• Odds

    Tuesday, April 13th, 2010

    Odds for different outcomes in a single bet are presented either in European format (decimal odds), UK format (fractional odds), or American format (moneyline odds). European format (decimal odds) are favoured in continental Europe, Canada, and Australia. They are the ratio of the full payout to the stake, in a decimal format. Decimal odds of [...]

  • Types of bets

    Sunday, February 28th, 2010

    Aside from simple wagers—betting a friend that one’s favorite baseball team will win its division, for instance, or buying a football “square” for the Super Bowl–sports betting is commonly done through a bookmaker. Legal sports bookmakers exist throughout the world (perhaps most notably in Las Vegas). In areas where sports betting is illegal, bettors usually [...]

  • Operational procedures of the bookmakers

    Thursday, February 18th, 2010

    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. [...]

  • Bookmakers

    Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

    Bookmakers on a greyhound race course, Reading, UK A bookmaker, or bookie, is an organization or a person that takes bets on sporting and other events at agreed upon odds. Range of events Most bookmakers in the United States bet merely on college and professional sports, though in the United Kingdom and Ireland they offer [...]