Bookmaker vigorish--who pays and how much?

[darthtrader]

yea damn guys, chillout. this is really interesting stuff.

carcanaques, have to read this a few times to grasp it yet.I would be interested in hearing how you view money management as far as trading goes.
Have you ever read Secrets of Professional Turf Betting? Thats a book I've read alot about but have never payed up for the used price.

[Reaver]

	Quote:	carcanaques
	How dare you call me a clown! I resent that and demand an apology. I have been nothing but courteous and professional here. Doesn't every new member come out of the blue? Is this a private country club or an open forum? And who are you to tell me what to do here? If James has a problem with my posts, I'm sure he'll let me know.

You're not getting an apology. Deal with it. I don't say things I don't mean.

We'll see how it all pans out.

[carcanaques]

	Quote:	Reaver
	You're not getting an apology. Deal with it. I don't say things I don't mean. We'll see how it all pans out.

Suite yourself. For the record, I offered a peace pipe to Reaver in a PM and it was rejected. Apparently, he thinks he owns the place. Oh well, that's between him and James.

[carcanaques]

	Quote:	darthtrader
	yea damn guys, chillout. this is really interesting stuff. carcanaques, have to read this a few times to grasp it yet.I would be interested in hearing how you view money management as far as trading goes. Have you ever read Secrets of Professional Turf Betting? Thats a book I've read alot about but have never payed up for the used price.

Never read that book as I stayed for away from horses.

As far as trading goes, my money management is garden variety. I won't risk more than 2% of my capital on any trade and no more than 4% per day, which is to say, if I have two stoputs in a row, I quit for the day and live to trade another.

[BlowFish]

Things appear to be quite different to the UK (hence my comment in the other thread about betting being far from zero sum, well at least here).

Is this all legislated in th US (how much a bookie can charge and how they set odds)? Lets say your taking bets on a match where the outcome can only be A wins or B wins if you only get $1 on A and $100 on B you would offer odds of 100 to 1 (or maybe a bit less to make your 'vig') In the UK the bookies can set their rate without restriction (as far as I know). What if a bookie can't unload all their risk as bets get taken? They are now in a vulnerable position no longer being win win? Seems reasonable for them to get paid to take this risk.

A side question are most bets in the USA settled at 'starting prices' thats the case in the UK though a punter has the option of taking the current price which I guess gives bookies further headaches.

Cheers.

[carcanaques]

	Quote:	BlowFish
	Things appear to be quite different to the UK (hence my comment in the other thread about betting being far from zero sum, well at least here). Is this all legislated in th US (how much a bookie can charge and how they set odds)? Lets say your taking bets on a match where the outcome can only be A wins or B wins if you only get $1 on A and $100 on B you would offer odds of 100 to 1 (or maybe a bit less to make your 'vig') In the UK the bookies can set their rate without restriction (as far as I know). What if a bookie can't unload all their risk as bets get taken? They are now in a vulnerable position no longer being win win? Seems reasonable for them to get paid to take this risk. A side question are most bets in the USA settled at 'starting prices' thats the case in the UK though a punter has the option of taking the current price which I guess gives bookies further headaches. Cheers.

Bookmaking is illegal in the US except in jurisdictions where it is legal and operated by a licensed casino. Most of those outfits charge 11 to 10 on all bets that involve a pointspread; for example, football, basketball. Moneyline wagers (betting on the winner straightup) have set odds for payouts, much like the horses and the bookmakers cut is built in to those odds and payouts.

[BlowFish]

Ahh OK that's pretty different - things make more sense now. In the UK the bookmakers will take a bet on just about anything and I guess for some things just have to make up a price on the spot with little chance of finding a counter party. Snow at Xmas is a popular one. And every now and then you read about a wierd one in the papers.

How does betting on horses work in the US? Obviously no spread there? Horses are probably the most popular for sport betting in the UK. There are still bookies on most high streets. I guess if they use starting prices (final odds given at race start) its easier to set 'fair' prices to a prescribed (and legislated) formula.

[aiki14]

	Quote:	BlowFish
	Ahh OK that's pretty different - things make more sense now. In the UK the bookmakers will take a bet on just about anything and I guess for some things just have to make up a price on the spot with little chance of finding a counter party. Snow at Xmas is a popular one. And every now and then you read about a wierd one in the papers. How does betting on horses work in the US? Obviously no spread there? Horses are probably the most popular for sport betting in the UK. There are still bookies on most high streets. I guess if they use starting prices (final odds given at race start) its easier to set 'fair' prices to a prescribed (and legislated) formula.

Betting on horses here is done by Pari Mutuel wagering
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parimutuel_betting

Bookies, or the legal Off Track betting add a surcharge on top, on payouts.

[BlowFish]

Thanks for the link. It just sounds as if things are more regulated in the USA. I may be mistaken about bookies being able to set there prices freely here of course. Pari Mutuel by definition uses starting prices I see.

Never been much of a gambler. I'll have a few quid on each race if I have a day at the races or might go to a casino for the odd night out but both of those are rare events, probably 500:1 against!

Cheers.

[Nick1984]

I'm glad that I don't place bets. If I was a bookie then it would be a great business to get into however we all know that the book making industry is run by the mafia in whatever country you're in, and the only way to get a bookies license is to know people who know people.

The Melbroune Cup is going to be run pretty soon (Horse Race). The Bookmakers are going to make a killing. I heard that on average a bookie at the track turns over about $200k per hour, from which he will pay out a substantial amount to the winner, but they can and do leave the day with a lot of profit in their pocket from the vigorish that carcanaques describes.

Messy business lol.

P.S: I wanna retain all my fingers, toes, and other appendages that I find usefull so I don't wanna make any bets that I can't afford!