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How the FUCK do bookies make money?!? Mind-boggling stats inside

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Posted: Jan. 18, 2015 - 9:38 AM ET #51

Quote Originally Posted by Cubs07:

So what do people do when bookies stall or don't pay?

they find a real book, not one of these wannabee books.

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Posted: Jan. 18, 2015 - 9:41 AM ET #52

Quote Originally Posted by Kaufee:

I would never play with a bookie that told me couldn't take action on a game b/c he was maxed out..that's bush league. And if I noticed he was inflating lines, I would seize betting with him as well.

I wouldn't follow againstdaconsen's advice. he must have some real suckers betting with him

lol @ maxed out on a game!! funny stuff

get a real f'in book

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Posted: Nov. 1, 2015 - 8:17 AM ET #53

Been booking for almost 30 years. In the beginning I used to lay off bets when I would get to heavy on 1 side but it never seemed to work in my favor. after a few years of that I just started holding everything and have never had a losing year since then. I usually have a stable of about 15 - 20 customers. Yeah some go on win streaks but in the long run they almost always give it back. One other thing I learned is to be their friend - no strong arm tactics you will only chase them away. Work with them on payment plans. If you don't have enough money to do that you shouldn't be booking in the first place.

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Posted: Nov. 1, 2015 - 9:08 AM ET #54

Was a bookie for 20 years or so until fairly recently.

Always had a crew of 20+ for football, and 5-10 stready guys for spring and summer.......

I never ever lost. Not even remotely. Sure there were tough patches where the it seemed like the red figure would never go down.....and 6 weeks later business as usual. Collectively.....guys always lost. Big, small, in between, etc. I always took care of my guys like gold too. Fought for them when there was nonsense, but didn't go for any of the "my 4 year brother was on my computer and "he" was the one who hit buttons and lost $3000 playing blackjack on the casino. I remember hearing that and going to the history......that 4 year old had helluva style. Always split 8s. Always doubled down and it was strange how the little guy started playing 10 a hand and he KNEW to bump it up to 100 a hand as he got deeper and deeper in a hole.

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Posted: Dec. 23, 2015 - 9:10 PM ET #55

I used to take bets from 10 -12 guys about 10 years ago and pass them on to my bookie (family member). This family member would allow me to keep any juice involved when they lost. It was a sweet deal! Then he got involved with a girl and long story short, he got out of the business. I ended up taking all the bets myself as I seen how much money he was making and I have been doing well for nearly 5 years. I have acquired more clients and have a couple guys who I give them the juice when his guys lose (my way of paying it forward) ...I haven't had a losing year, but this year I am getting my butt kicked. I have never seen anything like it. Huge favorites covering, overs hitting like crazy. I am currently losing money on the year, but I plan to stay the course and hopefully get back to profit.

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Posted: Dec. 23, 2015 - 11:48 PM ET #56

Quote Originally Posted by eddothebook:

Let me start by saying that I have been gambling since 15 years now. Sports betting, blackjack, Poker, you name it. I eat, sleep, live and breath gambling. Numbers, math and stats are in my blood. I can calculate parlay odds by just looking at the juices and give you the effective weighted average juice per game by looking at the parlay payouts using reverse logarhythmes. Same thing for teasers. But I don't bet teasers. Teasers are a suckers bet like they all say. I mean how often does a game end right within the 7 points range? You might as well parlay your 4 games and take the 12.28 times your bet rather than the 2.5x right?

Now in those 15 years, believe it or not, I am UP sports betting. We all read about how the house always wins and how bookies roll in cash until they get busted by the police.

I on the other hand, had some devastating losing streaks, in fact, had more losing years than winning years. They say you could have profitable week, monthe, years but the house always wins in the long run. I don't know if I was lucky or what but I am up over all by about $60,000. And that includes all the money that I have dumped to the casinos, costs of going to Vegas, etc. So I am up 6-figures betting on sports. All the services the books gave me, all the flights I took to Vegas, all the agonozing beats to end a 5 or 6 team parlay for life changing money and I am still up overall.

Now here is the part where it gets interesting. As a bookie, I am DOWN overall!!! I am not a serious bookie, just a small time bookie, on and off, taking action here and there. Because you know, being on average +110 on every game is a pretty good edge, right? It just boggles my mind how my clients never miss. In fact, you could say that I am an open ATM when it comes to taking action.

Am I doing something wrong? This Sunday my clients went 14-0 against me. That includes straight bets, parlays, teaser, sides, totals. everything. Combine all my betting weeks as a player and I have never lost so much in a day with the exception of laying big after hitting a rare parlay on Saturday. Let's just say, I will never see the money lost this weekend every again.

One of my clients had a 4-game teaser at the 1 o' clock game. They were all pretty much in the bag after the first quarter. Only that 3 of those games were barely covering late in the 4th quarter, while the other team had the ball in each game and needed to convert the following (respectively) for his teaser to miss:

1st and Goal at the 1
3rd and Goal inside the 10
3rd and 1 in FG range

They were all in 4 down territory and I needed at least one in order for my client to miss his teaser. The result was the following (respectively):

Fumble
Interception
Two deep incomplete passes

And to ice the cake, I had taken heavy action on the Giants. Moneyline, teasers, and final leg of a few parlays. We all know how that ended up. One of my guys is now on an 11-0 streak betting on teasers. Another guy is on an 8-0 run that's made up of a 4-team parlay, a 2-team underdog parlay (with the Giants) and another 2-team parlay.

Am I doing something wrong here? Of course, now, Monday morning, each one of my clients want to fully cashout their entire balance without wanting to put a dime on the Monday night game.

My bankroll is devastated. Not to mention that this was also a Sunday where I went 0-5 on my own plays.

Teasers aren't sucker bets. Not the william hill big teaser cards here in vegas which give you 10 pts on each game. This year, I admit they have been, as not as many games have been covering, you have almost a good of chance at hitting a normal parlay.

But the previous years, I cleaned up on teasers. I could lose for the rest of my life and still be ahead. I cashed in 5 weeks in a row on the teaser cards. Payouts ranging from 18 to 1 to 100 to 1.

Then I did hit a losing streak, but even one win will get all that back. It's really not that hard to hit a 20 teamer. Look at some weeks, nearly every single game covers the teaser. just avoid the bad teams and the traps. How is that a sucker bet with those kind of odds? Maybe you just aren't cut out to win with teasers. Not everybody is. In fact for 96% of bettors, ANY bet is a sucker bet, as they lose long term.

But for the 4% that can win, a smaller percentage out of that are able to hit and profit from parlays and teasers consistently. I am one of those people. I've also seen newbies hit teasers just by guessing, so I really think they can be excellent bets.

The books are terrified of people who do parlays, thats why they put a limit on them, because they don't want to pay out a fortune to those who hit.

Last year I hit a 10 teamer, actually went 14-0 that day but because of vegas parlay limit I could only parlay 10 of those teams. most books only allow 8. So, it's a fallacy that parlays are sucker bets. It's a rumor put out by the books to make people think they are no good. But it's funny because most of the public likes to bet parlays, and they still lose...so i don't see the point in the rumor. But it's definitely not fact.

Sorry I get worked up every time I hear someone call a parlay or a teaser a sucker bet, because it's simply not true. That's where the money is at. To make anything with straight bets, it's a long grind, and takes an entire season. It's a marathon. I like fast money. And parlays is where the fast money is at. The downside is, you will have tons of 1 game losses doing parlays, over the years. That hurts.

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Quote Originally Posted by eddothebook:

Let me start by saying that I have been gambling since 15 years now. Sports betting, blackjack, Poker, you name it. I eat, sleep, live and breath gambling. Numbers, math and stats are in my blood. I can calculate parlay odds by just looking at the juices and give you the effective weighted average juice per game by looking at the parlay payouts using reverse logarhythmes. Same thing for teasers. But I don't bet teasers. Teasers are a suckers bet like they all say. I mean how often does a game end right within the 7 points range? You might as well parlay your 4 games and take the 12.28 times your bet rather than the 2.5x right?

Now in those 15 years, believe it or not, I am UP sports betting. We all read about how the house always wins and how bookies roll in cash until they get busted by the police.

I on the other hand, had some devastating losing streaks, in fact, had more losing years than winning years. They say you could have profitable week, monthe, years but the house always wins in the long run. I don't know if I was lucky or what but I am up over all by about $60,000. And that includes all the money that I have dumped to the casinos, costs of going to Vegas, etc. So I am up 6-figures betting on sports. All the services the books gave me, all the flights I took to Vegas, all the agonozing beats to end a 5 or 6 team parlay for life changing money and I am still up overall.

Now here is the part where it gets interesting. As a bookie, I am DOWN overall!!! I am not a serious bookie, just a small time bookie, on and off, taking action here and there. Because you know, being on average +110 on every game is a pretty good edge, right? It just boggles my mind how my clients never miss. In fact, you could say that I am an open ATM when it comes to taking action.

Am I doing something wrong? This Sunday my clients went 14-0 against me. That includes straight bets, parlays, teaser, sides, totals. everything. Combine all my betting weeks as a player and I have never lost so much in a day with the exception of laying big after hitting a rare parlay on Saturday. Let's just say, I will never see the money lost this weekend every again.

One of my clients had a 4-game teaser at the 1 o' clock game. They were all pretty much in the bag after the first quarter. Only that 3 of those games were barely covering late in the 4th quarter, while the other team had the ball in each game and needed to convert the following (respectively) for his teaser to miss:

1st and Goal at the 1
3rd and Goal inside the 10
3rd and 1 in FG range

They were all in 4 down territory and I needed at least one in order for my client to miss his teaser. The result was the following (respectively):

Fumble
Interception
Two deep incomplete passes

And to ice the cake, I had taken heavy action on the Giants. Moneyline, teasers, and final leg of a few parlays. We all know how that ended up. One of my guys is now on an 11-0 streak betting on teasers. Another guy is on an 8-0 run that's made up of a 4-team parlay, a 2-team underdog parlay (with the Giants) and another 2-team parlay.

Am I doing something wrong here? Of course, now, Monday morning, each one of my clients want to fully cashout their entire balance without wanting to put a dime on the Monday night game.

My bankroll is devastated. Not to mention that this was also a Sunday where I went 0-5 on my own plays.

Teasers aren't sucker bets. Not the william hill big teaser cards here in vegas which give you 10 pts on each game. This year, I admit they have been, as not as many games have been covering, you have almost a good of chance at hitting a normal parlay.

But the previous years, I cleaned up on teasers. I could lose for the rest of my life and still be ahead. I cashed in 5 weeks in a row on the teaser cards. Payouts ranging from 18 to 1 to 100 to 1.

Then I did hit a losing streak, but even one win will get all that back. It's really not that hard to hit a 20 teamer. Look at some weeks, nearly every single game covers the teaser. just avoid the bad teams and the traps. How is that a sucker bet with those kind of odds? Maybe you just aren't cut out to win with teasers. Not everybody is. In fact for 96% of bettors, ANY bet is a sucker bet, as they lose long term.

But for the 4% that can win, a smaller percentage out of that are able to hit and profit from parlays and teasers consistently. I am one of those people. I've also seen newbies hit teasers just by guessing, so I really think they can be excellent bets.

The books are terrified of people who do parlays, thats why they put a limit on them, because they don't want to pay out a fortune to those who hit.

Last year I hit a 10 teamer, actually went 14-0 that day but because of vegas parlay limit I could only parlay 10 of those teams. most books only allow 8. So, it's a fallacy that parlays are sucker bets. It's a rumor put out by the books to make people think they are no good. But it's funny because most of the public likes to bet parlays, and they still lose...so i don't see the point in the rumor. But it's definitely not fact.

Sorry I get worked up every time I hear someone call a parlay or a teaser a sucker bet, because it's simply not true. That's where the money is at. To make anything with straight bets, it's a long grind, and takes an entire season. It's a marathon. I like fast money. And parlays is where the fast money is at. The downside is, you will have tons of 1 game losses doing parlays, over the years. That hurts.

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Posted: Dec. 24, 2015 - 12:57 AM ET #57

You have been betting for 15 years...you should know how to pick games and make money

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Posted: Dec. 24, 2015 - 2:39 AM ET #58

Marco was right number of clients is part of the story.

You also need sufficient cash reserves so you can cover bad weeks.

Third, you need a plan, a way of laying off some action if you see you are vulnerable, have a disproportionate number of bets on one side.

Last you need to believe in yourself, your skills, so you can face weeks like wk 15, when 10 favorites covered. Casual players tend to go heavy on the big name teams. Somehow they equate name recognition to strength. They have no idea the lines are inherently skewed to draw roughly an even number of bets on both sides. So last week was a week to grin and bear for lots of sportsbooks.

Sounds to me, reading between the lines you might do better concentrating on the wagering side of the equation. My 2 cents.

BOL 2 all!!! And a very Merry Christmas

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Posted: Dec. 24, 2015 - 7:52 AM ET #59

i don't know what u mean bookies don't win. Like the last 2 weeks when the whole world won in the NFL. I lost my butt off 20k+. My limit per bet is a dime and but i avg bet .5k. I mostly lose big when i have a losing early week start. Lets say I lost 1-2g on monday than i will chase on thursday. If i lose on thursday too than i will bet most of the games on sunday morning trying to break even. How bookies make money is that they don't chase. Chasing lost is the main reason why bookies always turn up a head

. FYI i have local bookie so week starts on monday and ends on sunday. So when sunday night comes around n your down YOu tend to chase big n hard.

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Posted: Dec. 24, 2015 - 11:38 AM ET #60

Quote Originally Posted by USCMD:

Marco was right number of clients is part of the story.

You also need sufficient cash reserves so you can cover bad weeks.

Third, you need a plan, a way of laying off some action if you see you are vulnerable, have a disproportionate number of bets on one side.

Last you need to believe in yourself, your skills, so you can face weeks like wk 15, when 10 favorites covered. Casual players tend to go heavy on the big name teams. Somehow they equate name recognition to strength. They have no idea the lines are inherently skewed to draw roughly an even number of bets on both sides. So last week was a week to grin and bear for lots of sportsbooks.

Sounds to me, reading between the lines you might do better concentrating on the wagering side of the equation. My 2 cents.

BOL 2 all!!! And a very Merry Christmas

Very true

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Posted: Dec. 24, 2015 - 1:12 PM ET #61

When I was 16 I had a bar I would hang out at everyday, The owner was my best friends uncle. I Remember I was down $500 And I placed a 3k wager on the Blue Jays and they cam back to win in the 7th inning. The guy was stalling on payment. I found out he he wasn't sending my bets to the bookie and was hoping I would lose to get all the dough. I won and stopped betting till he paid me. He was unemployed so the bar owner paid me -200 for himself but I got lucky and I think it was funny that he thought he wasn't going to pay me.

The only sure thing about luck is that it will change.

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Posted: Sep. 3, 2017 - 2:07 PM ET #62

If bookies don't make money then why does ever casino in vegas have a nice shinny room with lots of tvs, couches, and free viewing of all sports at any time?

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Posted: Jan. 8, 2018 - 12:24 PM ET #63

do most local bookies book all season (nfl, cfb etc..or do they only book for NFL? How do most books protect their assets? What are the pros and cons of booking all season? If you’re up for the season as a small book (6 figures) would you continue or wait until next season?

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