Bookmakers
If you look up the term bookmaker in the dictionary, you will come across a short but clear description. A bookmaker is “someone with whom you can place bets”. Still, that sounds simpler than it is. Bookmakers (or betting shops, if you prefer) take care of everything so that you can fully concentrate on your betting. It is certainly interesting to know which tasks a bookmaker takes on.
Bookmakers have been around for hundreds of years
The bookmaker phenomenon is not new. Of course, nowadays you no longer have to leave the house to give your prediction for the match. The paper betting forms have simply been replaced by a digital version. You can now also bet on football matches from around the world, with dozens of betting options to choose from. Before the advent of online betting offices, the range was a lot less extensive. So much has changed in that regard in the last few decades. But there have been places where you can bet on sports games for a long time.
What does an online betting office do?
There is a lot of competition among bookmakers. For example, you can bet at 888sport, Betiton, Betway or the well-known Unibet, but the choice does not end there. There are many different sports betting providers, and they all want to attract gamblers and keep them as loyal customer. The result of this eternal competition is clear: bookmakers do everything they can to make it as easy and comfortable as possible for you. This means that online betting offices offer everything on a silver platter as much as possible. All you have to do is submit your bet. The bookmaker will take care of the rest.
The duties of an online bookmaker are pretty long. It starts before gamblers can register at all. Every seasoned football bettor knows that a good and fast betting platform is essential. A slow platform can just cause you to miss out on those high odds on a live bet. And what about the mobile version? Even when you are on the go, you want to be able to place a bet quickly. All the necessary information must also be easy to find. The bookmaker is also responsible for the offer. You want to have a choice of different sports, different matches and different bets. The greater the offer, the more exciting bets there are for every gambler.
Therefore, bookmakers create a straightforward platform, place the bets online, and determine the odds. Nevertheless, we must also not forget the practicalities. They process all your bets, ensure a quick payout, and you can contact customer service if you have any questions. The bookmaker has many tasks. You only have one. That one task is a significant one. After all, a correct prediction yields a profit. A wrong prediction leads to a loss.
Profit for you or profit for the bookmaker?
Bookmakers do everything they can to make things as easy and comfortable as possible for you as a gambler. But don’t forget that gambling companies also just want to make a profit. They do this by processing a profit margin in the odds.
The odds system is over 200 years old. And this system is still sacred. Odds indicate precisely how much profit you can make, but also how much confidence the bookmaker has in a particular outcome. With the help of match statistics and computer data, the betting offices calculate the chance that, for example, Real Madrid will win the next league match. After a thorough analysis, the percentage may reach 70%. In theory, this percentage should yield odds of 1.80. You can calculate this using the following formula:
Odds = 100% / the chance that something will happen
The odds of 1.80 arose from a fair calculation of the odds. Still, there is always a lower number behind the bet. This is because bookmakers still include a profit margin to always have a positive balance in the longer term. How high that profit margin is, differs per bookmaker. It can be 5%, but also 8%. Bookmakers all work with the same kind of statistics and computer models. The fair odds are very close to each other (at least, with most bets). The most significant difference arises from the profit margin. It is up to you to make an intelligent choice from among the bookmakers so that your bets are profitable enough.