, and this is because the casino needs to make money. The same idea applies when you bet through a bookmaker.

Bookmakers adjust the odds slightly to improve their chances of winning. This is an understood piece of the process.

They adjust the odds because their profession requires them to. Let's go back to the example of the coin toss.

With those odds, the bookmaker would have no reasonable expectation of making any money in the long-term. If the odds were even, the bookmaker would simply be gambling just like anyone else.

Their goal, on the other hand, is to make a living. There would be no incentive to become a bookmaker or provide the service with the help of a pay per head software if there was no regular profit involved.

This advantage is referred to as a "vig" or "juice." It's essentially an advantage that's established in the bet to ensure that bookmakers can make a profit over time. There are still opportunities for bettors to make a great deal of money, but you can think of the bookie's advantage as the cost of doing business.