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This is How You Become a Bookie
Are you interested in learning how to become a bookmaker?
We have people contact us all the time and many have little understanding of what a pay-per-head (PPH) service provides or how we make our service affordable for everyone.
By definition, anyone that accepts a bet is a bookie. However, running a sportsbook today requires technology. Accepting bets on your smartphone and tracking data in Excel isn’t going to cut it.
First Step on How to Become a Bookie – Find Players
Since you need to accept bets to be a bookie, you need player/s that want to wager.
We spend more time detailing advertising/marketing methods in other guides here at BecomeTheBookie, but if you want to learn how to become a sports bookie, the first step is finding players.
You only need one player to get started and you may be surprised how much you can earn with a single gambler wagering $100+/game. On average, a $100+/game bettor will lose $5K+/annually.
Talk to your friends and family to find your first few clients.
Second Step on How to Become a Bookmaker – Join Us
The next step is to join a price per head provider, which is where we come into play. We have helped thousands of people learn how to become a bookie using our state-of-the-art bookie software.
Here’s a quick breakdown of what our pay per head bookmaking service offers bookmakers:
- Software: Utilize our bookmaking software that has been developed for 10+ years.
- Gaming Website: We build, develop and host custom gaming sites for each of our clients.
- Gambling Options: Your players can gamble on sports, horse racing and casino games.
- Betting Markets: We offer hundreds of markets (straight bets, futures, props, etc.).
- Reports: Access daily, weekly and monthly automated reports outlining your financials.
- Support: We provide 24/7 support to our bookies and everyone of your players.
What are you waiting for? Sign-up for our four-week free trial and start booking bets today!
After the free trial, take advantage of our low weekly price of just $10/head.
That’s really all there is to it. Find players, join us and start accepting bets. We cover everything except for payment processing, which we leave up to our bookies to organize.
Tips for Running a Successful Sports Bookie
Learning how to become a sports bookie is the first step, but the next step is learning how to run a successful sportsbook. Here are some quick tips to help you grow your sports betting business.
- Customer Service: One thing you’ll learn when you become a bookmaker is that you need to treat all of your clients with the utmost respect and professionalism.
- Pay Quickly: Not only do fast payments help you retain your current clients, but your clients will likely refer friends/family to your business because they know you payout quickly.
- Find Partners: One way to quickly grow your player base is through partnerships with other bookmakers. Some bookies close shop after the NFL season. Some people prefer working as agents instead of owning a sportsbook and they’ll refer you clients for a commission.
If you need more guidance, visit Bookie Academy
Road to Become a Bookie
The road to become a bookie is relatively easy, especially with some guidance.
In this article, we’re going to go through the steps to become a bookie. Many people overestimate the difficulty of launching an offshore sportsbook, but you really only need to follow a few steps.
How Do You Become a Bookie
Follow these three simple steps to become a bookie:
- Initial Investment (Infrastructure)
The initial investment is the first step on your road to become a bookie. The great thing about this business is that it’s affordable and the barrier to entry is very low. Do you have a computer or laptop and a smartphone? Do you have internet access? If you answered yes to both of these questions then you have the required infrastructure to start in this business.
You also need to invest in a pay-per-head (PPH) service, which is what we provide at Become The Bookie. Thankfully, we offer all of our new clients a free trial to lower your initial cost. Our service has everything you need to run an offshore sportsbook, casino and racebook, including the software.
Our team will help you every step of the way.
- Bankroll (Player Winnings)
One task PPH services don’t perform are collections. It’s your job to work out collections with your players and it’s a good idea to put some thought into how you’ll accomplish this each week.
It should go without saying, you need a bankroll to get you through the first several months.
You may have a player go on a hot streak that you need to payout. Obviously, you don’t want too many winners, but a few early on can be good for business.
New bookies see their largest growth early on through word-of-mouth advertising. When you payout clients quickly they talk to friends/family and before you know it, you have signed up 10+ players.
Also consider the payout options you’re going to provide. You can payout in cash locally. Typically, cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin) are a great way to payout clients that don’t live near you.
Make sure you have a Bitcoin wallet set-up and funded prior to launching your sportsbook.
- Marketing (Finding Players)
Players are your lifeline. How do you become a bookie without clients? It doesn’t work.
You need clients betting to make any money as a bookmaker. The one simple rule as a bookie is the more action you bring in, the more money you’ll make. It’s that simple.
There’s no point in joining a PPH service until you have at least one client ready to bet. Signing up without a client would be pointless and you’d end up wasting your free trial.
The more players you have ready to sign-up, the better, but you only need one.
- Sign-Up to BecomeTheBookie.com
So, you have a computer/smartphone, some cash saved up and some players ready to bet?
The next step to become a bookie is to join our price per head service. We’ll have your gaming site set-up in minutes and you’ll be able to open accounts up for all your players instantly.
Another common misconception is the time commitment required. A lot of people believe you need to invest a lot of time to become a bookie, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
So, how do you become a bookie without a lot of time? Simple. You can operate on a part-time basis initially. It isn’t until you grow to 50+ players where you may want to consider going full-time.
Do You Wonder What It’s Like to Be a Bookie?
The global sports betting industry is worth trillions and growing rapidly. We’re helping more people become the bookie than ever before and we can help you launch a booming business today.
Before signing up, let me explain what it’s like being a bookie.
Whether your business is big or small, the same fundamentals apply. The only difference is that a big operation can employ people to handle the majority of the tasks.
I know some of you are likely dreaming about sipping margaritas in the sun on an island. While that is a possible result of being a bookie, that isn’t how the life of a bookie starts out.
The Life of a Bookie
Everyone always asks “What’s daily life like for a bookie”? To be honest, that’s subjective.
Being a bookie doesn’t automatically change the way you’re living your daily life. In fact, a lot of our clients run their sportsbook part-time and still work a regular 9-5 job.
With that being said, there are certain things you can expect to perform on a regular, if not daily, basis. The life of a bookie can be very rewarding, but things also need to get done.
Here’s a quick breakdown of some of the daily tasks you can expect to work on:
- Setting/Adjusting Markets: While we handle all of the odds for our clients and adjust them in real-time, you can also make changes. Some of the reasons bookies move the market at their own book are because of likely betting activity, profit margin or personal outlook.
- Customer Service: Staying in contact with your players, especially when your player list is small, is important. Being a bookie requires great customer service skills. Sports bettors have a lot of betting options online, so retention of your clients should be paramount.
- Advertising: You’re going to be competing with thousands of online bookies and the best way to get new customers is going to be through advertising once you exhaust your friends/family.
- Payment Processing: With local clients on credit, you may have a collection day once a week or month. Once you start accepting post-up players you’ll need to process payments.
- Development: We develop a custom gaming site for all of our clients, but the development of your business should never stop. Always try to improve your customer’s experience.
Is Being a Bookie Fun?
We know the life of a bookie may not look entertaining based on the bullet points above.
While we wanted to share what the daily life of a bookie is like for small PPH bookies initially, I also want to note that being a bookmaker is a rewarding experience with a ton of benefits.
Once you have enough clients to go full-time it can change your life. Instead of having to work a 9-5 job, you’ll be able to spend more time growing your business and spending time with friends/family.
If you’re looking for a life of nightlife that’s possible as well. Your hours are flexible as a bookie and since we provide player support for your clients, you don’t need to be available that often.
You can explore any hobbies you have been wanting to try. You can travel anywhere in the world and still run your business. The flexibility is one of the best aspects of being a bookie.
What you Need to Know to Become a Bookie
The path to become a bookie agent is simple. You need clients and a pay-per-head (PPH) provider like us. That’s really all there is to it. Well, you’ll also need some money to bankroll your business.
The big question is whether or not you’re ready to become a bookie.
Things to Consider Before Becoming a Bookie
So, are you ready to become a bookie? You should consider the following things to help determine if you’re ready or not. Frankly, anyone can be a bookie, but there are some things to consider.
- Where Do You Live: The laws and regulations bookmakers have to follow varies by country, but we always recommend that our clients gain an understanding of the laws where they live.
- Do You Have Clients: You need clients to run a bookie. You can’t become a bookie agent until you have at least one client. Ensuring you have a player base is important. The best plan of action is to discuss your idea with friends/family to gauge their interest in betting.
- How Are Your Finances: Starting an offshore sportsbook is affordable thanks to our PPH service ($10/head), but you still need money to payout any winning clients early on.
- Collection Methods: Speaking of paying out players. You should formulate a plan to receive and send money to your clients. Local PPH bookies often deal with cash to limit any trail, but if you want to accept players that aren’t local, you’ll need to have a way to collect/pay.
- How Busy Are You: Are you already working 60-hour weeks? While there are thousands of bookies operating on a part-time basis, you still need to put in the hours, especially while growing.
- Betting Limits: Most new bookies don’t consider betting limits. It’s important to set limits on each client for two reasons. First off, you don’t want your clients losing more than they can’t afford to lose and secondly, you don’t want to take a huge loss that you can’t afford to pay.
As you can see, there are no strict requirements to become a bookie agent. However, there are some things you should definitely consider prior to launching. You should have a business plan and know how to answer each of the questions I proposed in the bullet points above.
What’s the Next Step?
So, you’ve determined that you’re now ready to become a bookie agent.
The next step is signing up at Become the Bookie.
You need bookie software and a team behind you to launch an offshore sportsbook. We provide you with everything required to become a bookie today and you can get started using our free trial.
Our advanced tools and technology allow anyone to operate a secure online sportsbook.
You bring your clients and we provide just about everything else. We handle the software, website, development, support and odds management. Your job is to recruit clients, keep your current clients happy and handle all of the money (deposits/withdrawals), while pocketing the profits.
Are You Ready to Become a Bookie?
Do you want to become a bookie? One of the first things you should ask yourself is whether or not you’re ready to launch an online sportsbook. Not everyone is suited to become the bookie.
Throughout this article we’ll discuss some of the major factors to consider prior to opening up a bookie shop. The goal is to help you determine whether to become a bookie agent or not.
Lifestyle
I always recommend becoming familiar with the laws and regulations in your country.
Everyone’s situation is different. In some countries, it’s perfectly legal to start an online sportsbook, but in other countries it isn’t legal and you need to be willing to accept potential consequences.
We have clients in countries all around the world, including the USA. Your best bet in jurisdictions where it’s illegal to become a bookie is to keep your business private to avoid problems.
It should be noted, it’s rare for bookies to get busted, but it’s a possibility.
I strongly suggest considering your current lifestyle. Are you single or do you have a family? If you’re single you may not be as worried about the potential risks compared to if you have three kids.
If you have people that rely on you, make sure they’re aware of your business goals.
You should also understand that bookies never get to stop. Your clients may need your assistance anytime, including weekends/holidays and you better be available to serve them.
We help our clients as much as we can with support, but being a bookie requires availability.
Finances
You don’t need a huge budget to become a bookie agent, but you do need a bankroll to get started.
By using our PPH bookie solution your costs are going to be as minimal as possible. However, there are also other costs to consider when launching a bookmaking business.
Here are some of the things you should budget for:
- PPH Service: We charge a low flat fee of $10 per week for each active bettor (an active player is one that made at least one wager during the week), but you can get started today with our two-week free trial.
- Paying Winners: Over the long-run, 99% of sports bettors lose money. However, you may end up with a player who wins big early on. You need a bankroll to payout winners quickly.
- Marketing: What good is it to have your own bookmaking business if you have no clients? As a new bookie, I know money is likely tight, but you need to have a marketing budget and a marketing strategy.
When you become a bookie you can streamline your initial start-up costs. As you grow and build up your revenues, you can increase spending. You may want to hire employees eventually as well.
Skills
Do you need to be able to name every player on an MLB team to become a bookie agent? No, but you should have a love for sports as you’ll be dealing with them all day, everyday.
Here are a few skills that are ideal to possess if you want to become a bookie:
- Professionalism: You may not agree with a client or situation, but you need to deal with all of your clients with professionalism regardless of how you feel about the situation.
- Organization: It’s easy to become unorganized as a bookie. You have multiple clients with varying balances (+/-) placing bets on a variety of sports. Our software reporting features are in place to help you stay organized, but it’s up to you to analyze the data.
- Numbers: You don’t need to be a math whiz to become a bookie, but you need to be good with numbers. An English degree isn’t going to help you in this business. Bookies spend most of the day dealing with numbers (profits, losses, balances, wagers, etc.).
Sports betting software
Sports book betting is not what it used to be, thanks to Becomethebookie.com. For over 15 years, our services have provided bookmakers with pay-per-head services that have revolutionized the process of taking bets.
No more phone calls, tedious ledger writing, or making player reports – all functions are now automated for a low cost of $10 per head. It’s that simple.
Who we are
Becomethebookie ultramodern software is engineered by the top in the business, making it the most seamless operation in the industry. All winnings are calculated within seconds, offering you and your clients a speedy return after game time.
Our clerks, lines people, managers, and partners are highly trained in order to provide the best possible service to your clients, ensuring that their experience in unsurpassed by any other sports book provider.
What we do
With Becomethebookie, your clients can bet on a wide range of games, including, but not
limited to:
• Football
• Basketball
• Hockey
• Soccer
• Baseball
• Tennis
• Cricket
In addition, our service offers live in-game betting to keep your clients active even during the last seconds of game play.
Now, clients can bet on team comebacks and individual player performance on the fly, an advantage unavailable in the traditional sports book setting.
Becomethebookie is not limited to only team sports betting; we also offer casino services with both live and software-based dealing for the same flat rate of $10 per head.
Blackjack, baccarat, and roulette and just a few of the games your clients can play at no additional cost to you.
Becomethebookie services at over 80 horse tracks are also available. With Becomethebookie, your clients can place wagers via phone or online. Takings bets on horses has never been easier.
How does it work?
With BecomeTheBookie, you set the parameters for your business. Our highly customizable platform lets you set your own guidelines, limits for each bettor, and your own vig.
In addition, you can view client history, open bets, credit limits, cash flow, and more. Becomethebookie puts you in total control.
Your business is active 24 hours a day, 365 days per year via telephone and online, insuring that your clients have access to their favorite games 100% of the time.
Never miss another bet.
When the games are over, collecting your winnings is simple. When it’s time to get paid, just log into your account to view wins and losses for all your clients.
Our software makes all calculations within seconds, ensuring speedy, error-free payouts for you and your clients.
Our software run flawlessly on all mobile platforms, so your clients can place bets anytime, anywhere.
Call or sign up online now and receive two weeks of free service with no obligation.
Every minute that you wait is a bet that you may be missing. Take your book making to the next level with BecomeTheBookie today.
Bookie Software
Over the past few years, many new bookie software have come out that have eliminated much of the pencil-pushing of bookies and clerks.
At Becomethebookie, we have the latest and most technologically advanced bookie software available which most of the big online books also use.
With our software, your players can bet on sports, horses and even play casino games found in Las Vegas all online or via our toll free number.
All you need to do is sign up for an account with Becomethebookie price per head service, and your players will be ready to play.
Our sister site, Realbookies.com also has a similar sports book software package that includes poker also.
With our price per head service, you get a sportsbook website, and your agent site where you see all reports on each player. The cost is only $10 per player per week and you are only charged when a player makes a bet.A
So if you have 20 players registered with us and 8 players wagered this week, you will be charged $80 ($10×8)
Each player gets an account id and password where they place their own bets online 24/7 or can call us via a toll free number and we take the wagers.
When the games are finished, you login with your account, and our software will automatically calculate all the winnings and losses for all the customers. What previously required you to hire clerks is now done (error-free) by our sports bookie software.
Also, instead of you waiting four or five hours after the games are over for your clerks to finish the grading and let you know who won and lost and for how much, with our platform, all of this is done in 15 seconds and instantly produces an updated pay sheet. While saving you all kinds of time and effort, our service will also eliminate the need for you to hire clerks to take bets.
With our bookmaking software, you have access to several reports. You can put your own lines out, charge your own vig or juice, view the entire history of each player, see current open bets, adjust player credit limit, and a cash flow report where you enter what you have received and paid for every customer. Also, view total exposure you have on a particular game, wagers and amount by player and many more reports.
If you need a report that is not currently in the software, please let us know and will customize it for you
Joining Becomethebookie will save you time and money and give you a pay sheet that is always correct. Also, besides being cheap, just $10 per player, unlike a clerk, you don’t have to pay a salary, a bonus, is never late, doesn’t bitch and moan, and won’t do something irresponsible that lands you in trouble. There is a lot of upside with joining Becoming the Bookie and using our bookmaking software.
All you will need to worry about after signing up with us is getting new players.
Bankrolling Your Bookmaking Business
Bookmakers Bankroll
Anyone who starts their own business needs an adequate amount of cash on hand to aid in its successful daily operation, but this is especially true when it comes to the bookmaking business.
Cash flow is king when it comes to booking bets in what can be one of the most unpredictable businesses you could be a part of.
Bettors have a tendency to go on winning and losing streaks on a regular basis and if the stars do not align properly, you can quickly find yourself between a rock and hard place if too many of your customers get hot at the same time.
One of the keys to maintaining an adequate bankroll that is large enough to handle all of your financial obligations is balance.
The whole concept of bookmaking hinges on the ability to balance out your bets so the leftover profit is the vig or juice that you charge for taking the bet. In an ideal world, you would love to have half of your customers place $100 bets on one team and then have the other half place all of their $100 wagers on the opposing side. What would be left is a nice 10 percent profit no matter what the outcome of that particular matchup turns out to be.
Unfortunately, bookmaking does not exist in such a perfect world like that, so you need to be prepared to pay out large sums of cash when that balance does not exist. It is one thing to take bets, but it is another to fully understand your financial liabilities at any given time. Your goal is to lay bets off against one another, but you may get caught with a heavy amount of cash on three or four totally different games which increases your exposure.
If you are dealing with one large single event such as the Super Bowl, it is imperative that you constantly adjust your betting lines to maintain a balance between all the bets whether they are on a side, total line or money line. Sometimes this is easier said than done, especially when there is a wave of action on one particular team over another.
You cannot control who or what your customers will wager on so you almost have to assume that you are going to lose in the worst possible way to assess your overall current risk.
The ideal bankroll for any bookmaking service is tied heavily to the amount of credit you extend to the sum of all your customers. You should start with your heaviest players to try and develop a weekly pattern of how they bet and what they bet on.
Certain times of the year are obviously crazier than others depending on what teams/leagues are currently playing. It may not be the best idea in the world to start your bookmaking business at the beginning of the NFL regular season.
Sure, the action will be hot, but are you 100 percent sure your bankroll will be able to weather the storm if a couple of your biggest players go on financial tear with an early winning streak?
You might want to consider starting things up right before the beginning of the NBA and NHL playoffs. The action will be decent and you can control your potential exposure by taking bets on a limited amount of games. Even if you get slammed with unexpected winners during this time you will still have the ability to regroup after things will slow down dramatically once Major League Baseball is the only game in town.
Nonetheless, you still have to ensure you have enough cash flow to honor your financial commitments. If you can learn how to achieve the proper balance during the off times of the year, you will be better prepared to handle the fall, when there is action coming in on all the major sports.
You can also layoff bets that you are not comfortable taking if you think the player knows what he is doing or the amount is too large. So for example, if you have a player who wants to wager $2000 on a game and you do not have enough to cover that if he hits, it is wise instead of not taking the action to lay it off somewhere else.
If you do not take his bet, he might find some other bookie who would and there is a good chance of losing him for good.
At BecometheBookie, we can handle such a player providing you collect the cash up front from him and book the bet through us. If he wins, we pay him and if he loses we keep the cash. Contact us for more information about this option.
Getting Customers As a Bookmaker
The most important aspect of any business is customers for the products or services it offers. Without them you really do not have a business, rather just a concept or plan for trying to make money. When it comes to bookmaking, you can take this one step further by stressing the importance of having and finding the right customers.
In the old days, most bookmakers made their living by working hands-on with their customers whether it was in the local bars, pool halls or other social gathering places. They took sports wagers by hand and met their customers personally to either pay them off or collect on a lost bet. While that type of interaction still goes on today, a new-found level of sophistication has been interjected into the bookmaking business with the advent of the Internet and all the technological advances in both hardware and software that have taken place over the past several years.
Most individual bookmaking services rely on a third party pay-per-head service that handles all of the administrative tasks that go into taking bets. While these types of companies have been a life-saver to the industry considering how complex managing this whole process has become, it still comes down to the bookmaker to build their client base from the ground up. The majority of individual bookmakers probably got started in this business by offering their services to family and friends who did not want to deal with the big offshore sportsbooks that sprung up all over the place during this technological explosion. Even if you are just starting out today, friends and family are an ideal way to build a customer base.
This sense of familiarity helps to develop a sense of trust between both parties in a very volatile financially driven industry. You might be able to build a nice little business catering to just friends and family; however you will eventually need to add new customers if you want to develop any type of long-lasting success. The best way to do this is through direct referrals from your existing customers.
It is always better to have some background information on someone that you are going to do business with, especially when there is money involved. The last thing you need is to add a player that is a potential credit risk that will only end up costing you money down the road. Chances are you are still going to get burnt on a bad bet here and there, but you do not want to go out looking for trouble by adding customers sight unseen.
The other reason that referrals are such an important part of building your customer base is the ability to access information on what kind of sports gambler this person might be. While the reward of adding some high rollers to your list might be a boon to your financial bottom line, so is the risk if you cannot handle the potential financial liability of paying off their bets when they get hot. Slow and steady is always a much better approach to growing a self-sustaining business than trying to make a couple of big scores.
Another risk you run of adding players sight unseen is the potential of having a few sharps sneak onto your list. The last thing you need is professional sports gamblers placing bets with your service as most of the time you will lose over the long haul.
Your ideal customer should be a recreational bettor that tends to stay on the conservative side when it comes to wagering on the games. These type of players become very predictable in their betting patterns over time, which is exactly what you need to add stability to properly managing your bankroll as well as your overall financial picture. They also tend to be the right type of customers that can supply similar type of referrals that will help to continuously grow your business in the proper fashion.