Bookmaker

The bookmaker is the provider that sets odds and accepts bets. They are the counterparty to your bet. The bookmaker watches a sporting event, judges the probabilities of the possible outcomes and sets odds for them. If you bet on an outcome and are right, they pay out your stake times the odds. If you are wrong, they keep the stake.

There is a fair amount of work behind the odds. Bookmakers analyse statistics, injuries, form and much other data. From this they work out their view and adjust the odds continuously, as soon as something changes or many users back one side. The English word for Buchmacher is bookmaker.

A bookmaker can operate online or as a high-street betting shop. In both cases the job is the same. They offer you a choice of events and markets, show the relevant odds and handle the bet. Online this happens through a website or app, on site through the odds board and the staff.

The bookmaker also carries the payout risk. They have to make sure they can reliably pay out winnings. That is why a reputable provider always runs an orderly business, with clear rules, set processes and a regulator keeping watch over it all.

In the narrower legal sense, under Section 2 of the Race Betting and Lottery Act, "bookmaker" refers to the licence for horse-race betting. That differs from the sports betting agency, which arranges sports bets for a licensed operator under the Interstate Treaty on Gambling. In everyday use, though, the term bookmaker is taken more broadly and means any provider that accepts bets and sets odds.

You can read more in the guide Betting shop vs online betting.

The odds are the bookmaker's most important tool. In Germany, decimal odds are common. Odds of 2.50 mean that if you have a winner you get back 2.5 times your stake. On a 10-euro stake that would be 25 euros, i.e. 15 euros net profit.

The odds also say something about the bookmaker's assessment. Low odds stand for a likely outcome, high odds for an unlikely one. If you divide 1 by the odds, you get roughly the estimated probability. With odds of 2.00 that is around 50 percent, with 4.00 only around 25 percent.

Odds are not set in stone. The bookmaker adjusts them up to kick-off when new information is available or users' betting behaviour changes. With a live bet they even change by the second.

The bookmaker earns through the margin. This is a small spread that they build into every set of odds. As a result, the total payout across all outcomes comes to less than 100 percent. On a single match, the bookmaker can certainly lose. Across many bets, though, a predictable edge emerges, whatever the outcome of any one match.

A simplified example shows the idea using a match with two equally likely outcomes.

With two equally likely outcomes, the fair odds would each be 2.00. Because of the margin, the bookmaker offers only 1.90. This difference is their safety spread. For you it means the payout comes out slightly lower than the pure probability would give.

How big the margin is differs from provider to provider and from market to market. On popular matches it is often smaller, on rare markets larger. Comparing odds can therefore pay off. The closer the total payout is to 100 percent, the fairer the offer is for you.

You'll meet a bookmaker in two forms. Both have their strengths, and many providers today are present via both routes. Which form suits you better depends on your preferences.

• Online: large selection, many markets and live bets around the clock from home.
• Betting shop on site: personal contact, an odds board for comparing and a betting receipt as proof.
• Self-service terminal: in the betting shop you often place bets yourself at the machine and so keep an overview.
• Payout: on site usually in cash at the till, online to the account on file.

The bricks-and-mortar betting shop scores with the experience and the direct cash payout. Online wins through the larger selection and the option to bet at any time.

Whether you bet online or in the betting shop, a bookmaker always brings opportunities and risks. The overview sums up the main points.

It is important to know the bookmaker's edge. Their business is built to run predictably over the long term. A bet is therefore entertainment with risk, not a reliable source of money.

In Germany, a bookmaker may only operate with a licence. The Joint Gambling Authority of the Federal States, GGL for short, grants this licence under the Interstate Treaty on Gambling and keeps a whitelist of all authorised providers. Always check whether your provider is listed there before you deposit money.

Also pay attention to fair odds, transparent rules and clearly recognisable protection functions. A reputable bookmaker offers limits and self-exclusion. Only stake money whose loss you can absorb. Gambling is only permitted from the age of 18 (21 in Bremen) and can be addictive.

An authorised bookmaker is also connected to the German blocking system. Anyone who has themselves blocked there can no longer bet with any licensed provider. This function protects you if betting becomes a burden. Use it if you have the feeling you are losing control.