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The numbers reported by New York State for last weekend's NFL Conference Championship games were jaw dropping, and not in a good way.
The state reported just a 6% hold percentage compared to the typical 8.5% hold. This number represents the percentage of all wagered money that the sportsbook keeps after paying out winners. For example, a hold of 8.5% means the operator retains $8.50 of every $100 wagered before expenses.
The only reason that number was as high as 6% had to do with Bally Bet reporting a 9% hold, but on just a $4-million handle. Compare that with market leaders FanDuel, with a 5.8% hold on $197.4 million wagered, and DraftKing's 4.5% hold from $184.1-million in betting handle.
And then there was Caesars.
That gambling firm reported 1.4% hold on a $35.2-million handle. One has to wonder if all the data had actually been collected prior to releasing these numbers. That hold percentage is truly unheard of.
We turned to an industry leading Pay Per Head service, AcePerHead.com, to determine their hold percentage.
Shockingly, AcePerHead.com's PPH hold averages 14%.
A Pay Per Head is a service that provides local bookies and those sports gamblers who host pools a software platform complete with lines service, a wide range of betting options across many sports, live in-play wagering, futures, game props, player props and much more. The service charges a weekly fee as low as $3 per active customer per week. PPH bookies often benefit from local teams failing to cover the spread as customers tend to bet more with their hearts (i.e. Dallas customers won't typically bet the Giants when playing the Cowboys). PPH services also help cut losses when a local team like the Indiana Hoosiers perform especially well. Odds are good that Indiana-based bookies endured a tough season, but the use of a Pay Per Head platform would have ensured minimal damage all things considered.
AcePerHead.com does acknowledges that the industry hold tends to be closer to 5%.
What differentiates a PPH platform from your typical US regulated cookie cutter sportsbook brand is the years of experience moving lines and encouraging action based on solid "sharp" opinions.
A great example of this was the 2025 Week 1 game between Texas and Ohio State where everyone and their mother backed the Longhorns at +3. As betting progressed, significant wagers on Texas caused the line to shift. At one point, Texas became a 1-point favorite at some sportsbooks. But "sharp" PPH platforms like AcePerHead.com would dangle the carrot stick and drive the line up to +2.5 in an effort to keep its customers - especially those in Texas - pounding the Longhorns at a 75% clip. Ohio State would go on to win and easily cover that spread. Those bookies utilizing AcePerHead.com that weekend made out like bandits as a result.
Let's be clear - mistake or no mistake - Caesars isn't shutting down its New York sportsbook due to one bad weekend. This is a huge well-funded company. With that being said, most of the US regulated sports betting companies have failed to come remotely close to the market share of a FanDuel, DraftKings or Caesars Sportsbook. Your typical US regulated sportsbook is more akin to Tennessee's now defunct Action 247. That company finally shuttered earlier this month.
The days following Super Bowl have long been considered a scary time in the world of online sports betting. The big game can make or break a book. Gambling911.com has been following this trend since the year 2000. Whether its a US regulated book or an offshore gambling company, one should always exercise caution this time of year.
- Chris Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
