Bookmaker’s office: what you need to know before playing
A bookmaker’s office is a gambling establishment which accepts bets. A bookmaker evaluates the probability of a particular outcome of an event and for each of the possible outcomes puts a coefficient, a numerical value by which the bet is multiplied in case of success.
The main focus of most bookmakers – receiving bets on sporting events. The number of sports offered for betting may be up to 30 and include not only the popular soccer, tennis, basketball and hockey, but also something more “exotic” like golf, darts and cricket. Betting on sports is not limited to: some bookmakers offer to guess the outcome of significant events, including the world of politics and culture.
What sports betting offers bookmakers
In order to win in a bookmaker’s office, it is necessary to bet on any of the proposed results, which in the end will turn out to be correct.
Bookmakers offer a variety of event results and a large variety of betting types. For example, in a soccer match you can bet on a victory of a particular team (outcome bets), on the total number of goals in a match or on the number of goals of one team (total bets), on the goal difference (handicap bets). Totals of points, games and goals scored take place in basketball, tennis and hockey respectively.
In addition, the player of a bookmaker’s office can bet on a particular event as before it begins (pre-match), and in the course of the game (live). In the case of live betting, the speed of decision-making is important, because the quotes change much faster depending on the course of the match, the current result and the time until the end of the meeting.
The totality of the events offered with all the outcomes and the odds corresponding to them is called a bookmaker’s line. All possible bets before the start of the game should be looked up in the “line” section of the bookmaker’s website.
What is the bookmaker odds
The bookmaker’s office assigns a odds to each specific outcome in the line, which determines the amount of the supposed winnings.
Note that the payout amount and the profit on the bet are not the same thing. To determine the profit, you need to subtract the size of your bet from the payout – so we get the amount of net profit, which brought the winning bet.
For example, for the Borussia-Schalke match we would give you the following odds: 1.65 – 4.44 – 5.55 (Borussia win, draw and Schalke win respectively). If we bet $100 on Borussia, the potential profit is $65 ($100 x 1.65 – $100 = $65).
A bookmaker’s odds does not only show the potential payout to the player: it also expresses the perceived probability of a particular outcome of an event. The lower the odds assigned to an outcome, the higher the probability, according to the bookmaker, that the outcome has. So, in the above example of Borussia vs Schalke, we see that due to the lower odds Borussia has a better chance of winning. It’s worth understanding that the odds are a bookmaker’s estimate, an opinion that does not always coincide with reality.
Bookmaker odds can be recorded in different formats depending on the country in which the bookmaker’s office operates.
Bookmakers’ bonuses
Often bookmakers operating on the Internet (online bookmakers) encourage their customers with various bonus offers. Most often these are bonuses on the first deposit (welcome bonuses) or bonuses for free bets.
In most cases, getting a cash bonus “in hand” is possible only after placing a certain amount of bets. How does it work?
For example, for a deposit of $10 or more, the bookmaker promises the player a bonus of 100% of the deposit amount, that is, an extra $10 to the account. However, the terms of the promotion require wagering this bonus in the form of, for example, five times the amount deposited. This means that before the bonus money can be withdrawn, at least $50 must be placed on bets.
In the case of a free bet bonus, the BC credits the player’s account with a certain amount of “virtual” money. The only way to use this amount is to place it on bets. Again, it is worth paying attention to the conditions of the promotion: the free bet may have its own requirements! If the free bet wins, the player receives only the net profit from the bet, the free bet amount itself is not converted into real money. As a rule, this profit is immediately available for withdrawal, but sometimes it also requires wagering.