Are you passionate about running a betting business? Gambling is a billion-dollar industry with room for anyone who wants to venture into it. If you want to enter the industry as a bookmaker, this guide on how to get a bookie will come in handy.
Becoming a bookie is fun. The business is lucrative and allows you to work whenever you want. It will enable you to become your own boss, earn good money, and take vacations.
Becoming a bookie is a million-dollar opportunity if you want a life-work balance. You will love every step of the journey. But you need the right partners, skills, and knowledge to make a bank and live a comfortable life as a bookie.
We want to equip you with the right elements to serve as a guide to becoming the best bookie. By reading this guide, you will acquire prestigious tips that will make you a recognized successful bookie. Here is what to do to have a successful bookie business.
Tips to Get a Bookie and Run a Successful Business
1. Understand The Market
An educated bookie is a profitable bookmaker. It is crucial to understand what you are getting into. Otherwise, you will barely make a profit.
Imagine offering a service you barely understand yourself. How will you acquire clients or convince them to use your service?
You must understand several things about the market you are venturing into. For instance, the sports betting market was worth over $57 billion in 2021. This is twice its value in 2020.
Knowing this helps you understand that the market is ever-growing. As such, there is massive competition. You will need to go the extra mile, like offering promotions and having an innovative website design to stay ahead of competitors.
Another thing you need to understand is the potential income. While the industry is worth billions, you might not make a significant income. Why?
If you are doing everything wrong or your efforts are limited, you will make little income. However, when you use the right tools, partner with experts, and put in the work, you will make thousands of dollars monthly. So, learn what you can do to ensure good profits.
Learn how bookies operate and make money. Ideally, the bookie’s responsibility is to identify events clients can wager on, create odds, receive wagers, and pay winners. Learning how to perform the responsibilities of a bookie can distinguish you from other bookmakers.
Bookies make money from bettors` lost wagers or by charging vigorish. Ensure you know how to charge vigorish and incorporate it in odds.
2. Have A Meticulous Plan
There are some things you do not need the plan to execute. Running a bookie is not one of them. You must remember a bookie is a business at the core.
Like other businesses, you need a detailed plan for your bookie business. Here are some tips to help you create an actionable plan.
- Create a budget considering the cost of website design and sportsbook software, marketing, and bankroll.
- Do you need to hire someone to manage your bookie?
- Create a short-term mission statement guiding you on how to impact your clients.
Write down the objectives you want to achieve in 1-4 months. - Create long-term objects and illustrate how short-term objects will help achieve the former. Identify your target clients, market expansion, number of clients to acquire, which sports betting markets to offer, and other similar details.
- Creating a plan helps start your business on the right path. You will have straightforward guiding tips to ensure your business is booming.
Remember to change your plan as your business grows. You will have different objectives and goals from when you started the business, hence the need to adapt your plan to changes.
3. Understand The Legality Of Your Business
Every country has laws regarding operating sportsbooks and online casinos. Since you do not want to break any laws, consult a local attorney.
Find out what you need to operate a legal bookie. Understand the laws and repercussions for breaking them. Find out whether you can host your bookie overseas if you are still waiting for a local license.
4. Decide How You Want To Set Up Your Business
The other step in how to get a bookie is to decide how you want to set up your business. Do you want to build a bookie business from the ground up or join an established bookmaker? Would you like to set up a physical shop or an online bookie?
Each business setup has unique requirements. For example, if you want to set up a physical shop in your neighborhood, you must acquire a license and other permits.
Gambling must be legal in the state you want to set up a physical betting shop. Otherwise, you will play cat and mouse with law enforcement officers.
Another way to set up a bookie business is by partnering with an established seasonal bookie. A seasonal bookie operates during specific seasons. For example, they can offer betting services during the American football season and halt until the NCAA basketball tournament.
You can partner with such a bookie to offer other betting markets like baseball, tennis, and soccer. The bookie will provide you with a betting template, rights to use the license, and clients. Meanwhile, you will split the profits 50-50 or use a rate you both agree on.
You can also set up an online bookie from scratch. Start by getting the proper license, developing a website, or partnering with a pay per head service provider.
The first and second ways of setting up bookies have limitations. For instance, you need a lot of money to get a license to set up a betting shop in your state. Partnering with another bookie does not make you the business’s sole owner; you have to share your profits.
This leaves you with one other option; setting up an online pay per head bookmaker. You will become the business’s sole owner, keep all your profits, and need a small capital to launch your business.
5. Secure Your Startup Capital And Operational Costs
Most people ask how much they would need, and how to get a bookie. This is a valid question. Unfortunately, there is no one answer or figure that accurately tells you how much you need to start a bookie.
Several things can guide you through creating a good budget. This amount should cover the software costs, utilities, salaries, and payouts.
The software cost is determined by the type of software you purchase. You can buy a one-time software for a huge amount of money or use pay per head service. The latter allows you to pay a small weekly fee if bettors place their bets.
Considering that one of your responsibilities as a bookie is to pay out winnings, you need a bankroll. The size depends on the number of clients you are offering services to.
If you know how to balance the books, you can use the money some bettors lost to pay winning clients. However, this only sometimes works in your favor. You need a money reserve from which you can get funds to pay winning clients on time.
Ideally, ensure you have at least $10,000 in your reserve to cover your risks. Then, have enough money to pay the weekly pay per head fee, utility bills, and employees, if any.
6. Get A Website For Your Bookie Business
Earlier, we mentioned that an online pay per head bookie is better. This means you need a website.
You need an aesthetically appealing website. The site should be easy to use and have the necessary features.
You need several tools to help you run your bookie. Meanwhile, your clients will look for several features to decide whether to wager with you. Therefore, make a list of what you want your website to look like.
Visit other top websites from competitors to get an idea of what clients want. Here are some tips to guide you:
- Login/registration panel
- A payment system
- Logo and brand name
- Layout
- Menu
- Different pages, including the contact page, terms, and conditions, privacy, responsibility gambling, bonus terms
- A betting events calendar
- Search tab
- Multilingual interface
- Bet slip
- A login panel for admins
- Management tools
If you decide to pay a one-time fee to get a customized website, ensure your developer adds all the above features. Alternatively, you can get a betting template from a pay per head shop.
The quality of the website is similar to a top sportsbook website. They have the features a bookie and bettor needs. The best part is that you will only spend a little capital on a website that is yet to make you some money.
Instead, you will start paying for the website and other services when bettors place their bets. Notably, the pay per head service provider is responsible for upgrading and maintaining the website. Therefore, you do not need to hire a technical team.
7. Decide Whether To Offer Your Service On Credit Or On Post Pay Basis
Some bookies make it in the industry by offering betting services on credit. This is where clients can wager for a specified amount of time without sending wagers to the bookie. At the end of that period, the bookie calculates how much the client wagered, won, or lost.
Losing bettors pay up the difference. If the client wins, the bookies pay the difference. Today, offering bookmaking services on credit is not advisable. However, if you must, consider the following tips:
- Do you know the clients?
- Can the client pay up debts?
- Does the client have a good history of paying their debt?
- What strategy will you use to give and collect a debt?
If you are getting random clients from the internet, you might not have a way to verify who your client is. However, you might consider giving credit if you work with clients such as college mates or a frats group.
Alternatively, go the post-pay way. Here, you can receive players’ wagers before they place their bets. Other sportsbooks use this system too.
It helps keep the process looking professional. You must also pay out winnings immediately if you offer post-pay betting services.
8. Find A Pay Per Head Bookie Software
You can easily find the best pay per head bookie software on Reddit. However, you need more than that to convince you to use the how to get a bookie software. You must confirm the bookie software is ideal for your business needs.
So, list down your business needs. Find out what your clients want and consider your preferences too.
Whether you are a new bookie or want to change your pay per head service provider, you must evaluate the quality of service provided. Otherwise, you will end up with bookie software that only fulfills your needs.
We do not want you to waste the time that you would otherwise use to earn more money. So, here are factors to consider to choosing the best pay per head bookie software.
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Provider’s Reputation
Your bookie assumes the reputation of the pay per head service provider. Partnering with a questionable service provider makes clients associate you with questionable characters.
Your bookie’s survival depends on a good reputation. Therefore, partner with a company whose system is available 24/7. The company should offer great odds and betting lines and be professional.
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Quality Of Betting Lines
Sustaining client engagement largely hinges on offering high-quality betting lines. It’s crucial to assess the quality of the betting lines your provider offers in comparison to those offered by leading sportsbooks.
Ideally, you should prioritize delivering betting lines that are on par with those found in renowned Las Vegas sportsbooks. This ensures that your clients receive top-notch odds and betting options, which can significantly enhance their overall experience.
Moreover, it’s important to verify whether the quality of the betting lines remains consistent over time. Consistency in the odds and lines you provide is essential for building trust and credibility with your clients. It assures them that they can consistently rely on your sportsbook for fair and competitive betting opportunities.
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Management Tools
Bookie management encompasses a range of responsibilities, including setting betting limits, monitoring betting activity, financial management, and continuous improvement of your services. As a bookie, you need to have the necessary tools and resources to effectively carry out these managerial tasks.
It’s essential to thoroughly examine what your service provider offers in terms of management tools and features. Testing these tools and verifying their functionality and value is crucial.
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Technical Support
When acquiring a website and bookie software from an external provider, it’s crucial to determine the party responsible for technical support. Will you be handling platform upgrades independently, or is this the responsibility of the service provider?
Typically, it is expected that the service provider should provide technical support, given that they own the platform. Moreover, the company should also handle regular software updates and website maintenance at no additional cost. This ensures the smooth and efficient operation of your bookie business.
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Reporting Feature
Utilizing a reporting feature is essential for gaining insights into your business’s performance. It enables you to analyze various aspects, including player betting trends, wagering volumes, financial inflows and outflows, and more.
By delving into different reports, you can effectively gauge the trajectory of your business. For example, if you uncover potential profit losses, you have the opportunity to implement strategic adjustments to address these issues and enhance your business’s overall performance.
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Cost
Finally, consider the pricing of the bookie software. With the growing number of pay-per-head software providers entering the industry, the cost of services has seen a significant reduction.
While the quality of the software can vary, it’s not necessary to allocate all your profits towards covering pay-per-head expenses. Take the time to assess the features and the overall value of the service in relation to its cost.
By applying these guidelines, you’ll be well-equipped to select the most suitable and cost-effective pay-per-head bookie service. To get started, locate the contact details of the company and initiate the sign-up process. The platform will then set up your pay-per-head bookie website, ready for your launch when you’re prepared.
9. Market Your Bookie And Create Player Accounts
Advertising your bookie is a must. Remember, people are familiar with dominating sportsbooks in their states. You must advertise your business if you want to pull their eyes toward you.
Otherwise, no one will know you are offering betting services. So, if you still need to get a marketing fee, get one now.
You might not have a big budget to hire influencers or invest in complex marketing tools. But you can create social media accounts for your bookie. Share your platform with friends and ask your friends to share it with other friends.
Soon you will have a significant following. Potential clients will message you to create a player account.
You can offer bonuses if your budget allows. Alternatively, find something unique to appeal to your clients because other sportsbooks are using bonuses to entice clients to join their platforms.
10. Launch Your Bookie
The process of how to get a bookie leads you to this point; launching your bookie. Now that you have found a bookie, chosen a betting template, partnered with a pay per head service provider, and enrolled clients, you can launch your bookie.
Ensure the payment system and other settings are in place before allowing clients to bet. Notify your clients to bet. Ensure all betting markets are available to wager on.
Do you want a pay per head soccer platform? The process is the same whether you want to launch a platform to offer soccer bets or other betting markets. It might look lengthy, but it is not.
You can even launch your site in under ten minutes. You only need to contact Power Pay Per Head, and an agent will direct you on how to get a bookie website. The site offers quality pay per head services whose results will show in your profits.
