How Much Money Do I Need to Become a Bookie?

Bankrolling one’s business is the key to success in any industry, and the same holds true for anyone looking to become a bookie.

The question is: How much is enough to start your own bookmaking business?

That obviously depends on the number of clients you have and how much and how often they are placing bets.

What you need to grasp an understanding of is the concept behind bookmaking and bankrolling needs.

Ideally you would want half your bettors placing a wager on one side and the other half on the opposite side.  There is a cost to placing bets, known as the vig.  The favorite may appear as -110, meaning, no matter the outcome in this scenario, the bookie walks off with a 10 percent profit.

There is no such thing as an ideal situation however.

Instead, your goal is to lay bets off against one another and hope not to be exposed by having heavy amounts of cash on three or four totally different games.  Laying off action simply refers to a bookmaker placing a wager with another bookmaker in order to help reduce the liability or balance the action.

Become The Bookie notes that “it is imperative when taking bets on major events such as the Super Bowl that you constantly adjust your betting lines to maintain a balance between all the bets whether they are on a side, total line or money line. Sometimes this is easier said than done, especially when there is a wave of action on one particular team over another.”

The ideal bankroll is one that adjusts based on the amount of credit extended to the sum of all your clients.

“You should start with your heaviest players to try and develop a weekly pattern of how they bet and what they bet on,” Be The Bookie advises.

Another critical aspect of managing one’s cash flow is to understand the seasonal highs and lows.  Baseball (April through July) tends to be a slower time of the year, though the World Cup and other special sporting events could help provide a much needed boost.

Use the NBA and NHL Playoffs as a time to prepare for football and college basketball.  The action will be good but easy enough to handle.  In theory, you should have a decent bankroll to handle some hard hitters during the football season.  If you start your bookie business the first week of the NFL season, there’s a good chance your bankroll will be wiped out in a matter of weeks due to the lack of preparation.  These few months leading up to the start of football season should be thought of us a sort of training period.

As previously mentioned,  lay off bets that you are not comfortable taking if you think the player knows what he is doing or the amount is too large.

If you have a player who wants to wager $2000 on a game and you do not have enough to cover that if he hits, it is wise instead of not taking the action to lay it off somewhere else.  Perhaps worse than lacking adequate bankroll is risking the loss of a good client to another bookie.

Become The Bookie is one of a few dozen Pay Per Head businesses that can handle these bets for you.

Watch the video tutorial below to learn more.

- Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com