The Art of bookmaking
It’s Friday night and the big game is tomorrow afternoon. You’ve got an inside lead on the point spread and you’ve got a hunch. You know the kind. You feel it in your bones. The planets are in alignment and a win is long overdue. It’s also payday and the rent’s due.
You take your paycheck and head down to the local bar where the bookie is known to hang out. It’s late in the evening and the bar is dark, you sit down at the bar and order a drink, after a few minutes the bartender nods to a booth in the back of the bar where it’s even darker.
As you walk up to the table, you’re greeted by a muscle-bound mean-looking tough guy who nods for you to have a seat in a booth across from a slight, frail looking man in an ill-fitting suit. After a few minutes of small talk, the guy pulls out his notebook, makes some notations and tells you that you’re all set. He reminds you that if you lose, he will expect you back in this same booth no later than 3:00 o’clock on Monday afternoon or he will send the muscle-bound tough guy to your house to collect. And of course, if you win, you can stop by anytime after Wednesday morning to collect or you can simply roll your winnings over to another game in another week. You nod in agreement, make some more small talk and you’re off.
As most things go, the big game ends and your hunch didn’t pay off and now you have to beat a path back to the bar on Monday and pay your debt in order to keep “Guido” from coming to your house. When you get there and settle up, the bookie tells you about another game he’s making book on and invites you to participate. He sweetens the pot with some eyebrow raising odds and even extends a small line of credit to you. Before you know it, your in for another couple hundred bucks and you wave to your newfound friend as you leave. Even the tough guy seems nicer today. The hook is set and the bookie has another client!
All too often, this same scenario or one like it occurs all across the world. It’s not limited to back alley bars. It happens everywhere. Corner grocery stores, work, school, even church. Gambling is an international past time and so is the art of bookmaking.
What is bookmaking and what is a bookie? Bookmaking is a form of gambling where a bookie takes bets on all sorts of events including lesser known “props”. The idea is for the bookie to collect enough winning bets to cover any losing bets. Believe it or not you can learn everything there is to know, everything you need and everything you (want) to know about setting up and running a bookmaking business. Of course, it’s not easy. There are organizational issues, legalities and even management issues that you will need to address, but in the end, it can be rewarding if done right.
Like everything else in life, there is a right way and wrong way to be a bookie. If you follow the example above, I can promise you that eventually you will find yourself on the wrong side of the law. It’s a cost of doing business. Most locales have outlawed illegal gaming and it’s no different with bookmaking. Why? Well the premise is that bookmaking will begat other crime. Historically speaking, this is probably true especially if the bookie depends on old-fashioned methods of running a bookmaking business.
With the advent of technology, bookies are moving into the mainstream. The process is down to a science and tough guys are no longer needed. It’s a service industry now and one that is dominated by large corporations. But this doesn’t mean that you can’t enter the business. The trick is doing it the right way. Next time, we will talk about the bookmaking platform software and how any successful bookie is using this technology to make a decent living.
