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Are you utilizing all of the bookie tools provided to you by your sportsbook platform?
We often see bookies lacking in this area. White label sportsbook services are handling so much of the work for bookmakers nowadays that we often see new bookies become complacent.
Once your business is set-up and rolling with a small player sheet, one of your main goals should be to utilize the tools made available to you to increase your overall hold percentage.
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What Does Hold Percentage Mean?
The overall hold percentage is how much is left after collecting losing bets and paying winners.
This number is going to vary on a day-to-day basis, don’t let that shock you. Some days you’ll end up with a negative hold percentage, but that’s going to happen regularly as a bookie.
Some days your players are simply going to win and you’re going to lose.
However, on average, your hold percentage should be a minimum of 5%/week. In an ideal world, you will utilize bookie tools to improve your overall hold percentage to closer to 10%/week.
What Bookie Tools Help Improve Hold Percentage
In one way or another, most bookie tools will help you improve your hold percentage. It’s important to utilize a pay per head platform that saves on overhead.
Some tools will help more than others, though. Here are the most important tools to utilize:
● Layoff Account: One of the most useful tools provided by sportsbook platforms is a “layoff account”, which allows bookies to lower their risk when they get too much one-sided action.
● Moving Odds: Being able to quickly customize any betting lines is vital, especially for those of you with a large local player base that bets on the local team consistently.
What should you do when you have local guys betting the same team?
First off, you should shade the line a little bit in your favor knowing that you’re going to get bets on the local team anyways. Then once your guys all bet, you can lay off some of the action.
Since you shaded the lines, your hold percentage will improve.
● Reports: You should study the reporting tools daily to understand where you make money and where you lose money. This can help you make adjustments to improve profits.
● Adjusting Limits: If you’re getting crushed on teasers or parlays, don’t be afraid to lower the betting limits on those wagers. You might upset some players, but you have to do it.
Bookies that go out of business often missed opportunities to lower overhead and increase profits.
If you can see you’re losing money, you need to dig deeper by using the bookie tools. Find out what you can do to improve your hold percentage before it’s too late and you have to close up shop.
You can’t become complacent as a bookmaker.
Always utilize the bookie tools you have access to. If you’re unsure how to utilize any tools, contact the sportsbook platform you’ve signed up with and they’ll be able to assist you.
