NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Bookmaker

A bookmaker, bookie or turf accountant, is an organization or a person that takes bets and may pay winnings depending upon results and, depending on the nature of the bet, the odds. Several greyhounds before a race. ... , Reading is a town, unitary authority (the Borough of Reading) and urban area in the English county of Berkshire. ... Old book binding and cover Bookbinding is the process of physically assembling a book from a number of folded or unfolded sheets of paper or other material. ... Gamble redirects here. ... In probability theory and statistics the odds in favor of an event or a proposition are the quantity p / (1 âˆ’ p), where p is the probability of the event or proposition. ...

Range of events

Most bookmakers in the USA bet merely on college and professional sports, though in the United Kingdom they offer a wider range of bets, including each-way betting on golf, football and tennis, and especially horse racing and greyhound events. They also specialize in novelty events such as betting the probability that it will snow on Christmas Day, the outcome of political elections and reality television contests such as I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, Big Brother and The X Factor, or that aliens will be found on Mars. This article is about the game. ... Soccer redirects here. ... For other uses, see Tennis (disambiguation). ... Horse-racing is an equestrian sporting activity which has been practiced over the centuries; the chariot races of Roman times were an early example, as was the contest of the steeds of the god Odin and the giant Hrungnir in Norse mythology. ... Several greyhounds before a race. ... For other uses, see Snow (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Christmas (disambiguation). ... An election is a decision making process whereby people vote for preferred political candidates or parties to act as representatives in government. ... Im a Celebrity. ... Shows Series Big Brother is a reality television series broadcast in the United Kingdom and Ireland on Channel 4 and E4. ... For the current series, see The X Factor (UK series 4). ... Green people redirects here. ... This article is about the planet. ...

Operational procedures

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. When a large bet comes in, a bookmaker can also try to lay off the risk by buying bets from other bookmakers. The bookmaker does not generally attempt to make money from the bets themselves, but rather profiting from the event regardless of the outcome. Their working methods are similar to that of an actuary, who does a similar balancing of financial outcomes of events for the assurance and insurance industries. Spread betting is a form of gambling on the outcome of any event where the more accurate the gamble, the more is won and conversely the less accurate the more is lost. ... Damage from Hurricane Katrina. ...

Legality

Bookmaking may be legal or illegal, and may be regulated; in the United Kingdom it was at times both regulated and illegal, in that licences were required but no debts arising from gambling could be enforced through the courts. Now, since the inception of the National Lottery, not only is it completely legal in the UK, it is a small contributor to the British economy, with a recent explosion of interest with regard to the international gaming sector industry. This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Bookmaking is generally illegal in the United States, with Nevada being a notable exception. Motto: (traditional) In God We Trust (official, 1956â€“present) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City Official language(s) None at the federal level; English de facto Government Federal Republic - President George W. Bush (R) - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence - Declared - Recognized... This article is about the U.S. State of Nevada. ...

In some countries, such as Singapore, Sweden, Canada and Hong Kong, the only legal bookmaker is state-owned and operated. In Canada, this is part of the lottery program and is known as Sport Select. A lottery is a popular form of gambling which involves the drawing of lots for a prize. ... Sport Select refers to a group of sports betting games offered by Canadas provincial governments. ...

In the United Kingdom, trusted legal bookmakers are members of IBAS, which is an industry standard organization which resolves to settle disputes.

Scams

Sometimes, savvy individuals set up an illegal book in an attempt to make money - a scene often seen in films, sitcoms and so on. One of the most infamous real-life illegal bookmakers was Robert Angleton of Houston, Texas. Not only was he a bookie, but he also was a police informant about his smaller rivals. When they were shuttered, he took their business. His bookmaking scheme ended with the death of his wife, Doris Angleton. A sitcom or situation comedy is a genre of comedy performance originally devised for radio but today typically found on television. ... Robert Nicholas Angleton (born 1948) is an infamous bookmaker in Houston, Texas. ... Houston redirects here. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

United Kingdom gambling industry

Traditionally, bookmakers have been located at the racecourse, but improved TV coverage and modernisation of the law have allowed betting in shops and casinos in most countries. In the UK, on-track bookies still mark up the odds on boards beside the race course and use tic-tac or mobile telephones to communicate the odds between their staff and to other bookies, but, with the modernisation of United Kingdom Bookmaking laws, online and high street gambling are at an all-time high, with a so-called Super Casino having been planned for construction in Manchester prior to the government announcng that this plan had been scrapped on 26th February 2008. Tic-tac (also tick-tack and non-hyphenated variants) is a traditional method of sign language used by bookmakers to communicate the odds of certain horses. ...

In 1961, Harold Macmillan's Conservative Government legalised betting shops and tough measures were enacted to ensure that bookmakers remained honest. A large and respectable industry has grown since. At one time there were over 15,000 betting shops in the UK. Now, through consolidation, they have been reduced to about 8,500. Currently there are four major "high street" bookmakers in the United Kingdom: William Hill, Ladbrokes, Coral, and state-owned ToteSport, with Bet24 Shirt sponsor in Blackburn and Leeds United, BetFred, Victor Chandler, Stan James, Sportingbet, Mansion are shirt sponsor in Tottenham and bet365, rapidly emerging, in terms of turnover and event sponsorship. The William Hill logo William Hill plc is one of the two largest bookmakers in the United Kingdom alongside Ladbrokes, which is owned by Hilton Group plc. ... Ladbrokes plc (LSE: LAD) is a British based gambling company. ... Gala Coral Group Ltd is a British betting shop, bingo and casino operator owned by private equity houses Candover Investments, Cinven and Permira. ... The Horserace Totalisator Board, more commonly known as The Tote, is a British bookmaker, with over 500 betting shops, and outlets on Britains 59 racecourses. ... Sponsorship can refer to several concepts: A sponsors support of an event, activity, person, or organization. ...

Internet gambling

With the arrival of the World Wide Web, many bookmakers have an online brand, although independently owned bookmakers often still maintain a "bricks and mortar" only operation and others operate a "skin" or "white label" operation which they purchase from one of the large firms as is the case with BetDirect and Betterbet . The main websites only accept bets from countries where internet gambling is not prohibited, and from people over 18 years old. Often these websites are linked to online casinos. Controversially, the explosion in Internet gambling is being linked to an increase in gambling addiction, according to the UK's help and advice organizations for addicts, GamCare and Gamblers Anonymous. The World Wide Web and WWW redirect here. ... Gamble redirects here. ... // Gamblers Anonymous (GA) is twelve-step program for problem gamblers. ...

Increasingly, online bettors are turning to the use of betting exchanges such as Betfair and BETDAQ, which automatically match Back and Lay bets between different bettors, thus effectively cutting out the bookmaker's traditional profit margin also called an overround. A betting exchange is a p2p gambling website acting as a broker between parties for the placement of bets. ... Betfair Logo Betfair is the worlds largest Internet betting exchange. ... BETDAQ is a betting exchange founded in Ireland by the businessman Dermot Desmond. ...

These online exchange markets operate a market index of prices near but usually not at 100% competitiveness as exchanges take commissions on winnings. True Wholesale odds are odds that operate at 100% of probabilistic outcomes.

Some bookmakers have even taken to using betting exchanges as a way of laying off unfavorable bets and thus reducing their overall exposure. This has led insecurity from the TAB in Australia, a government-run betting agency which attempted to deny Betfair an Australian license by running unfavorable ads in the media regarding the company. Totalizator Agency Board in Australia and New Zealand. ...

Betting exchanges are universally disliked by the traditional bookmaker. Not only are they generally able to offer punters better odds due to their much lower overheads, but also in giving opportunities for arbitrage: the practice of taking advantage of a price differential between two or more markets, although traditionally arbitrage has always been possible by backing all outcomes with bookmakers (dutching) as opposed to laying an outcome on an exchange. Exchanges do, however, allow bookmakers to see the state of the market and can set their odds accordingly. In economics and finance, arbitrage is the practice of taking advantage of a price differential between two or more markets: a combination of matching deals are struck that capitalize upon the imbalance, the profit being the difference between the market prices. ...

Bets are also taken via phones, using SMS text messages, though poker and other sports are more suited to other mediums. As technology moves on, the gambling world ensures it is a major player in new technology operations.

Most televised sport in the United Kingdom and Europe is now sponsored wholly or partly by Internet and high street bookmakers, with sometimes several bookmakers and online casinos being displayed on players' shirts, advertising hoardings, stadium signs and competition event titles, although Werder Bremen are currently fighting the German courts for the freedom to continue featuring bookmaker Bwin on their shirts, as Germany and France take action against online gamers. For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... // Advert redirects here. ... Werder Bremen is a German football club playing in Bremen in the northwest German federal state of the same name. ...

With the recent banning of tobacco sponsorship, and the significant commercial budgets available to the gaming industry, sponsorship by car manufacturers, alcoholic drinks, soft drinks and fast food marketers is being rapidly replaced by sponsorship by gaming companies in the Far East and Europe. Shredded tobacco leaf for pipe smoking Tobacco can also be pressed into plugs and sliced into flakes Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the fresh leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. ... The following automobile manufacturers produce or have produced automobiles. ... Alcoholic beverages are drinks containing ethanol, popularly called alcohol. ... A soft drink is a drink that contains no alcohol. ... Fast food is food prepared and served quickly at a fast-food restaurant or shop at low cost. ... This article is about the Asian regions. ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ...

The United Kingdom Gambling Act 2005 introduces a new regulatory system for governing gambling in Great Britain. This system includes new provisions for regulating the advertising of gambling products. These provisions of the Act came into effect in September 2007. It is an offence to advertise in the UK, gambling which physically takes place in a non-European Economic Area (EEA), or in the case of gambling by remote means, gambling which is not regulated by the gambling laws of an EEA state.^[1]

The situation is more confused in the United States, which has attempted to restrict operators of foreign gambling websites accessing their domestic market. This has resulted in a ruling against the US Government by the WTO.^[2] For other uses of the initials WTO, see WTO (disambiguation). ...

References

Contents