1. It's a simple enough question and one every bookie gets asked. How do we set the odds on Inter not losing at home again or Wigan sneaking victory over title-chasing Arsenal. It’s a tough job.
2. Betting Agent Job A bookie in sports is someone who accepts wagers on sporting events based on specific odds for each game. When a player wins a wager then the bookie is the one responsible for.
3. Bookies Runners Clock. Runners clocks like this were used in bookies from the 1920s until the 1960s. At that time, the only way to place a bet on the horses or dogs was by either placing it on the racetrack,.
4. On-the-Jobs: Race and Sports Book Supervisor. Zachary Montoya feels that he was quite lucky to have landed his present position as Race and Sports Book Supervisor at Caesars Tahoe. Not only does he love sports and horse racing, but now he is involved with both every day. He enthuses, “My job.

Two hawala traders, several punters spread across the city, bookies operating from central Kolkata and outskirts of the city and a detective departmen. Kolkata bookies doing ‘backroom job’.

It's a simple enough question and one every bookie gets asked. How do we set the odds on Inter not losing at home again or Wigan sneaking victory over title-chasing Arsenal. Well it goes a little like this.

There are a team of people employed by any bookmaker, usually referred to as Traders, Risk Analysts or Odds Compilers. Their job is to produce odds that closely represent the chance of an occurrence.

It’s a tough job to account for all the variables in any event. If you take the chance of Manchester United winning at home for example the trader has to account for the form of the teams, injuries to key players, influence of the crowd, the referee and many others.

How Much Does Bookies Make

In addition to the chances of a team winning, they have to account for the money that is likely to be placed. In the Manchester United example, most people would back the Red Devils to to win at Old Trafford and therefore the odds will be shorter than perhaps the precise chances of victory.

How To Find A Bookie

Also like any other business a bookmaker has to make money so the Trader will add a small percentage to a ‘book’ in order to generate this profit. In a match between two evenly matched teams on a neutral ground the odds might look something like the following:

This adds to approximately 100% and trading books like this, the bookmaker should break even over a period of time. So what they have to do is skew the odds slightly in their favour:

Now the bookmaker has a 9.4% profit margin and should make a profit over time although to the punter of course it’s all about making a profit on the game itself! A bookmaker will trade a market at anywhere between 101 and 120% profit depending on the market and competitor activity.

That means that in a perfect world (which doesn’t exist) the bookmaker should make between £1 and £20 for every £100 that are gambled on the market. What happens in reality however is that most money is gambled on the favourites and it’s when the favourites fail to win, that the bookmakers make their money.

David Mole is Goal.com's Betting and Odds Expert. He has previously worked for Betfred, Victor Chandler, William Hill and Totesport.

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