While some people make their living entirely from betting, bookies can make much more. So, if you want to become a bookmaker, you must ask yourself this question, how much does a bookie make?
The answer would be much more than what a gambler can make. If you do the right things, including using the best sportsbook software, you can rake in good profits each month.
Unfortunately, we cannot tell you exactly how much you can make. But, we can show you how to make money as a bookie to maximize your profits. Below, we look at ways you can make money and factors influencing how much a bookie make.
Charging Vig
A bookie hopes to take more money than he will need to payout. The bookie uses various strategies to improve the chances of getting more money than payouts. Unfortunately, bookies cannot gamble on making money this way.
Instead, they charge a commission, called the vig, or vigorish and juice. This is a fee a client has to pay for every bet booked by a bookie. It is incorporated in the odds, so bettors are not fast to notice it.
To understand how this works, we need to look at an example. Suppose there is a 50-50 chance for either team to win. A bookie would offer bets such as +100 in Moneyline, 2.00 for decimal odds, and 1/1 for fractional odds.
The bookie would not make any profit here. They need to adjust the odds to incorporate their commissions. The new odds would look like -110 for Moneyline, 10/11 for fractional odds, and 1.9 for decimal odds.
Here, the bookie would make money if an equal amount of money is wagered on both sides. That way, the bookie can use the money from the losing side to pay the winning side and retain the profit.
These odds will look different depending on the chances of winning a team has. For example, some teams are better than others. These teams are considered favorites and underdogs.
Favorite teams have better chances of winning a game over underdogs. The odds should reflect the probability of a team winning. For example, if one team has a 60 percent chance to win, the odds would look like 1.67 for the favorite and 2.50 for the underdog.
The odds will change to 1.59 and 2.38 after factoring in the vig if you work with a 5 percent margin. A target margin is a percentage a bookie earns from each bet. Bookies charge from as low as 3 percent to $20 or more, depending on the sports betting market.
Balancing the Books
Another way to tell how much does a bookie make is by balancing the books. A bookie is supposed to balance books for all bet markets.
So, if you offer bets on different markets concurrently, you need specific teams for individual markets. For example, if soccer and American football games are going on, you would not be able to follow both matches and balance the books.
An imbalanced book could result in losses. Suppose $5000 is wagered on one side and another $5000 is wagered on the other.
While this looks like a good thing, it is not entirely. When you consider the odds, receiving $5000 on each side might not be the answer.
Considering that odds for favorite teams are usually lower and higher for underdogs, you will have to take money from your personal account to pay Underdog bettors when the team wins.
To avoid such cases, you need to balance the books. Using the same odds we used above (1.59 for the favorite and 2.38 for the underdog), you would need $6000 wagered on the favorite and $4000 on the underdog to earn around $500 whether the first or second team won.
In other words, you would receive $10,000 in total. If team A wins, you will pay $9,540, and $9,520 when team B wins.
Bookies balance the books by adjusting odds. They usually use tools like bet tickers to follow the action. If the tool shows bettors are wagering more on one side than the other, they adjust odds to encourage and discourage bets.
For example, if more players are wagering on their favorite team, the bookie can increase the underdog’s odds to encourage more bets. The odds fluctuate until the bookie has a balanced book or the game is over. Sometimes, a bookie can close betting on one side and leave the other side open to encourage more bets on that side.
Novice Bettors
Existing bookies would tell you to target novice bettors if you want to make good profits. While this sounds like a mean thing, it is not. Consider these clients as people who wager for entertainment and not to make money.
Fortunately, most gamblers do it for entertainment reasons. They would not mind making a few dollars once in a while, but that is not their motivation.
Before placing bets, novice bettors rarely look at data, statistics, or news. They log in to their accounts, look at their preferred team and bet on it, hoping for a good outcome.
To make significant profits from novice bettors, you need to have a lot of them. Therefore, enroll new clients every day or plan on how to recruit new novice bettors.
How Much Does a Bookie Make: Influencing Factors
There are several things that determine how much a bookie can make. these include:
Number of Clients
How much does a bookie make with ten clients compared to another with 20 clients? As long as clients from both bookies wager the same amount on average, the second bookie is likely to make more money.
Wagered Amount
Suppose there are two bookies with ten clients each. However, the first bookie’s clients wager an average of $100,000 each week, while clients from the second bookmaker wager $50,000.
If both bookies use the same margin, the first is likely to make more profits. Therefore, it is crucial to encourage clients to wager more money. One way of doing this is rewarding bonuses for clients who wager a specific amount.
The Margin
We already defined what a margin is above. To clarify, go to your favorite bookie and pick an event. Using the same odds we have been using, you will see something like 1.59 and 2.38.
To get the bookie’s margin, take (1/1.59) + (1/ 2.38). The answer is 1.05. Translate this to percentage to get 105 percent. In other words, the margin for this bookie is 5 percent.
The margin can be any percentage from one bookie to another, one match to another, and from one time to another. A bookie can adjust the margin to meet his needs.
The Frequency of Betting
You might have a good margin and many clients that wager a good amount. But, if these clients wager once a week or a month, you cannot make much money. So, if you have good clients, you need to find a way to encourage them to wager more to increase your profits.
How Much Does a Bookie Make With a Pay Per Head Solution?
Did you know that your profits could be much more when you use a pay per head solution? Once you make your profits, you need to subtract operational and other costs.
For example, you need to pay odds compilers, accountants, and other experts. But, when you use a pay per head solution, you do not have to hire odds compilers and other experts.
Instead, your provider will use his oddsmakers and other experts to ensure your bookie operations are smooth. Moreover, they will ensure that you make good profits. All you have to do is pay a specified fee every agreed period.
Power Pay Per Head is the best solution provider. Contact the company and join more than 1,000 bookies successfully making good profits each month.
