Bookmaking bets

Overall, bookmaking is betting against a bet-hosting company whether an event turns out to be true or false. The most popular are sports events but there are financial and even political ones.

How do bookmakers calculate their odds for an event?

The basic equation:

ODD=1/(PROB/(1-PROFIT))

where:

• PROB - bookmakers estimated probability of a certain result (e.g. home wins)
• PROFIT - the expected profit of the bookmaker (e.g. 10%)

If the bookmaker estimates that the probabilities will be as such:

• home wins (1) 60%
• a tie (X) 30%
• away wins (2) 10%

then the odds will be respectively: 1 - 1.58, X - 3.17, 2 - 9.50

In reality, different bookmakers make different estimates on the probability of the event (based on different information) and set different margins (competition with other bookmakers). The margin for a lower odd(e.g. 1.20) may be higher than average because the risk of the bookmaker is higher.

Most surebets and covers can be found in offers:

• three-way bets 1X2 - football, hockey,
• two-way bets 12 - tennis, basketball,
• handicap,
• asian handicap,
• over/under.

Of course, the bookmaker's offer is much more varied and includes

• best scorers,
• the exact result,
• number of goals,
• half/end of the match etc.

but we won't find anything that, in case of surebets, would prove interesting.

For discussions about different type bets you welcomed at the forum