Bookmakers on a greyhound race course, Reading, UK

A bookmaker, bookie or turf accountant, is an organization or a person that takes bets and may pay winnings depending upon results and, depending on the nature of the bet, the odds. In Probability theory and Statistics the odds in favour of an event or a Proposition are the quantity p  / (1 &minus 

Range of events

Most bookmakers in the USA bet merely on college and professional sports, though in the United Kingdom they offer a wider range of bets, including each-way betting on golf, football and tennis, and especially horse racing and greyhound events. An each-way bet is a wager offered by Bookmakers consisting of two separate bets a win bet and a place bet Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a Team sport played between two teams of eleven players and is widely considered Tennis is a sport played between two players ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles) This article is about the sport For other uses see Horserace (drinking game or Horse race (politics. Greyhound racing is the Sport of Racing Greyhounds The Dogs chase a lure (traditionally an artificial Hare or Rabbit They also specialize in novelty events such as betting the probability that it will snow on Christmas Day, the outcome of political elections and reality television contests such as I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, Big Brother and The X Factor, or that aliens will be found on Mars. "Snowfall" redirects here For other uses see Snow (disambiguation or Snowfall (disambiguation. An election is a Decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold formal office I'm a Celebrity Get Me out of Here! is a Reality television show in which celebrities live in jungle conditions with few creature comforts and have to earn Big Brother is a Reality television series broadcast in the United Kingdom and For the original UK version see The X Factor (UK Extraterrestrial life is Life originating outside of the Earth.

Operational procedures

By adjusting the odds in his favor or by having a point spread, the bookmaker will aim to guarantee a profit by achieving a 'balanced book', either by getting an equal number of bets for each outcome, or (when he is offering odds) by getting the amounts wagered on each outcome to reflect the odds. Spread betting is any of various types of Wagering on the outcome of an event where the pay-off is based on the Accuracy of the wager rather than a simple When a large bet comes in, a bookmaker can also try to lay off the risk by buying bets from other bookmakers. The bookmaker does not generally attempt to make money from the bets themselves, but rather profiting from the event regardless of the outcome. Their working methods are similar to that of an actuary, who does a similar balancing of financial outcomes of events for the assurance and insurance industries. An actuary is a business professional who deals with the financial impact of risk and uncertainty

See also Mathematics of bookmaking. In Betting parlance making a book is the practice of laying bets on the various possible outcomes of a single event

Legality

Bookmaking may be legal or illegal, and may be regulated; in the United Kingdom it was at times both regulated and illegal, in that licences were required but no debts arising from gambling could be enforced through the courts. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Now, since the inception of the National Lottery, not only is it completely legal in the UK, it is a small contributor to the British economy, with a recent explosion of interest with regard to the international gaming sector industry. International or internationally most often describes interaction between Nations or encompassing two or more nations constituting a group or association having

Bookmaking is generally illegal in the United States, with Nevada being a notable exception. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Nevada ( is a state located in the western region of the United States of America.

In some countries, such as Singapore, Canada and Hong Kong, the only legal bookmaker is state-owned and operated. Singapore Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page Hong Kong ( officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a territory located on China 's south coast on the Pearl River Delta, and borders In Canada, this is part of the lottery program and is known as Sport Select. A lottery is a form of Gambling which involves the drawing of lots for a prize Sport Select refers to a group of Sports Betting games offered by Canada 's provincial Governments In Quebec, the program

In the United Kingdom, trusted legal bookmakers are members of IBAS, which is an industry standard organization which resolves to settle disputes.

Scams

Sometimes, savvy individuals set up an illegal book in an attempt to make money - a scene often seen in films, sitcoms and so on. One of the most infamous real-life illegal bookmakers was Robert Angleton of Houston, Texas. Robert Nicholas Angleton (born 1948 is an infamous Bookmaker in Houston Texas. Not only was he a bookie, but he also was a police informant about his smaller rivals. When they were shuttered, he took their business. His bookmaking scheme ended with the death of his wife, Doris Angleton. Doris Angleton ( April 11 1951 – April 16 1997) was a Texas Socialite and murder victim

United Kingdom gambling industry

Traditionally, bookmakers have been located at the racecourse, but improved TV coverage and modernisation of the law have allowed betting in shops and casinos in most countries. In the UK, on-track bookies still mark up the odds on boards beside the race course and use tic-tac or mobile telephones to communicate the odds between their staff and to other bookies, but, with the modernisation of United Kingdom Bookmaking laws, online and high street gambling are at an all-time high, with a so-called Super Casino having been planned for construction in Manchester prior to the government announcng that this plan had been scrapped on 26th February 2008. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Tic-tac (also tick-tack and non-hyphenated variants is a traditional method of signs used by bookmakers to communicate the odds of certain horses

In 1961, Harold Macmillan's Conservative Government legalised betting shops and tough measures were enacted to ensure that bookmakers remained honest. A large and respectable industry has grown since. At one time there were over 15,000 betting shops in the UK. Now, through consolidation, they have been reduced to about 8,500. Currently there are four major "high street" bookmakers in the United Kingdom: William Hill, Ladbrokes, Coral, and state-owned ToteSport, with Bet24 Shirt sponsor in Blackburn and Leeds United, BetFred, Victor Chandler, Stan James, Sportingbet, Mansion are shirt sponsor in Tottenham and bet365, rapidly emerging, in terms of turnover and event sponsorship. William Hill plc ( is one of the largest Bookmakers in the United Kingdom. Ladbrokes plc ( is a British based Gambling company It is based in Rayners Lane in Harrow London. Gala Coral Group Ltd is a British betting shop bingo and Casino operator owned by Private equity houses Candover Investments, Cinven The Horserace Totalisator Board, more commonly known as The Tote, is a British Bookmaker, with over 500 betting shops and outlets on Britain's 59

Internet gambling

With the arrival of the World Wide Web, many bookmakers have an online brand, although independently owned bookmakers often still maintain a "bricks and mortar" only operation and others operate a "skin" or "white label" operation which they purchase from one of the large firms as is the case with BetDirect and Betterbet . The World Wide Web (commonly shortened to the Web) is a system of interlinked Hypertext documents accessed via the Internet. The main websites only accept bets from countries where internet gambling is not prohibited, and from people over 18 years old. Often these websites are linked to online casinos. Controversially, the explosion in Internet gambling is being linked to an increase in gambling addiction, according to the UK's help and advice organizations for addicts, GamCare and Gamblers Anonymous. Gamblers Anonymous ( GA) is a Twelve-step program for problem gamblers.

Increasingly, online bettors are turning to the use of betting exchanges such as Betfair and BETDAQ, which automatically match Back and Lay bets between different bettors, thus effectively cutting out the bookmaker's traditional profit margin also called an overround. The term betting exchange is used to describe a form of bookmaking in which the operator offsets its risk perfectly through technology such that the effect to the customer is that customers Betfair is the world's largest Internet betting exchange. The company is based in Hammersmith in West London, England. BETDAQ is the trading name of Global Betting Exchange a Betting exchange operator based in Ireland. In Betting parlance making a book is the practice of laying bets on the various possible outcomes of a single event

These online exchange markets operate a market index of prices near but usually not at 100% competitiveness as exchanges take commissions on winnings. True Wholesale odds are odds that operate at 100% of probabilistic outcomes. WholeSale Odds are the "real Odds " or probability of an event occurring without any bookmakers profit margin often referred to as a Bookmakers "

Some bookmakers have even taken to using betting exchanges as a way of laying off unfavorable bets and thus reducing their overall exposure. This has led insecurity from the TAB in Australia, a government-run betting agency which attempted to deny Betfair an Australian license by running unfavorable ads in the media regarding the company. Totalizator Agency Board in Australia and New Zealand universally shortened to TAB, is the name given to monopoly Totalisator organisations

Betting exchanges are universally disliked by the traditional bookmaker. Not only are they generally able to offer punters better odds due to their much lower overheads, but also in giving opportunities for arbitrage: the practice of taking advantage of a price differential between two or more markets, although traditionally arbitrage has always been possible by backing all outcomes with bookmakers (dutching) as opposed to laying an outcome on an exchange. In Economics and Finance, arbitrage is the practice of taking advantage of a price differential between two or more Markets striking a combination of matching Exchanges do, however, allow bookmakers to see the state of the market and can set their odds accordingly.

Bets are also taken via phones, using SMS text messages, though poker and other sports are more suited to other mediums. As technology moves on, the gambling world ensures it is a major player in new technology operations.

Most televised sport in the United Kingdom and Europe is now sponsored wholly or partly by Internet and high street bookmakers, with sometimes several bookmakers and online casinos being displayed on players' shirts, advertising hoardings, stadium signs and competition event titles, although Werder Bremen are currently fighting the German courts for the freedom to continue featuring bookmaker Bwin on their shirts, as Germany and France take action against online gamers. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Advertising is a form of Communication that typically attempts to persuade potential Customers to Purchase or to consume more of a particular Brand Werder Bremen is a German sports club best known for its football team playing in Bremen, in the northwest German federal state of the

With the recent banning of tobacco sponsorship, and the significant commercial budgets available to the gaming industry, sponsorship by car manufacturers, alcoholic drinks, soft drinks and fast food marketers is being rapidly replaced by sponsorship by gaming companies in the Far East and Europe. Tobacco is an Agricultural product recognized as an addictive drug processed from the fresh Leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. The automotive industry is the industry involved in the design development manufacture marketing and sale of Motor vehicles In 2007 more than 73 million motor vehicles Soft drink is a beverage that does not contain Alcohol. Carbonated soft drinks are commonly known as soda soda pop pop, or Fast food is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly The Far East is a term often used by people in the Western world to refer to the countries of East Asia.

The United Kingdom Gambling Act 2005 introduces a new regulatory system for governing gambling in Great Britain. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located This system includes new provisions for regulating the advertising of gambling products. These provisions of the Act came into effect in September 2007. It is an offence to advertise in the UK, gambling which physically takes place in a non-European Economic Area (EEA), or in the case of gambling by remote means, gambling which is not regulated by the gambling laws of an EEA state. ^[1]

The situation is more confused in the United States, which has attempted to restrict operators of foreign gambling websites accessing their domestic market. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the This has resulted in a ruling against the US Government by the WTO. ^[2]

References

See also

• Famous bookmakers
• Bet exchange
• Fixed-odds gambling
• Gambling
• Numbers game
• Parlay
• Problem gambling
• Sports betting
• Sportsbook
• Stock broker
• Vigorish
• Bookies (film)
• Mathematics of bookmaking
• Glossary of bets offered by UK bookmakers