What is a Bookmaker's Margin (VIG) and Payout Rate?
In the following article, I will be looking into the subject of profiling. I will discuss and analyse the process and how it has changed over time, rather than just looking at the business and morale perspective of it. In my fourth article, I will look at account restrictions, as I wish to explore and explain all relevant elements of the case.
My name is Matthew Trenhaile and I have worked for six years at the UK Sport Spread Betting division of the IG Index, as an odds compiler. Steve was kind enough to allow me to utilise his blog to show my abilities in writing, through a series of articles from someone who has actually worked with a major bookmaker and in the industry.
The following article should give an inside-view to what measures bookmakers take to profile all customers and that excludes any profitable bettors. As this is one of our biggest issues, this is an important story to publish. Not only for us, but for you as well. I’ll pass the word to our Daily25 Spinsider and I will be back at the very end to give my own thoughts and opinions on the matter.
The biggest struggle profitable bettors have, when taking on the "soft" books, is not getting limited from them. We have put together a set of guidelines you can follow to extract even more value from the "soft" bookmakers.
It basically comes down to liquidity and where the sharp money goes. There are a couple of very large betting syndicates in this world.
It is important to understand how bookmakers make money because it helps us understand what it takes to beat them.
Sports trading in sharp markets is more difficult to perform than sports trading in soft books. But because the sharp bookmakers don't limit winning players, they allow people to have higher stakes in general.
There are, however, alternatives to the traditional betting-system, one of them being to go through a Betting Exchange. This gives the bettor the option to function as a bookmaker, and instead of choosing the team you think will win, you can choose the team (or draw) you think will not win. This is what we refer to as backing and laying bets.
To maximise profits, you need to maintain a high turnover by placing many bets. When placing a high volume of bets, there are two ways of gaining that volume.
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