Gambling is practically a pastime for New Yorkers. To prove this, the state recorded over two billion dollars wagered in less than two weeks after the commencement of sports betting in New York. So, if you have been thinking about venturing into the market and want to know how to become a legal bookie in New York, you should do it.
Bookies in other states will be desirous of you, considering that you are venturing into the best betting market. As the fourth most populous state in the country, you have a ready market for your services. Below, we teach you how to become a legal bookie in the state to ensure a smooth launch and profitable operations.
How To Become A Legal Bookie In New York
Sharpen Several Skills And Gambling Knowledge
Running a bookie in a big state like New York is complicated. New Yorkers have had access to gambling for years. Therefore, you must provide the best services because New York bettors already know what the bare minimum should look like.
Start by sharpening your skills and learning about the market. Ensure your communication, customer service, and managerial skills are extraordinary. That way, you can clearly communicate with your clients, understand their needs, solve their problems, and manage your bookie.
Apart from that, you need to expand your knowledge about gambling. Immerse yourself in the industry, considering that clients are already exposed to it. Find what the residents want and cannot find in the existing sportsbooks.
Then, consider the things bettors are missing when designing your sportsbook website. Remember to interact with other bookies or experts to have a deeper look at the market.
Get A License Or Choose An Alternative Solution
One way how to become a legal bookie is to get a license from the New York State Gambling Commission. However, that means competing against prominent brands such as Caesars, Wynn, and others.
Considering that these prominent companies have the money to execute big plans that will generate huge profits for the state, you might not stand a chance of winning a license. The alternative is to get a license from offshore jurisdictions such as Costa Rica.
Fortunately, players will still play on your platform if you have better products and services than local bookies. For example, if you have a wide range of betting options and incredible personalized customer services, clients will choose you any day. So, you can use a white label or pay per head solution.
Gather Your Funds
It is normal to be curious about how much you will need to become a bookie. If you have not thought about this question several times now, start now. Fortunately, it will not take long to realize the answer with this guide.
The first thing we will tell you is to start small. Unless you have millions to compete with prominent sportsbooks, start small and walk your way up.
Look at the number of players you want to start with. For example, you could be working with a figure of 20, 50, or 100. The more players you have, the bigger your fund’s reserve should be.
You can get clients wagering $500 and $1,000 and feel overconfident about making profits quickly. However, your clients can start well and make money from you. This would mean spending your savings to pay them.
While clients will lose much more over the long run, you need money to pay winning clients on time. For example, if you have 10-20 clients, you can have a bankroll of $10,000.
A bankroll is not the only fund reserve you need. You also need money to pay for various services. For example, you need money for website development, sportsbook software, promotions (optional), and other needs.
The secret to having enough money is considering the worst scenario and the number of clients you have. For example, if you have between 10 and 20 clients, you need a money reserve of about $12k to maintain your operations for a month and around $70k for six months.
This amount could be more or less depending on the bet limits you have set for players. Generally, ensure you have enough funds to continue your operations for a few months.
Work With Power Pay Per Head
Another step to take on how to become a legal bookie is using pay per head services. This solution has helped bookies who could not get local licenses launch and offer betting services without falling into legal pits.
Working with a pay per head reduces your start-up capital greatly. This is because you do not have to spend a lot of money even before you launch your bookie.
Instead, you start paying for the price per head solutions once clients have wagered. So, you need to choose the best pay per head solution.
Fortunately, we have done the hard part of evaluating over 50 top providers to come up with the #1 ranked site, Power Pay Per Head. This site has operated for 16 years now under the leadership of former and existing bookies and members that have taken gambling-related degrees.
Power Pay Per Head is known as a bookmaking solution provider helping bookies move their income from the bottom to the top. The site has the best sportsbook software and highly unique betting templates you can choose from.
Moreover, if you want the provider to run your bookie, oddsmakers to create odds for your platform, technical support, and other experts. Also, the site offers customer services to bettors and bookie agents.
Choose A Local Market For Your Services
New York is a huge state with over 22 million people. Looking at your cash reserves, you might not be able to offer betting services to the whole state. So, choose a region to focus on.
Residents in Upstate New York can walk to nearby sportsbooks and place their bets. However, residents in Downstate New York are yet to get sports betting services. So, be calculative in choosing the ideal market.
If you choose to venture into Upstate New York, you will be scrambling for clients. But, you can still get around 20-200 clients depending on how good your marketing is.
If you choose the Downstate market, it will be easy choosing clients. Find what your target clients want in a betting platform. Then, package your sportsbook considering these needs to appeal to your market.
Attract Clients
You need clients to build your sports betting business. Unfortunately, you have to compete to get clients in New York because there are other bookies. The good thing is if you have the best product and know how to market your services, attracting and retaining clients is easy.
Yet, that is still not enough. You need to employ several tricks to attract clients.
For example, you can start a referral program, offer welcome bonuses, do affiliate marketing for your brand, purchase a list of bettors, use push notifications, and reward existing clients’ points depending on how much they wager. Choose at least two or three ways to help you find clients. Analyze each method to determine its effectiveness before using it.
For example, you cannot use push notifications unless people know about your brand. Your target might see the alert but fail to recognize your brand and not look it up because they are busy.
But, you can recruit a few clients and reward them for referring other clients to your platform.
How To Become A Legal Bookie: Use Power Pay Per Head Solution
Learning how to become a legal bookie is one thing. Taking action is another. The best way to go about it is to talk to Power Pay Per Head to initiate the process.
You will get a website, sportsbook software, and betting lines. Then, you can ask three friends to sign up and bet. We hope this guide on how to become a legal bookie helped you prepare to be successful.
