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Being a bookie is one of the most profitable businesses. It's also the second oldest profession (after prostitution).
Back in the day, a corner bookie had to work 60 hours a week or more. Today's bookmaker spends more time on the beach courtesy of their friend the Pay Per Head platform. And here is the best part: They have the ability to make double the income than when they were putting in those 60+ hours a week.
Pay Per Head services provide bookies and agents with a professional-style sportsbook website, where these services post thousands of sports betting lines to wager on every day, courtesy of skilled oddsmakers. In addition, the lines are all updated up to the second and managed in-house by each PPH service. After each sporting event concludes, the wagers will be graded and credited to each player and agent account based on whether the wager was a win or a loss.
How Do Bookies Make Money?
The most important part of any business is how much money you can get from the business. As a bookie, you are in charge of a lot of money, as you manage many bets. The key word to get familiar with is "juice".
Also called vigorish or vig, the juice is the commission charged by a bookmaker for taking a wager. The juice is how a sportsbook guarantees a profit.
Bookies and agents can make lucrative money. In fact, the profit margin could even prove better than that of a FanDuel or DraftKings due to their high ad spend, worker salaries and technology.
Fees
What percentage do bookies take? That question refers to the book fee that is collected from a wager. Bookies usually take around 10 percent, this is what they call the “juice” or the vig. This is the most definitive source of income for a sportsbook agent. The money that is not collected is returned to the book. For example, let’s say that a player bets on a game between the Washington Football Team and the Dallas Cowboys. Let’s say the Cowboys are favored by 10 points, so you take the Cowboys, at a -10 spread with -110 odds. The player puts down $110 for the bet. If the player wins then they would get $210 back total (the original bet plus $100) back, if they were to lose, the book would keep the $110. Over time, that $10 edge on the favorites contributes to the bookie’s profits.
A Pay Per Head bookie platform like AcePerHead.com charges as low as $3 per active player per week. If you have 100 players, you would expect to pay $300 to the PPH. This does not even take into account the one free week per month promo offered by AcePerHead.
If you were wondering, the typical costs for running a sportsbook without the help of a Pay Per Head service would be in the thousands per month, starting with the hosting service alone. You are looking at $1500 plus for a dedicated server. No tack on rent, employees, web designers, and a ridiculous amount of overhead, using a solid PPH is a "no brainer".
Maximize Earnings
The only way to maximize profit is to increase the opportunities to collect wager fees such as the vig (juice) mentioned above. To do that an agent must bring more business to their service, offer and manage more bets, and offer a wide variety of bets.
If an agent can be versatile and offer high-dollar bets as well as low-dollar bets, then the money they collect will be on a spectrum. Some players start low and go high, and vice versa.
- Tony Caliente, Gambling911.com
