1. What Is A Bookmaker Called
2. What Is A Bookmaker

What Is A Bookmaker? Under normal circumstances the bookmaker is the only part in a bet that definitely comes out as a winner. In order for the bookmakers to keep doing business they need to make bets that allow them to make money each time they offer a bet. Therefore, bookmakers don't set the odds just based on probabilities. BookMaker has a reputation for offering the widest selection of sports betting. You'll always find what you are looking for - from props to half time lines, quarter lines, and in-play betting - BookMaker is where the smart money comes to bet. In gambling parlance, making a book is the practice of laying bets on the various possible outcomes of a single event. The term originates from the practice of recording such wagers in a hard-bound ledger (the 'book') and gives the English language the term bookmaker for the person laying the bets and thus 'making the book'. Bookmaker is built on a number of open-source technologies and tools. Bookmaker is not self-contained software like Adobe InDesign or Calibre-it is a compilation of processes and tools, organized into a functional stack. In order to run Bookmaker, you'll need the following things. 3.1 As part of offering its services, BookMaker stores data on all customers including your personal information, financial details and wagering history. Information stored by BookMaker is held completely confidential and will never under any circumstance be shared with outside parties.

In gambling parlance, making a book is the practice of laying bets on the various possible outcomes of a single event. The term originates from the practice of recording such wagers in a hard-bound ledger (the 'book') and gives the English language the term bookmaker for the person laying the bets and thus 'making the book'.^[1][2]

Making a 'book' (and the notion of overround)[edit]

A bookmaker strives to accept bets on the outcome of an event in the right proportions in order to make a profit regardless of which outcome prevails. See Dutch book and coherence (philosophical gambling strategy). This is achieved primarily by adjusting what are determined to be the true odds of the various outcomes of an event in a downward fashion (i.e. the bookmaker will pay out using his actual odds, an amount which is less than the true odds would have paid, thus ensuring a profit).^[3]

The odds quoted for a particular event may be fixed but are more likely to fluctuate in order to take account of the size of wagers placed by the bettors in the run-up to the actual event (e.g. a horse race). This article explains the mathematics of making a book in the (simpler) case of the former event. For the second method, see Parimutuel betting.

It is important to understand the relationship between fractional and decimal odds. Fractional odds are those written a-b (a/b or a to b) mean a winning bettor will receive their money back plus a units for every b units they bet. Multiplying both a and b by the same number gives odds equivalent to a-b. Decimal odds are a single value, greater than 1, representing the amount to be paid out for each unit bet. For example, a bet of £40 at 6-4 (fractional odds) will pay out £40 + £60 = £100. The equivalent decimal odds are 2.5; £40 x 2.5 = £100. We can convert fractional to decimal odds by the formula D=​^b+a⁄_b. Hence, fractional odds of a-1 (ie. b=1) can be obtained from decimal odds by a=D-1.

It is also important to understand the relationship between odds and implied probabilities:Fractional odds of a-b (with corresponding decimal odds D) represent an implied probability of ​^b⁄_a+b=​¹⁄_D, e.g. 6-4 corresponds to ​⁴⁄₆₊₄ = ​⁴⁄₁₀ = 0.4 (40%).An implied probability of x is represented by fractional odds of (1-x)/x, e.g. 0.2 is (1-0.2)/0.2 = 0.8/0.2 = 4/1 (4-1, 4 to 1) (equivalently, ​¹⁄_x - 1 to 1), and decimal odds of D=​¹⁄_x.

Example[edit]

In considering a football match (the event) that can be either a 'home win', 'draw' or 'away win' (the outcomes) then the following odds might be encountered to represent the true chance of each of the three outcomes:

Home: Evens

Draw: 2-1

Away: 5-1

These odds can be represented as implied probabilities (or percentages by multiplying by 100) as follows:

Evens (or 1-1) corresponds to an implied probability of ​¹⁄₂ (50%)

2-1 corresponds to an implied probability of ​¹⁄₃ (33​¹⁄₃%)

5-1 corresponds to an implied probability of ​¹⁄₆ (16​²⁄₃%)

By adding the percentages together a total 'book' of 100% is achieved (representing a fair book). The bookmaker, in his wish to avail himself of a profit, will invariably reduce these odds. Consider the simplest model of reducing, which uses a proportional decreasing of odds. For the above example, the following odds are in the same proportion with regard to their implied probabilities (3:2:1):

Home: 4-6

Draw: 6-4

Away: 4-1

4-6 corresponds to an implied probability of ​³⁄₅ (60%)

6-4 corresponds to an implied probability of ​²⁄₅ (40%)

4-1 corresponds to an implied probability of ​¹⁄₅ (20%)

By adding these percentages together a 'book' of 120% is achieved.

The amount by which the actual 'book' exceeds 100% is known as the 'overround',^[4][5] 'bookmaker margin' ^[3] or the 'vigorish' or 'vig':^[3] it represents the bookmaker's expected profit.^[3] Thus, in an 'ideal' situation, if the bookmaker accepts £120 in bets at his own quoted odds in the correct proportion, he will pay out only £100 (including returned stakes) no matter what the actual outcome of the football match.Examining how he potentially achieves this:

A stake of £60.00 @ 4-6 returns £100.00 (exactly) for a home win.

A stake of £40.00 @ 6-4 returns £100.00 (exactly) for a drawn match

A stake of £20.00 @ 4-1 returns £100.00 (exactly) for an away win

Total stakes received — £120.00 and a maximum payout of £100.00 irrespective of the result. This £20.00 profit represents a 16​²⁄₃ % profit on turnover (20.00/120.00).

In reality, bookmakers use models of reducing that are more complicated than the model of the 'ideal' situation.

Bookmaker margin in English football leagues[edit]

Bookmaker margin in English football leagues decreased in recent years.^[6] The study of six large bookmakers between 2005/06 season and 2017/2018 season showed that average margin in Premier League decreased from 9% to 4%, in English Football League Championship, English Football League One, and English Football League Two from 11% to 6%, and in National League from 11% to 8%.

Overround on multiple bets[edit]

When a punter (bettor) combines more than one selection in, for example, a double, treble or accumulator then the effect of the overround in the book of each selection is compounded to the detriment of the punter in terms of the financial return compared to the true odds of all of the selections winning and thus resulting in a successful bet.

To explain the concept in the most basic of situations an example consisting of a double made up of selecting the winner from each of two tennis matches will be looked at:

In Match 1 between players A and B both players are assessed to have an equal chance of winning. The situation is the same in Match 2 between players C and D. In a fair book in each of their matches, i.e. each has a book of 100%, all players would be offered at odds of Evens (1-1). However, a bookmaker would probably offer odds of 5-6 (for example) on each of the two possible outcomes in each event (each tennis match). This results in a book for each of the tennis matches of 109.09...%, calculated by 100 × (​⁶⁄₁₁ + ​⁶⁄₁₁) i.e. 9.09% overround.

There are four possible outcomes from combining the results from both matches: the winning pair of players could be AC, AD, BC or BD. As each of the outcomes for this example has been deliberately chosen to ensure that they are equally likely it can be deduced that the probability of each outcome occurring is ​¹⁄₄ or 0.25 and that the fractional odds against each one occurring is 3-1. A bet of 100 units (for simplicity) on any of the four combinations would produce a return of 100 × (3/1 + 1) = 400 units if successful, reflecting decimal odds of 4.0.

The decimal odds of a multiple bet is often calculated by multiplying the decimal odds of the individual bets, the idea being that if the events are independent then the implied probability should be the product of the implied probabilities of the individual bets. In the above case with fractional odds of 5-6, the decimal odds are ​¹¹⁄₆. So the decimal odds of the double bet is ​¹¹⁄₆×​¹¹⁄₆=1.833...×1.833...=3.3611..., or fractional odds of 2.3611-1. This represents an implied probability of 29.752% (1/3.3611) and multiplying by 4 (for each of the four equally likely combinations of outcomes) gives a total book of 119.01%. Thus the overround has slightly more than doubled by combining two single bets into a double.

In general, the combined overround on a double (O_D), expressed as a percentage, is calculated from the individual books B₁ and B₂, expressed as decimals, by O_D = B₁ × B₂ × 100 − 100.In the example we have O_D = 1.0909 × 1.0909 × 100 − 100 = 19.01%.

This massive increase in potential profit for the bookmaker (19% instead of 9% on an event; in this case the double) is the main reason why bookmakers pay bonuses for the successful selection of winners in multiple bets: compare offering a 25% bonus on the correct choice of four winners from four selections in a Yankee, for example, when the potential overround on a simple fourfold of races with individual books of 120% is over 107% (a book of 207%). This is why bookmakers offer bets such as Lucky 15, Lucky 31 and Lucky 63; offering double the odds for one winner and increasing percentage bonuses for two, three and more winners.

In general, for any accumulator bet from two to i selections, the combined percentage overround of books of B₁, B₂, ..., B_i given in terms of decimals, is calculated by B₁ × B₂ × ... × B_i × 100 − 100. E.g. the previously mentioned fourfold consisting of individual books of 120% (1.20) gives an overround of 1.20 × 1.20 × 1.20 × 1.20 × 100 − 100 = 107.36%.

Settling winning bets[edit]

In settling winning bets either decimal odds are used or one is added to the fractional odds: this is to include the stake in the return. The place part of each-way bets is calculated separately from the win part; the method is identical but the odds are reduced by whatever the place factor is for the particular event (see Accumulator below for detailed example). All bets are taken as 'win' bets unless 'each-way' is specifically stated. All show use of fractional odds: replace (fractional odds + 1) by decimal odds if decimal odds known. Non-runners are treated as winners with fractional odds of zero (decimal odds of 1). Fractions of pence in total winnings are invariably rounded down by bookmakers to the nearest penny below. Calculations below for multiple-bet wagers result in totals being shown for the separate categories (e.g. doubles, trebles etc.), and therefore overall returns may not be exactly the same as the amount received from using the computer software available to bookmakers to calculate total winnings.^[7][8]

Singles[edit]

Win single

E.g. £100 single at 9-2; total staked = £100

Returns = £100 × (9/2 + 1) = £100 × 5.5 = £550

Each-way single

E.g. £100 each-way single at 11-4 ( ​¹⁄₅ odds a place); total staked = £200

Returns (win) = £100 × (11/4 + 1) = £100 × 3.75 = £375

Returns (place) = £100 × (11/20 + 1) = £100 × 1.55 = £155

Total returns if selection wins = £530; if only placed = £155

Multiple bets[edit]

Each-Way multiple bets are usually settled using a default 'Win to Win, Place to Place' method, meaning that the bet consists of a win accumulator and a separate place accumulator (Note: a double or treble is an accumulator with 2 or 3 selections respectively). However, a more uncommon way of settling these type of bets is 'Each-Way all Each-Way' (known as 'Equally Divided', which must normally be requested as such on the betting slip) in which the returns from one selection in the accumulator are split to form an equal-stake each-way bet on the next selection and so on until all selections have been used.^[9][10] The first example below shows the two different approaches to settling these types of bets.

Double^[11][12]

E.g. £100 each-way double with winners at 2-1 ( ​¹⁄₅ odds a place) and 5-4 ( ​¹⁄₄ odds a place); total staked = £200

Note: 'Win to Win, Place to Place' will always provide a greater return if all selections win, whereas 'Each-Way all Each-Way' provides greater compensation if one selection is a loser as each of the other winners provide a greater amount of place money for subsequent selections.

Treble^[11][12]

E.g. £100 treble with winners at 3-1, 4-6 and 11-4; total staked = £100

Returns = £100 × (3/1 + 1) × (4/6 + 1) × (11/4 + 1) = £2500

Accumulator^[11][12]

E.g. £100 each-way fivefold accumulator with winners at Evens ( ​¹⁄₄ odds a place), 11-8 ( ​¹⁄₅ odds), 5-4 ( ​¹⁄₄ odds), 1-2 (all up to win) and 3-1 ( ​¹⁄₅ odds); total staked = £200

Note: 'All up to win' means there are insufficient participants in the event for place odds to be given (e.g. 4 or fewer runners in a horse race). The only 'place' therefore is first place, for which the win odds are given.

Returns (win fivefold) = £100 × (1/1 + 1) × (11/8 + 1) × (5/4 + 1) × (1/2 + 1) × (3/1 + 1) = £6412.50

Returns (place fivefold) = £100 × (1/4 + 1) × (11/40 + 1) × (5/16 + 1) × (1/2 + 1) × (3/5 + 1) = £502.03

Total returns = £6914.53

Full-cover bets[edit]

Trixie

Yankee

Trixie, Yankee, Canadian, Heinz, Super Heinz and Goliath form a family of bets known as full cover bets which have all possible multiples present. Examples of winning Trixie and Yankee bets have been shown above. The other named bets are calculated in a similar way by looking at all the possible combinations of selections in their multiples. Note: A Double may be thought of as a full cover bet with only two selections.

Should a selection in one of these bets not win, then the remaining winners are treated as being a wholly successful bet on the next 'family member' down. For example, only two winners out of three in a Trixie means the bet is settled as a double; only four winners out of five in a Canadian means it is settled as a Yankee; only five winners out of eight in a Goliath means it is settled as a Canadian. The place part of each-way bets is calculated separately using reduced place odds. Thus, an each-way Super Heinz on seven horses with three winners and a further two placed horses is settled as a win Trixie and a place Canadian. Virtually all bookmakers use computer software for ease, speed and accuracy of calculation for the settling of multiples bets.

Full cover bets with singles[edit]

Patent

Patent, Lucky 15, Lucky 31, Lucky 63 and higher Lucky bets form a family of bets known as full cover bets with singles which have all possible multiples present together with single bets on all selections. An examples of a winning Patent bet has been shown above. The other named bets are calculated in a similar way by looking at all the possible combinations of selections in their multiples and singles.

Should a selection in one of these bets not win, then the remaining winners are treated as being a wholly successful bet on the next 'family member' down. For example, only two winners out of three in a Patent means the bet is settled as a double and two singles; only three winners out of four in a Lucky 15 means it is settled as a Patent; only four winners out of six in a Lucky 63 means it is settled as a Lucky 15. The place part of each-way bets is calculated separately using reduced place odds. Thus, an each-way Lucky 63 on six horses with three winners and a further two placed horses is settled as a win Patent and a place Lucky 31.

Algebraic interpretation[edit]

Returns on any bet may be considered to be calculated as 'stake unit' × 'odds multiplier'. The overall 'odds multiplier' is a combined decimal odds value and is the result of all the individual bets that make up a full cover bet, including singles if needed. E.g. if a successful £10 Yankee returned £461.35 then the overall 'odds multiplier' (OM) is 46.135.

If a, b, c, d... represent the decimal odds, i.e. (fractional odds + 1), then an OM can be calculated algebraically by multiplying the expressions (a + 1), (b + 1), (c + 1)... etc. together in the required manner and subtracting 1. If required, (decimal odds + 1) may be replaced by (fractional odds + 2).^[13][14]

Examples[edit]

3 selections with decimal odds a, b and c.Expanding (a + 1)(b + 1)(c + 1) algebraically gives abc + ab + ac + bc + a + b + c + 1. This is equivalent to the OM for a Patent (treble: abc; doubles: ab, ac and bc; singles: a, b and c) plus 1.Therefore to calculate the returns for a winning Patent it is just a case of multiplying (a + 1), (b + 1) and (c + 1) together and subtracting 1 to get the OM for the winning bet, i.e. OM = (a + 1)(b + 1)(c + 1) − 1. Now multiply by the unit stake to get the total return on the bet.^[15][16]

E.g. The winning Patent described earlier can be more quickly and simply evaluated by the following:

Total returns = £2 × [(4/6 + 2) × (2/1 + 2) × (11/4 + 2) − 1] = £99.33

Ignoring any bonuses, a 50 pence each-way Lucky 63 (total stake £63) with 4 winners [2-1, 5-2, 7-2 (all ​¹⁄₅ odds a place) and 6-4 (​¹⁄₄ odds a place)] and a further placed horse [9-2 (​¹⁄₅ odds a place)] can be relatively easily calculated as follows:

Returns (win part) = 0.50 × [(2/1 + 2) × (5/2 + 2) × (7/2 + 2) × (6/4 + 2) − 1] = £172.75

or more simply as 0.50 × (4 × 4.5 × 5.5 × 3.5 − 1)

Returns (place part) = 0.50 × [(2/5 + 2) × (5/10 + 2) × (7/10 + 2) × (6/16 + 2) × (9/10 + 2) − 1] = £11.79

or more simply as 0.50 × (2.4 × 2.5 × 2.7 × 2.375 × 2.9 − 1)

What Is A Bookmaker Called

Total returns = £184.54

For the family of full cover bets that do not include singles an adjustment to the calculation is made to leave just the doubles, trebles and accumulators. Thus, a previously described winning £10 Yankee with winners at 1-3, 5-2, 6-4 and Evens has returns calculated by:

£10 × [(1/3 + 2) × (5/2 + 2) × (6/4 + 2) × (1/1 + 2) − 1 − [(1/3 + 1) + (5/2 + 1) + (6/4 + 1) + (1/1 + 1)]] = £999.16

In effect, the bet has been calculated as a Lucky 15 minus the singles. Note that the total returns value of £999.16 is a penny higher than the previously calculated value as this quicker method only involves rounding the final answer, and not rounding at each individual step.

In algebraic terms the OM for the Yankee bet is given by:

OM = (a + 1)(b + 1)(c + 1)(d + 1) − 1 − (a + b + c + d)

In the days before software became available for use by bookmakers and those settling bets in Licensed Betting Offices (LBOs) this method was virtually de rigueur for saving time and avoiding the multiple repetitious calculations necessary in settling bets of the full cover type.

Settling other types of winning bets[edit]

Up and down

Round Robin

A Round Robin with 3 winners is calculated as a Trixie plus three Up and Down bets with 2 winners in each.

A Round Robin with 2 winners is calculated as a double plus one Up and Down bet with 2 winners plus two Up and Down bets with 1 winner in each.

A Round Robin with 1 winner is calculated as two Up and Down bets with one winner in each.

Flag and Super Flag bets may be calculated in a similar manner as above using the appropriate full cover bet (if sufficient winners) together with the required number of 2 winner- and 1 winner Up and Down bets.

Note: Expert bet settlers before the introduction of bet-settling software would have invariably used an algebraic-type method together with a simple calculator to determine the return on a bet (see below).

Algebraic interpretation[edit]

If a, b, c, d... represent the decimal odds, i.e. (fractional odds + 1), then an 'odds multiplier' OM can be calculated algebraically by multiplying the expressions (a + 1), (b + 1), (c + 1)... etc. together in the required manner and adding or subtracting additional components. If required, (decimal odds + 1) may be replaced by (fractional odds + 2).^[13][14]

What Is A Bookmaker

Examples[edit]

• OM (2 winners) = (2a − 1) + (2b − 1) = 2(a + b − 1)
• OM (1 winner) = a − 1

• OM (3 winners) = (a + 1) × (b + 1) × (c + 1) − 1 − (a + b + c) + 2 × [(a + b − 1) + (a + c − 1) + (b + c − 1)] = (a + 1)(b + 1)(c + 1) + 3(a + b + c) − 7
• OM (2 winners) = (a + 1) × (b + 1) − 1 − (a + b) + 2 × (a + b − 1) + (a − 1) + (b − 1) = (a + 1)(b + 1) + 2(a + b) − 5
  or more simply as OM = ab + 3(a + b) − 4
• OM (1 winner) = 2 × (a − 1) = 2(a − 1)

• OM (4 winners) = (a + 1) × (b + 1) × (c + 1) × (d + 1) − 1 − (a + b + c + d) + 2 × [(a + b − 1) + (a + c − 1) + (a + d − 1) + (b + c − 1) + (b + d − 1) + (c + d − 1)]
  = (a + 1)(b + 1)(c + 1)(d + 1) + 5(a + b + c + d) − 13
• OM (3 winners) = (a + 1) × (b + 1) × (c + 1) − 1 − (a + b + c) + 2 × [(a + b − 1) + (a + c − 1) + (b + c − 1)] + (a − 1) + (b − 1) + (c − 1) = (a + 1)(b + 1)(c + 1) + 4(a + b + c) − 10
• OM (2 winners) = (a + 1) × (b + 1) − 1 − (a + b) + 2 × (a + b − 1) + 2 × [(a − 1) + (b − 1)] = (a + 1)(b + 1) + 3(a + b) − 7
  or more simply as OM = ab + 4(a + b) − 6
• OM (1 winner) = 3 × (a − 1) = 3(a − 1)

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

1. ^Sidney 1976, p.6
2. ^Sidney 2003, p.13,36
3. ^ ^abcdCortis, Dominic (2015). Expected Values and variance in bookmaker payouts: A Theoretical Approach towards setting limits on odds. Journal of Prediction Markets. 1. 9.
4. ^Sidney 1976, p.96-104
5. ^Sidney 2003, p.126-130
6. ^Marek, Patrice (September 2018). 'Bookmakers' Efficiency in English Football Leagues'. Mathematical Methods in Economis - Conference Proceedings: 330–335.
7. ^Sidney 1976, p.138-147
8. ^Sidney 2003, p.163-177
9. ^Sidney 1976, p.155-156
10. ^Sidney 2003, p.170-171
11. ^ ^abcSidney 1976, p.153-168
12. ^ ^abcSidney 2003, p.169-177
13. ^ ^abSidney 1976, p.166
14. ^ ^abSidney 2003, p.169,176
15. ^Sidney 1976, p.161
16. ^Sidney 2003, p.176

References[edit]

• Cortis, D. (2015). 'Expected Values and variance in bookmaker payouts: A Theoretical Approach towards setting limits on odds'. Journal of Prediction Markets. 1. 9.
• Sidney, C (1976). The Art of Legging, Maxline International.
• Sidney, C (2003). The Art of Legging: The History, Theory, and Practice of Bookmaking on the English Turf, 3rd edition, Rotex Publishing 2003, 224pp. ISBN978-1-872254-06-7. Definitive, and extensively revised and updated 3rd edition on the history, theory, practice and mathematics of bookmaking, plus the mathematics of off-course betting, bets and their computation and liability control.

Further reading[edit]

• 'Finding an Edge', Ron Loftus, US-SC-North Charleston: Create Space., 2011, 144pp.
• 'How to make a book', Phil Bull, London: Morrison & Gibb Ltd., 1948, 160pp.
• 'The book on bookmaking', Ferde Rombola, California: Romford Press, 1984, 147pp. ISBN978-0-935536-37-9.
• The Art of Bookmaking, Malcolm Boyle, High Stakes Publishing 2006.
• Secrets of Successful Betting, Michael Adams, Raceform, 2002.
• The Mathematics of Games and Gambling, Edward W. Packel, Mathematical Association of America, 2006.
• The Mathematics of Gambling, Edward O. Thorp, L. Stuart, 1984.
• 'Maximin Hedges', Jean-Claude Derderian, Mathematics Magazine, volume 51, number 3. (May, 1978), pages 188–192.
• 'Carnap and de Finetti on Bets and the Probability of Singular Events: The Dutch Book Argument Reconsidered' Klaus Heilig, The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, volume 29, number 4. (December, 1978), pages 325–346.
• 'Tests of the Efficiency of Racetrack Betting Using Bookmaker Odds', Ron Bird, Michael McCrae, Management Science, volume 33, number 12 (December, 1987), pages 152–156.
• 'Why is There a Favourite-Longshot Bias in British Racetrack Betting Markets', Leighton Vaughan Williams, David Paton. The Economic Journal, volume 107, number 440 (January, 1997), pages 150–158.
• Optimal Determination of Bookmakers' Betting Odds: Theory and Tests, by John Fingleton and Patrick Waldron, Trinity Economic Paper Series, Technical Paper No. 96/9, Trinity College, University of Dublin, 1999.
• 'Odds That Don't Add Up!', Mike Fletcher, Teaching Mathematics and its Applications, 1994, volume 13, number 4, pages 145–147.
• 'Information, Prices and Efficiency in a Fixed-Odds Betting Market', Peter F. Pope, David A. Peel, Economica, New Series, volume 56, number 223, (August, 1989), pages 323–341.
• 'A Mathematical Perspective on Gambling', Molly Maxwell, MIT Undergraduate Journal of Mathematics, volume 1, (1999), pages 123–132.
• 'Probability Guide to Gambling: The Mathematics of dice, slots, roulette, baccarat, blackjack, poker, lottery and sport bets', Catalin Barboianu, Infarom, 2006, 316pp. ISBN973-87520-3-5.

External links[edit]

Bookmaker is one of the oldest gambling sites in the world. The history of the company goes back to 1985 (its first betting site opened in 1996), and nowadays www.bookmaker.eu is known as one of the most legitimate U.S.-friendly gambling operations.

Bookmaker is best-known for its sportsbook, but the site also features an online casino (powered by Digital Gaming Solutions) and an online poker room (runs on the second most popular US poker network called Winning Poker). The majority of their customers, however, are there specifically because of the sports betting. They offer one of the top choices for sportsbooks in all of US Betting.

Below we take a completely unbiased look at Bookmaker.eu and tell you exactly what we thought including the good and the bad. Anything that we felt you needed to know, we tried to cover in this review.

What’s Good

Early Lines

Bookmaker’s tagline is “Where the Line Originates” and for a good reason: they’re generally the first site to post betting lines for baseball, basketball, football and other American sports. (Bookmaker’s biggest competitor, Bovada, is known for being one of the slowest sites to post lines.)

Track Record

As mentioned above, the roots of this betting site go back around 30 years, and they’ve been online for almost 20 years. They’ve gone through multiple changes in ownership and customers have been directed from one domain to another, yet they’ve never had significant delays in payout times or such. Bookmaker’s customers have always been able to rely on getting paid.

Professionals Are Welcome

The second major difference between Bookmaker and Bovada is their stances regarding professional bettors (or those who take betting more seriously and actively look for +EV opportunities). Bookmaker welcomes all types of players from recreational bettors to professionals, while Bovada favours recreational players and actually shows different betting lines for educated bettors (they may also lower maximum betting limits for skilled bettors to something like $1 or $10).

High Maximum Betting Limits

Bookmaker not only gives every customer a chance to bet the same amount of money regardless of their level of skill, but their maximum betting limits are high to begin with.

What’s Bad

Slow(ish) Payouts

While Bookmaker.com has a strong history of delivering payouts, the time it takes for them to deliver payouts is longer than their biggest competitors, like Bovada and BetOnline (these two sites deliver check payouts in around a week; it takes around a month for Bookmaker to do the same).

Payout Fees

While Bovada allows one free check payout per month, Bookmaker charges $50 per check payout. If you’re dealing with amounts of less than thousands of dollars, this charge takes a relatively big chunk out of your withdrawal amount. (You can use BetPoints to purchase free payouts, but then again that doesn’t equal free since the points can also be converted to cash and merchandise.)

Sharp Lines

While Bookmaker.eu is known for posting lines early, they’re rarely the best lines you’ll be able to bet on. So while Bookmaker doesn’t shy away from professional bettors and the like, they can afford not to due to offering sharp lines.

Banking

Deposits

Bookmaker charges zero fees for processing deposits unlike some other top US gambling sites like BetOnline (6% per deposit) and Bovada (4.9% per deposit).

You’ll find all Bookmaker.eu’s U.S. eligible deposit options below along with minimum and maximum deposit limits for each deposit method:

Payouts

Bookmaker offers a double-edged sword for its U.S. customers: a long, strong history of delivering payouts on-time, but on the other hand, relatively slow check payout times (around 3 weeks) and a $50 fee for check payouts.

You’ll find Bookmaker.eu’s U.S. eligible payout options below along with information on minimum and maximum withdrawals limits and fees. In addition to these methods, Bookmaker also allows debit card withdrawals for regulars (contact their customer support to find out more):

Bonuses

Deposit Bonus

First-time depositors get a 50% bonus up to $300 (in other words, you get the maximum bonus by depositing $600). Wagering requirements are 10x for sports betting and 40x for casino players.

All deposit methods except for Neteller qualify for the Bookmaker.eu bonus.

To qualify for the deposit bonus, you must enter the bonus code found here when making the deposit. If you’d rather not use the bonus offer (and therefore avoid having to complete any wagering requirements in order to withdraw your winnings), just leave the bonus code field empty when depositing.

VIP Program

Bookmaker’s VIP/Rewards Program is called BetPoints Rewards. The more you play, the more BetPoints you accumulate and the higher you place in the VIP system. The higher your VIP level, the higher the rate you accumulate BetPoints with.

You can use BetPoints to:

• Convert them into cash.
• Purchase gift cards, frequent flyer points or merchandise.
• Initiate free cashouts.

By depositing $300+, you automatically qualify for the Gold level, and by depositing $900+, you automatically qualify for the Platinum level. To get to the Diamond level, you need to earn 300,000 BetPoints in a 12-month period, which then gives you an access to VIP customer service, 2 free debit payouts per month and the highest rate of accumulation for BetPoints.

Sportsbook

Bookmaker is known for publishing betting lines early (a positive thing) but it’s also known for offering sharp lines (a negative thing). You’ll likely find betting lines for whatever games you want to bet on earlier at Bookmaker than at any other site, but then again, the odds are likely worse than what some other sites are going to offer a few days later.

High-stakes bettors can go to town at Bookmaker, considering their Thursday-to-Sunday betting limits for NFL sides ($50,000), totals ($20,000) and moneylines ($20,000). NBA has smaller limits ($10,000 and $5,000), as well as NHL ($5,000). The minimum betting limits for all sports and leagues is $1.

To my knowledge, Bookmaker.eu has the highest betting limits out of all US-friendly gambling sites. All of the limits can likely be negotiated even higher by contacting their customer support.

Bookmaker provides a strong selection of games and betting options for its US customers. Football, basketball, baseball, hockey, tennis and golf markets are all heavily covered.

They cover soccer to a decent extent as well with betting lines for 13 soccer leagues around the world:

As mentioned, this site is heavily focused on American betting markets, which is one of the reasons I recommend other options for customers outside of the US). I recommend 5Dimes for US customers looking to bet on foreign markets.

Still, I consider Bookmaker.eu a top-5 sportsbook for Americans.

Casino

Bookmaker’s casino software is powered by Digital Gaming Solutions. It features all the usual games you’ll find on any casino (blackjack, roulette, craps, video poker, etc.) and a decent range of slot machines.

Certified Fair Gambling audits the casino software on a monthly basis. You can find monthly reports of the audits at www.bookmaker.eu which include payout percentages. They look good – on the surface, at least – but as I attempted to research on Certified Fair Gambling, their website was offline.

You can play at Bookmaker Casino with mobile devices as well, although the selection of mobile casino games is much smaller. Still, it features all the “classics” – blackjack, roulette, slots and the like – and is likely a sufficient option for most mobile gamblers.

Poker

Bookmaker Poker is a part of the second most popular U.S. poker network (Winning Poker, formerly known as Yatahay Poker) and therefore offers plenty of games for Americans. As mentioned, this site has a long history of servicing its US customers with respect, so just based on player traffic and reliability (the most important factors for Americans), Bookmaker is a top-3 US poker site.

For players outside of the US, here are the best sites.

They feature the common poker game variations like Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo and 7-Card Stud. They also have a decent amount of tournament action, so you’ll likely find a decent selection of games to play unless you’re into more obscure poker games only.

According to their website, Bookmaker Poker’s rake is at 5% (with a maximum rake cap of $3), and apparently this goes for all stakes (usually poker sites have different rake structures for different stakes). A 5% rake across the board is high, but there are only a limited amount of US-friendly poker rooms available, and all of the top US poker sites have high rake structures relative to poker sites only accepting players from outside of the U.S.

Customer Service

You can contact Bookmaker.eu via phone (their sportsbook has a toll-free number for USA and Canada), e-mail or live chat.

But the real question you and I want an answer for is: is the customer service any good? Are they helpful? Are they friendly? Are they reliable?

I’ll go with “yes” to all of those questions.

Based on my experiences – and based on the impression I’ve gotten from online forums – Bookmaker’s customer support is helpful and does its best to help you, especially with deposits and cashouts (US customers often have problems with moving money to and from gambling sites).

Conclusion

Bookmaker is a top-5 recommendation for Americans. It’s rare to find gambling sites that accept US customersand have strong track records. In fact, it can be argued that Bookmaker.eu has the strongest track record in the U.S., however, slow(ish) payouts, sharp lines and a $50 check payout fee lowers their grade.

This review was made by: LegitGamblingSites.com Rating: 4.3 out of 5