The answer to why books make so much money.. and why your avg player really loses

Here is your real answer on why bookies clean up and your average players lose, and if this doesn't tell you, then I don't what will. Forget reasons of chasing, poor money management, or whatever.. That's all bogus. Here is the real reason why most gamblers lose, and bookies clean up..

When a book has tons of customers and they run their office properly by getting close to balanced action, here is the reality of things.

If they book Cowboys -3.5 for 24 dimes,
and they also book Redskins +3.5 for 20 dimes, here is what will happen..

If Cowboys win, book loses 2000..
If Redskins win, book wins 6400..

So here, in this example, the book is risking 2000, to win 6400. So basically, they are getting +320 on this game, in a -110 game. So we the players lay -110, while the books sit back and enjoy this game while cashing in +320 if it wins. Imagine getting +320 on a pick em game when the real line is -110..

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Another example:

The book books 14,000 on the Lakers -6.5. and books Celtics +6.5 for 12,000.

If Lakers win, the book loses 800.
And if Celtics win, the book wins 3400.

So here again, the book either loses 800, or wins 3400. They actually get +425 here on a -110 game.. So while we sweat our game at -110, the book sits back and laughs at us and collects +425 on this game, and on a pick em game, too.. Imagine that, +425 on a pickem game..

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And if you wonder if they are still getting a good deal if they don't have a game that has balanced action, well they do also..

If book books Jags -2.5 for 26 dimes AND books Titans +2.5 for 11 dimes. Here is what'll happen..

If Jags win, book loses 13,900. And if Jags lose, book wins 17,600. They are once again getting a great deal at close to +130 for their money, for a pick em game, while we suckers still lay -110. And this is not even for a game that has balanced action either..


Those are just a few examples of why books clean up if they run their office the proper way. And by that, I mean don't gamble, balance their action properly, and not be too greedy by keeping too much on a game if they don't have the proper backing. Now put into effect that there are 30 games on NFL Sunday, including sides and totals. I am not even including moneylines, halfs, quarters, props.. etc.. The players all lay -110, while the books get +300 avg on each game. Just think when the books go 15-15, they still really clean up.. With my examples, if a book goes 15-15, they will win between 50-75k on an NFL Sunday, just by going .500, assuming they split their games. And don't forget, there's NBA everyday for 6 months with an average of 14 bets a night (sides and totals)..

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Now you can see how books can afford to pay all those costs of operating offshore, like employees, rent, license fees, and so on. And now you can see how come 97.6% of sports bettors lose.

Books TRY to get sides to be equal, but it's not really possible. Every Sunday they're going to sweat 4-5 games bigtime, and more or less - they only need 1 or 2 of them to turn their way to have a profitable weekend. It's not uncommon for a book to go 6-8 on 14 Sunday games and come out way ahead.

Ypur other points seem pretty valid, but don't assume that books get equal action on both sides. That's simply not true.

Im assuming you saw the thread right up top about this with abuot 50 posts?

sick gambler waffle waffle waffle.

could summarise it in 1 word = vigorish.

SG is correct as far as those situations go. I've seen that expressed elsewhere, including in an old book on bookies. Naturally there are other factors involved in making money: most gamblers are greedy, don't do research, double-up to get even, bet favorites to bail them out, love bad props and futures, drink or get high and then make their choices, and in general do everything they can to keep the books happy. But as far as it goes, SG is right.