How Do I Go About Becoming a Bookie?

Since May of 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court opened the floodgates for legalized sports wagering after kicking decades of prohibition to the curb.  Some states embraced, others did so half-assed, and still others have sat on the sidelines for now.

No matter which state you live in, there is an appetite for local bookmakers whose business relies primarily on friend and family referrals.

The ability to bet on credit and anonymously is something that none of the state regulated sportsbooks offer.  Only a handful of states allow those 18 to 20 years of age to place bets.

States like New Jersey, Illinois and Virginia restrict customers from wagering on in-state schools.

The local bookies and agents can offer it all.

There are 5 essential steps to becoming a bookie.

1) Have the Necessary Skills

So you know how to pick game winners?  Great job.  But that's not what we are talking about here.

• Math Skills: No need to be a math wizard.  The owner of this website, Gambling911.com, never got better than an F in remedial math and carried that onto college where he was tossed out of Business Mathematics. "I'll never have a reason to use math when I get into the job sector?", so he thought.  Sports gambling is all about numbers and probabilities, and you should be able to understand them if you expect to succeed.  At least he got an A in Statistics!!!
• Business Administration: There’s a lot that goes into running your own business. One very important aspect is time management. You need to prioritize tasks that provide added value to your service, and you also need to have some basic accounting skills. This last one has become an easy task for bookie agents thanks to the use of comprehensive betting software that provides great reporting, effectively cutting your work time by 2/3 at least.
• Sales: A critical factor in becoming successful in this industry is acquiring and retaining customers. So, you need to be an excellent salesperson and excel in customer service at the same time.  Keep in mind, there is competition, plenty of it, among bookies.  You won't see billboards advertising their services but do check X, formerly known as Twitter, as they apply their wares.
• Sports Gambling: Yeah, you need to know a little something about sports betting too. 

2) Securing Funding

Banks must secure huge investments to operate; they cannot rely on the money their customers deposit to start operating, and the same goes for sportsbooks.

The question is: How much money do I need to start a sportsbook?

Depends.

If you are going it on your own,  we're talking a cool million to start.

Using a Pay Per Head software solution where the pros handle everything on your behalf?

Not only won't you be needing a million dollars upfront, you're saving crazy money by not having to set up a call center, pay for a server or webmaster.

A good formula to use is: Monthly estimated sports betting handle and multiply that number by the estimated Bookie Loss percentage.

We still recommend you secure ample funding from a bank or other sources, even if you have a bit of a nest egg to work off of.

3) Go With the Best Pay Per Head Service on the Web

AcePerHead offers the top-of-the-line everything: line managers, IT engineers, customer service, service providers, and software platforms, and best of all, their pricing is as low as $3 per head per week (*price based on number of players).

4) Have the Best Technology

The founder of Gambling911.com is no tech guru.  We're thankful he's even able to figure out how to turn his laptop on each morning.  And if you think that's bad, legacy reporter Thomas Somach doesn't even have an online bank account.  Oh my!

Instead there are tech pros working behind the scenes.  Our Lloydminster, Alberta branch maintains the servers.  The tech gang in San Diego works its magic on the backend of the site. 

The face of Ace is Curtis, but for certain he's probably not the guy creating dozens of new online casino titles each year.  AcePerHead offers a live dealer experience, a full service race book, a massive menu of player and game props and so much more.  Experts are brought in to ensure AcePerHead.com customers have access to all the latest and greatest technology in the world of sports betting and bookmaking. 

And guess what?  It's all part of the package.... As low as $3 per head per week.

And now for all the techie stuff, per AcePerHead.com:

• Redundancy - "Every service we require to stay online is redundant. Between our 4 physical locations, we have 9 different Internet Service Providers ensuing our systems are always connected. We have two datacenters and two call centers, each in geographically separated locations, and on separate power grids."
• Readiness - "We have a staff of full time and part time systems engineers and software engineers. This team not only oversees all of our systems 24-hours per day, but they continue to add new features and tools to our software. We are constantly adding new capabilities to our network, which you get at no further cost."
• Backups - "We backup all client data continuously, so even in the unlikely event of a catastrophic system failure, we won’t even miss a beat and all of your information will be safe. In addition to our highly redundant private-cloud infrastructure, we have backup hardware on hand so we can build a working system from scratch if needed."

5) Choose Your Clients Well

There are all kinds of players out there; some will prove to be very profitable, others will be a little less, and others will bankrupt you.

Most will want to stay away from the later ones, but if you know how to use them, you can make a profit off them too. In order to do this, you will need to lay off some action with other sportsbooks, and if your player has a particularly great winning percentage, you may decide to follow him, and instead of just mitigating the blow, you can make a nice profit.

You must understand your players, what makes them happy, what products are they most interested in, which betting markets are the most profitable for you, etc. Knowing this will enable you to make informed decisions as to what direction you should be moving your business, and yes, you guessed it, AcePerHead.com has a bunch of tools to help you do that easily.

Also be careful of customers that have a little bit of baggage, if you know what we mean.

While you probably don't want to require a background check of your new customers, it wouldn't hurt to ask what their current FICO score is.  Something in the 400 to 500 range might be a hard pass. Friends and family members can often assure an individual is good for the money.