5 Sneaky Ways The Sportsbook Makes Money From You
Image source: Mark Hardie, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Introduction: Sneaky Ways The Sportsbook Makes Money
On the whole, there are two types of sports bettor. The first is the weekend punter. They will have a flutter on a team or on a player. The outcome is not so important to them as betting is seen as part and parcel of enjoying the game or match. The other type of punter is a serious gambler. They are either people who want to be, or who already are, full-time professional bettors. They will spend all their waking hours doing research into their chosen sport.
They will go through old records and game-plays in the hope that all this information will give them a better chance of winning in the future. They believe that they know all the ins and outs of how to bet on sports. But the sad news for both of these types of bettors is that the odds are stacked up against them.
That’s because, however, you try and play it, and whatever types of sports bets you place, the house always has a built-in advantage. Just like the best casinos to win the jackpot. All sportsbooks are the same in this regard. The funny thing is that everyone appears to understand this, and yet they still continue to bet, knowing their on a losing wicket to start with. Yes, of course, some people have won against the sportsbooks. And it’s the sportsbooks themselves that will spend lots of time and effort promoting these winners. That’s because they want to give hope to all punters, that it could be you. But, take it from us, it probably won’t be!
The Vig
This is the number one reason why sportsbooks make money from your bets and you don’t. Obviously, a sportsbook is a business. And businesses are obliged to make a profit. For a sportsbook, those profits are simply the losses for gamblers. The real killer weapon the sportsbooks possesses is the Vig. Known by other names such as the Vigorish, the edge, the juice, the cut, the take, the margin and the house edge. It’s the reason why they will always make money out of the losses, no matter what jackpot winning tips and tricks you put into play.
For example, imagine that the favourites in a match are set at 70% and the underdog at 30%. The sneaky sportsbooks will manipulate the odds so that the favourites are now 75% and the underdogs at 35%. That makes a total of 110%. That extra 10% is the Vig, and it goes straight into the pocket of the sportsbook.
So no matter which side wins, the sportsbook has already made its money. Now some punters may claim that by betting strategically they can change the odds into their favour. But this is highly unlikely, as it’s the sportsbooks who set the odds to stop punters from winning in the first place.
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Changing Odds
Yet another crafty way the sportsbook make money is by simply changing the odds as the bets come in. At the start of betting, you’ll notice that sportsbooks always start with a set number for the odds or lines. But these opening odds will change as the bets come in. And there’s a basic reason why these lines or odds are changing. For the sportsbook, the optimal odds are 50:50 win or lose. So as the bets come in, the sportsbook will be constantly moving the odds to try and bring them into line towards 50%. By being as close to 50%, the sportsbook will win either way, whether the result is a win or a loss for the punter.
By furtively moving the odds over to one side, they can be sure of collecting more in bets on the other side. Though the punter doesn’t know it, the whole purpose of having the odds move is to better balance the odds for the sportsbook. Not for the punter. Sometimes the sportsbook loses because, though they changed the odds, the public never picked up on it, or were too slow to respond. This might result in a loss for the sportsbook. But you can be sure this is a very rare occurrence.
Marketing of Parlays
Sportbooks are kings when it comes to marketing. One common but very successful ploy is the promotion of previous winners who have won parlay bets. They will happily display a winner, with all his winnings. This serves two purposes. For one thing, it shows that the average punter can win against the sportsbook. And for another, it shows that there’s always hope. And hope is the vital factor that drives all betting activity. Though we don’t recomment parlay bets for beginners, we can recommend 22Bet Sportsbook. They are honest and clear about your bets.
But the basic problem with parlay bets is that they shouldn’t be part of your jackpot winning strategies as they need huge amounts of luck to come through. That makes them a very bad idea from a bettor’s point of view. But for the sportsbooks, parley bets are great for business.
Limited Betting of Certain Bettors
As a business, the last thing you want around is people who are going to ruin your day by digging into your profits. And so that’s why a successful bettor will not be successful for very long. Suppose you happen to be a good bettor, a serious professional who does all the research and loves arbitrage bets as a means to increase your jackpot winning chances. Then you should expect your run of good luck to be short-lived and come to an eventual grinding halt. Sportsbooks will simply not allow you to win consistently. If you are betting with as close to a risk-free strategy as possible, then expect to be canned pretty quickly.
After all, you’re not bringing business and profits to the sportsbook, so why should they support you? Soon you’ll be blocked from being able to place bets. Or there will be some serious limits placed on your betting abilities. The best way for a sportsbook to be certain that they’ll be no losses is to simply stop the winners from playing. And there are a thousand and one subtle ways they can do just that.
Misinformation or Ignorance
It never ceases to amaze us as to how the sportsbook can keep taking money from people whilst keeping them ignorant. People even ask sportsbooks for betting advice. That’s like turkeys asking about Christmas dinner recipes. Yet the public continues to bet millions of dollars every week, spent on jackpot games, without a basic understanding of the odds or the value. And that’s just how the sportsbooks like it. Interestingly, some punters believe that the in-depth knowledge they have about a sport will make them money when they confidently lay a bet.
But understanding a sport has nothing to do with betting. You need to understand sportsbooks, not the sport if you hope to be a winner. Unfortunately, this logic is lost on most sports bettors.
Conclusion: Sneaky Ways The Sportsbook Makes Money
Knowing as much as you can about the betting industry is a good place to start if you want to learn how to make money via sports betting. The sportsbooks are a shady world unto themselves, and it’s only by getting inside will you see more clearly how the odds and the Vig work. So, spend more time studying the reputable sportsbooks, like 22Bet Sportsbook, as opposed to studying sports.
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