Expert Bet

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.

Range of events

The majority of bookmakers in the United States bet mostly on college and professional sports, although 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 and odd events ” pun intended ” 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”, “Big Brother” and “The X Factor”.

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.

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 licenses 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.

Bookmaking is generally illegal in the United States, with Nevada being a notable exception.

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.

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

Few people know the difference between these two similar but quite opposite concepts: gaming and gambling.

The word “gambling” is generally used to discuss an activity that may violate applicable criminal laws. The word “gaming” is usually reserved for those instances where the activity has been specifically legalized by applicable laws or where the activity is exempted from the criminal laws.

Gambling has a specific economic definition, referring to wagering money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods. Typically, the outcome of the wager is evident within a short period of time.

The term gaming in this context typically refers to instances in which the activity has been specifically permitted by law.

Nevertheless, the two words are not mutually exclusive. For example, a “gaming” company offers “gambling” activities to the public. Thus, playing a casino-style game at a for-profit website online in the United States is referred to as gambling, since no state has yet finalized any law specifically authorizing a for-profit website operator to offer any casino games. Therefore, a gaming activity could turn out to be gambling where applicable laws regulating that particular gaming are violated.

Similarly, a gambling activity may turn out to be gaming if it is exempted from a given criminal statute.

Some people assume the word gaming was created as a way to “re-invent” the casino industry. But history tells a different story. The word “gaming”, defined as the action or habit of playing at games of chance for stakes, actually dates back to 1510, predating use of the word “gambling” by 265 years.

The words “gambler”, “gambling” and “gamble” all were considered slang when they came into use in the 18th century, implying that the activity involved unduly high stakes. The word “gamble” was essentially considered a term of reproach, according to The Oxford English Dictionary, and would only be used by those who “condemn playing for money altogether.”

In 1891, even The Anti-Gambling Association referred to the activity as “gaming” in a publication: “Before the third crusade, there was no check upon the gaming vice, and no limit to the stakes. ? During subsequent reigns gaming, although generally condemned, was vigorously pursued.”

Casinos in Nevada have been referred to as part of the “gaming” industry ever since they were legalized there in 1931. As the industry expanded outside of Nevada, it continued to carry that name. As opposed to the business term “gaming”, the word “gamble” is now commonly used to refer to the actual activity. A 1987 reference dictionary uses the two terms interchangeably, defining gaming as ?the playing of games of chance for stakes; gambling.” (”Dictionary of Gambling and Gaming”, by Thomas L. Clark, 1987)

Double Asian handicap bets are also known as split or quarter ball handicaps.
Double handicaps are used to split a wager into two equal and separate bets, each with the same odds to win, but at a different single handicap. This can result in the following scenarios:

Both bets win, therefore the full win amount is returned.
One bets wins and one bet draws (stake returned). This is commonly referred to as ‘Half Win’.
One bet draws (stake returned) and one bet loses. This is commonly referred to as ‘Half Loss’.
Both bets lose, therefore the full stake amount is lost.

Example:

Brazil handicap -1.0, -1.5 or -1 1/4 or -1.25 odds 1.90
Turkey handicap +1.0, +1.5 or +1 1/4 or +1.25 odds 2.00

You can see that there are many ways to represent an Asian Handicap bet and it can be a bit confusing until you realize they are all showing the same bet.

In this example, a $100 bet on Brazil is actually two separate bets, $50 on Brazil at -1.0 and $50 on Brazil at -1.5. The odds for both bets are 1.90.

If Brazil wins the match by two goals or more, both bets are winners.

If Brazil wins by one goal, the bet placed at a -1.0 goal handicap is considered a draw and the stake refunded and the bet placed at a -1.5 goal handicap results in a loss. The end result is a loss of £50, which equates to half of the bettors stake (i.e. ‘Half Loss’).

If Turkey draws or wins the game, both bets are won.

In conclusion, in handicaps without a draw option, bookmakers vary in the odds set and the advantage that they take in terms of the over-round. But generally, the amount of profit that bookmaker take on these bets is lower than what they would take on a full time or 90 minutes match bet which includes the draw.

Bookmakers will typically pay out on Asian Handicap bets between 90% and 100% of what they take, making very low percentage profits on the bets.

This is one reason why Asian Handicap bets can be great value bets.

Asian Handicaps start at a quarter goal and can go as high as 2.5 or 3 goals in matches with a huge disparity in ability. What makes Asian handicaps most interesting is the use of quarter goals to get the “line” as close as possible. Taken in conjunction with the posted total for the game, the handicap essentially predicts the game’s final score. Take a look at the most commonly used Handicaps and the outcome of each, as illustrated in the following examples:

Brazil 0 vs. Turkey 0

If Brazil wins all bets win. If Brazil draws all stakes are returned. If Brazil loses all bets lose.

If Turkey wins all bets win. If Turkey draws all stakes are returned. If Turkey loses all bets lose.

Brazil -0.5 vs. Turkey 0.5

If Brazil wins all bets win. If Brazil draws or loses the match all bets lose.

If Turkey wins or draws all bets win. If Turkey loses the match all bets lose.

Brazil -1.0 vs. Turkey 1.0

In this example, Turkey has been given a 1 goal head start over Brazil. This means that all bets on Turkey will win, provided Turkey either win or draw the match.

If Brazil wins the match by at least two goals, then all Brazil bets will win and all bets placed on Turkey will be losers. If Brazil wins by exactly one goal all stakes are returned. If Brazil draws or loses the match all bets lose.

If Turkey wins or draws all bets win. If Turkey loses by exactly one goal all stakes are returned. If Turkey loses by two or more goals all bets lose.

Brazil -1.5 vs. Turkey 1.5

If Brazil wins by at least two goals all bets win. Otherwise all bets are losers.

If Turkey loses by two or more goals all bets lose. Otherwise all bets are winners.

An Asian Handicap (named so simply because of its Eastern origins) is a gambling term used to describe spread betting in soccer that has gained popularity over the years.

Asian Handicap is one of the most popular forms of betting. Handicap means that one team is given head start, so they have virtual lead in the game with 1/2 goal, 1/4 goal, 3/4 goal, 1 goal, etc. Asian Handicap eliminates a possibility of a draw in a soccer match. Handicap given on one team should make this game tie, so there will be equal number of punters on each side.

In other words, Asian Handicap is a form of betting where the perceived weaker team (or underdog) is given a number of goals head start. Conversely, the team perceived to be superior (the favourite) is penalised or “handicapped” an equal number of goals in an attempt to make the two teams equal for betting purposes.

The favourite has to overcome the handicap, and will have it taken away from its final score. The handicap for the favourite is preceded by a minus (-). The underdog is given a ‘head-start’, and will have it added to its final score. The handicap for the underdog is preceded by a plus (+).

The wider the gap between the two teams, the greater the number of goals head start is given to the weaker team. If the two teams on-field ability is considered to be approximately equal, no handicap is given to either team.

Football (called soccer in the US and Canada) is one of the few sports in the world where a tie is a fairly common outcome. With traditional fixed odds, ties are treated as an additional outcome to the game. In other words, bettors lose when they place a wager on either team to win and the game ties. With Asian Handicaps, however, the chance for a tie is eliminated by use of a handicap that forces a winner. This creates a situation where each team has a 50-50 chance of winning; similar to the odds for a basketball or baseball game where a tie is impossible.

This system works in a straight-forward manner. The bookmakers’s goal is to create a handicap or “line” that will make the chance of either team winning (considering the handicap) as close to 50% as possible. Since the odds are as close to 50% as possible, bookmakers offer payouts close to even money, or 1.90 to 2.00.

Casinos can be divided into two main categories: traditional casinos and online casinos. A “traditional casino”, that is a brick and mortar casino, generally has slot machines and table games and can be set up on land or as a riverboat, based on state and local gambling laws.

Online casinos are the perfect alternative to traditional casinos, as they allow people to enjoy a wide range of popular games from the comfort of their home, enabling gamblers to play and wager on casino games through the Internet.

Online casinos can be divided into three groups based on their interface: web-based casinos, download-based casinos, and more recently live casinos.

Web-based online casinos are sites at which players can directly play casino games without having to download and/or run any software from their own computer. Games are mainly represented in the browser plug-ins Macromedia Flash, Macromedia Shockwave, or Java and require respective browser support. So, users actually must have considerable bandwidth to load the graphics, sounds, and animations since these all come from the site, itself, and require the web-browser plug-ins which most internet users already use anyway for all kinds of other websites; online newspapers, entertainment sites.

A very small number of casinos allow games played through a plain HTML interface and the graphics on these sites are generally quite inferior to those provided through download-based casinos. Another huge difference is the speed of games. This is generally hampered by bandwidth restrictions, traffic, etc. Disconnection problems can be a huge disturbance as well. Generally speaking, most of the bigger casinos prefer to use download-based software and you’ll find a much larger choice of games and options with these sites. For example, most, if not all, of the sites reviewed by GamblingPlanet.org rely on download-based software.

Download-based online casinos are the most common and popular casino sites on the web. Here, users have to download certain software in order to play that casino’s games. Once the software is installed, it connects to the casino service provider and handles contact without browser support. The biggest advantage here is speed. All the graphics and animations are included in the software and run from the computer instead of the internet. The only downside, of course, is the initial download and the need for the installation of the program. Some people worry as well about the risk of downloading a virus and/or spyware but so long as you’re acquiring software from reliable sites and use a solid anti-virus program, this shouldn’t be a problem.

Live-based casino gaming allows web players to interact with games played in a real world casino environment. Online players can see, hear, and interact with live dealers at tables in casino studios worldwide.

    Billions of people play lotteries every day, but haven’t got a clue about how old they are.

    Have you ever wondered what the first gamblers were like? Why they decided to start rolling dices? Playing bingo, slot machines, craps, and poker or betting on football, basketball, and boxing is a multi-billion dollar industry today. People spend nearly one trillion dollars worldwide on gambling a year. But did you know that gambling evolved from friendly bets on pedestrianism?

    Did you know that there are historians of gambling like David G. Schwartz, who wrote an entire book on gambling, a 500-page-plus tome called The History Of Gambling: Roll The Bones? Did you know that there is a CENTER for Gaming Research, at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, conducted by the same remarkable historian of gambling, David G. Schwartz?

    Gambling and casinos are not modern day inventions. Desire to become rich overnight is a theory which rules all the gambling centers worldwide. No one can deny the fact that there is an innermost desire in all individuals to get rich overnight.

    Gambling has existed since ancient times. Archeological extracts and historians strongly prove the existence of gambling events carried out by our predecessors and there is evidence that most cultures supported gambling in some form or another. Gambling was also a popular entertainment activity for our ancestors.

    Implements associated with the practice of gambling have been found in ancient China sites dating back to about 2300 B.C. A pair of ivory dice made sometime before 1500 B.C. have been found in Egypt. In fact, writings mentioning gambling have been discovered on a tablet in one of the pyramids at Giza. Inhabitants of ancient India, Greece and Rome also practiced some form of gambling.

Online gambling is a general term for gambling using the Internet. There are more forms of online gambling, as follows: online poker, online casinos, online sports betting, online bingo and mobile gambling.

Online poker tables commonly offer Texas hold ‘em, Omaha, Seven-card stud, razz and other game types in both tournament and ring game structures. Players play against each other rather than the “house”, with the card room making its money through “rake” and through tournament fees.

There are a large number of online casinos, in which people can play casino games such as roulette, blackjack, pachinko, baccarat and many others. These games are played against the “house”, which makes money due to the fact that the odds are in its favor.

Bookmakers and betting exchanges offer fixed-odds gambling over the Internet on the results of sporting events.

There are a number of online bingo rooms offering games on the Internet.

Developments in the use of wireless, mobile devices to gamble follow in the wake of mainstream online gambling. So, if you are a very busy person and you own a high-end mobile phone, packed with the latest technologies, you can gamble online using your mobile phone.

One may ask oneself: how does the online gambling work?

Typically, gamblers upload funds to the online gambling company, make bets or play the games that it offers, and then cash out any winnings. European gamblers can often fund gambling accounts by credit card or debit card, and cash out winnings directly back to the card. However, most US banks prohibit the use of their cards for the purpose of internet gambling, and attempts by Americans to use credit cards at internet gambling sites are usually rejected. A number of electronic money services offer accounts with which online gambling can be funded. However, many top fund-transfer sites such as FirePay, Neteller & Moneybookers have discontinued service for U.S. residents.

Payment by check and wire transfer is also common.