Going over your bankroll as a bookie can be a nightmare for anybody that is considering taking sports betting action from friends or relatives as an extra income source.
Because this fear is so common amongst bookies, our programmers and software engineers at pphsportsbook.net have paid special attention to implement features into our payperhead software in order to always give options to bookies to get into the business with the least risk possible. All this without mentioning our amazing customer support which is always at your side when you request some custom player analysis or configuration and limits suggestions.
Identifying best and worst players in your sportsbook sheet is the first line of action.
In this entry post we will start talking about a general setting to control your sportsbook exposure (the “settle amount” limit), and then we will dig deeper into features that are applicable when the insights and data gathered from your players’ behavior indicate they win more than desired on #1 parlays or/and #2 Moneylines.
You see, every player analysis starts, as with most things, from broader analysis to a more specific and in depth view.
The most general analytic of a player’s performance is their overall net balance (usually broken down by week). That will show you the information on how much (on average) the player wins and loses per week. Based on this you can apply a “settle amount” (explained later down) to limit (or free) your book’s exposure when it comes to this specific player’s performance.
Your player of interest may have a positive balance, but upon closer inspection you may find out it was just a “lucky” week he hit big. Meaning, he is not consistent on his wins. In most cases like this, don't panic. Not all players currently with a positive balance are “sharp” or deserving you to worry about it.
Once that is identified you can dig deeper into the player analysis by inspecting which wager types the player sees the best performance with.
Etc etc. But we will start from there in this post.
The simplest way to get started with running your book (either for fun or as a more serious source of extra income) is to set a “settle” amount to your players (or friends/relatives, etc) that you are planning to take action from.
Navigate to the player’s “basics” screen. Enter the settle limit amount.
The settle limit simply means:
“The amount at which the player must either pay or be paid.”
Instead of working on a per-week credit for your players, you will work on a “per amount” limit. When the player either loses or wins a set amount, then you as the bookie will either pay him or be paid by him (in theory).
Once you have set up the settle amount desired, go back to the main “customer admin” screen (this screen shows a list with your players. Click the cog icon to access the display settings. Finally, enable the “Settle limit” toggle. This will cause whatever settle amount you have set per player to be display on the customer admin screen. This is useful so you can compare this amount to the player’s current balance, and see how close they are of reaching that limit.
Of course, to guarantee that you actually get paid by the player it is important that you actually know them personally and have some confidence that you can rely on that player. At the end of the day, this is a gentleman's business. If you don’t have a good relationship with the person that you are entering this business deal with (which, at the end of the day it is what this is), you are really wasting both parties' time (you and him).
That is the “settle amount”.
This is much different from working on a “weekly credit” system. Some agents would rather that their players’ balances be reset each week. In this way players will refill their balance to continue playing every week, and the bookie and the player will have already agreed upon paying/be paid within the first days of the week ( for example on every Monday). We will discuss this credit system in future entries, but both systems are possible using the payperhead software platform.
The settle amount system is great for bookies that are just starting out and want to keep things under control, as well as to keep a tight eye on their players’ win/loss amounts. Keep in mind, with the settle system your players balances will not reset automatically at the beginning of the week. This is what is called “carry over” balances.
We all know the standard vegas parlay odds table for fixed odds (as opposed to “true odds”). For reference we will show it again.
| FIXED ODDS PARLAY TABLE | |
| # of Teams | Las Vegas Payout |
| 2 | 2.6 |
| 3 | 6/1 |
| 4 | 10/1 |
| 5 | 20/1 |
| 6 | 40/1 |
| 7 | 75/1 |
| 8 | 150/1 |
But you are not Vegas, nor are you the Greek, so why would you be offering the same payouts as them?
“But my players will complain”.
Yes, we hear you. Let them complain. When they do, remind them that Vegas does not allow them to play on credit every week. Nor is Vegas giving them those amazing free plays and promotions that you are (because you are, right?).
Pay attention to what are your player’s top played wager types. Then contact us to provide suggestions and possible settings to implement. Remember, this is your book and you are able (and should) customize your offering, limits, and players’ sheet, to make it as profitable as possible for you.
So, continuing with our discussion of standard parlay payouts, wouldn't it be great if you could payout slightly less odds than Vegas does? Well, you can! Take a look at this modified payout table:
| # of Teams | Payout |
| 2 | 2.21 To 1 |
| 3 | 5.1 To 1 |
| 4 | 8.4 To 1 |
| 5 | 17 To 1 |
| 6 | 33.5 To 1 |
With this modification a 2-team parlay will pay $220 on a $100 ticket, rather than the Vegas standard of $260.
You can modify this table as it better suits you, and best of all, it can be modified on a per-player basis. Meaning, for those pesky players that complain too much, you can leave the Vegas default payouts, and for those that are more “understanding” players, you can lower their payouts.
As one of, if not the most popular type of bet, you will find a lot of action on moneyline bets at your sportsbook.. Let’s talk about a couple of ways to control your exposure to big payouts using pphsportbook.net’s payperhead service.
Every parlay bet whose legs do not have odds of -110 for their payout will not be calculated using the “fixed odds parlay table” (discussed above). Parlays that include moneylines will use what is called the “true odds” calculation.
Furthermore, parlays which include underdogs will pay much more than those parlays which are mostly composed of favorites. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a way to limit the number of underdogs allowed in player-made parlays? Or even better, being able to limit the underdogs allowed on a per parlay-size basis? (We guess you already know where we are going with this)
PPHSportsbook.net includes the the “max dogs” parlay setting. This allows you to control the maximum number of underdogs your players will be able to include in any of their parlays, effectively protecting your sportsbook against heavy parlay payouts caused by a high number of underdogs in their parlay selection.
If you want to keep it simple, limit the number of “max (under) dogs” for any parlay size you offer. This option can be found on the “customer admin” screen. Then click on the player for which you want to set this limit. Navigate to “Parlays” (settings), and change the “max dogs” number to the maximum number of underdogs you want to allow for a given parlay.
The last exposure setting we will discuss here is the “Max moneyline price”.
What this does is it simply hides every moneyline which is over the entered amount.
What this should bring to your mind first of all are those risky NCAA Basketball Extra games. Yes, some of those matchups could very well be odds like this:
| Team | Odds |
| Lipscomb | +700 |
| Notre Dame | -1100 |
The “Max moneyline price” comes handy in exactly those situations. Say you don’t want to offer action on the moneyline if the line is over -350. Simply navigate to the “vig setup” screen, and enter the desired limit in the “Max moneyline price” field. You are all set!
As with the previous settings you can also choose this on a per-player basis. This gives you full control to manage your player sheet and limit those players that you know are taking advantage of those big lines.
We have only scratched the surface of the possibilities to customize your sportsbook. Our payperhead service, and especially our top-notch customer service team, have been put together to help you run your business as profitably as possible.
Having fun running your business is key to making the most money out of it (yes, we are serious). Nobody will know your players better than you do, but with us as your right-hand man, you can polish a healthy players sheet that will keep making you a juicy extra income every season. Because who doesn’t love that feeling of watching the game on Sunday, with a beer in your hand, knowing you are banking big off of the game itself. You are no longer a spectator, you are a businessman. You know, even if you keep it as a secret to yourself (as you should), that the last second touchdown made half of your players lose and brought in a good chunk of money directly into your pocket.
Final words. Be serious about this and don’t let your players down. Make sure you can pay them back and don’t make business with players that you don’t know and are unsure if you can fully trust.
Have you ever wondered what is juice in betting? It’s a term you hear more from professional bettors and bookies, but it refers to the cost of placing a bet with a book. This article will explain exactly what the juice is, what reduced juice betting is, and why it matters to you as a bookie.
In sports betting, the juice is the fee that bookies charge the bettor for placing a bet. You’ve probably heard of another term for this: the vig or vigorish. What it means is that anytime a bettor places a bet with you, you get to keep a portion of it whether the bet wins or loses. This is the advantage you have as the bookie.
Increasing the juice on the sport(s) in which your players perform the best, it’s a great way to decrease their long term profit. Remember, with a higher juice, when they lose, they will lose more.
When it comes to reduced juice betting, it means that you, as the bookie, receive a lower portion of the bet. Typically this is of benefit to the sports bettor, as a reduced juice bet returns a higher portion of their initial stake if it wins. As a bookie, you can change the juice for odds if you notice an uneven amount of bets coming in on a certain side of a game. Let’s take a look at an example:
| Team | Juice | Risk | Win |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baltimore Ravens -3.0 | -110 | $11.00 | $10.00 |
| San Francisco 49ers +3.0 | -110 | $11.00 | $10.00 |
This is a fairly standard NFL line that you would provide to bettors. The odds of -110 are very much typical for a football game. This means that to win $10.00 you have to wager $11.00. Where does that $1.00 go? It goes into your pocket as a bookie. When you’re taking that fee on every bet, it certainly begins to add up.
But not every game has odds set at -110. If you are offering the bettor reduced juice gambling then you would lower this to odds like -104 or -105. This means that to win $10.00, the bettor would only have to bet $10.40 or $10.50. The difference might seem small, but for a $100 bettor that is $5.00, and for a $1,000 bettor, it’s a $50.00 difference. The vig in betting is your friend, and while reduced juice will certainly attract more bettors, keep in mind that you are making less with every bet.
With PPHSportsbook.net you have access to an advanced and easy-to-use juice setup tool. You can also contact our customer service to get the changes made for you.
As a bookie, you can do anything, within reason. One reason why you would change the sports betting juice is that you are seeing a lot of one-way action on a certain side. Let’s take a look now at what you could do if Baltimore was taking a lot of money from the example above.
| Team | Juice | Risk | Win |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baltimore Ravens -3.0 | -110 | $11.00 | $10.00 |
| San Francisco 49ers +3.0 | -110 | $11.00 | $10.00 |
| Baltimore Ravens -3.0 | -120 | $12.00 | $10.00 |
| San Francisco 49ers +3.0 | +100 | $10.00 | $10.00 |
Okay, so if a lot of the bets are coming in on Baltimore, then you can inflate the juice for betting on the Ravens. Smart bettors will see that and stay away since they know that you might be about to move the odds to -3.5. It also lures bettors to bet on the 49ers, since they are getting extremely reduced juice at even odds.
As a bookie, you can play with the betting vig to sway bettors in one direction or another. This works really well with casual bettors who don’t really care about sports betting juice. If you can push them to bet on games at -120, then that’s more money in your pocket as a bookie.
Another way you can use the juice setup capabilities. Decrease the juice on the sport in which your player performs the worst. This will encourage his action on that sport. You can even make this a time-limit promotion to use FOMO.
If you want to see the true advantage you have as a bookie, remember this one calculation. This equation will provide the real odds in a percentage form, and shows the edge the bookies have.
When you have negative odds (-105, -110, -120, etc.) use this formula:
Odds / (Odds +100) x 100
So for the betting vig of -110, the formula would be:
110 (110 + 100) x 100 = 52.4%
What exactly does this mean? This means that for the juice in betting, you have a 2.4% advantage over the bettor in the long run. Again, these are thin margins but the vigorish in sports betting begins to add up in your favor.
Absolutely! There is juice on nearly every bet including point spreads, money lines, and even futures. The difference between the two moneyline odds for each team is considered the reduced vig for that bet. Here’s an example of the betting juice for money line odds:
| Team | Juice |
|---|---|
| San Diego Padres | -140 |
| New York Mets | +120 |
Using the formula from above, we can see that the Padres have a 58.33% chance of winning, while the Mets are at about 45.5%. When you add these two winning percentages together, you get a total of 103.8%. That’s right, you have a 3.8% profit already from bets on this game.
As a bookie, offering reduced betting juice is a double-edged sword. On one hand, you will attract a lot more bettors which will increase the total volume of bets at your book. But a lower sports betting juice means you make less from each bet. In addition to this, you will likely attract more professional bettors who typically win more bets than casual bettors who prefer long-shot parlays.
Even with reduced juice odds, you’re still pocketing that juice from every bet. Ultimately, you do want high betting volume at your book so offering reduced odds is a great way to attract new bettors. Make no mistake about it, reduced vig in sports betting benefits the bettor in the short term but the book in the long term.
For a bookie, the betting juice is everything. It’s going to form a large part of the money you make as a sportsbook. When you offer reduced juice, it means you take less of a hold from each game. At the same time, your book gains popularity amongst bettors.
It’s a balancing act that you’ll have to maneuver on a daily basis. As the bookie, you can use the juice to control the flow of bets to a particular side. You can offer reduced juice permanently, as a bonus, or just on certain games. Just keep in mind that the more you offer, the more bettors you will attract.
Contact us today to learn about the juice in sports betting that you can provide to your players, the options you can use to limit your sportsbook’s risk, and the support we can provide to you to make your book as profitable as possible!
There are times where a player may have the perfect parlay betting slip in his hands, only to get ruined by a push? Believe it or not, a one-game push in a parlay happens all the time. The parlay push can be from a point spread, an over under, or even a player prop. But have you ever wondered what happens when there is a push in a parlay?
In this article we will cover how a push in a parlay affects the player’s ticket, how sportsbooks deal with a push, and how players manage to often avoid having a push on a parlay. If you take action from sports bettors that love the thrill of making a high odds parlay ticket, then this is everything you need to know about what happens if one leg of a parlay pushes!
Some of the parlay options available to pay per head bookies.
First, let’s review what a parlay actually is. In sports betting, a parlay is a bet with two or more different wagers on a single bet slip. What this does is it increases the odds of the ticket and therefore the potential payout as well.
(Using the bet-slip widget, your players can easily add multiple selections to their parlays without leaving the main sportsbook board)
So the question is: what happens if a bet pushes in a parlay? That’s right, if one of those wagers falls exactly on the game total or point spread, it is considered a push.
(Example of a Parlay push. As you can see, The parlay leg of Item#2 (Diamondbacks @ Dodgers was cancelled, this caused the original payout to go from $332 to $140)
The fact of the matter is, if a player is holding a parlay with a push he can still win the bet. What happens is the bet is reduced to the odds that the ticket would be if the game that was a push was never included. It’s the fairest way to resolve the issue since a push is technically not a win or a loss. The pushed game is nullified, and players still have a chance of winning their ticket if the rest of the wagers hit.
An Over/Under push is one of the most common ways to end up with a push in a parlay. Oddsmakers are pros for a reason, and it’s not unusual to see NBA or NFL games land exactly on the posted total. If one of the player’s bets is a total bet, and the game score lands right on the total number, then he has an Over/Under push parlay.
Let’s say the player is adding an NBA game with the posted total of 220.0 points. He wants to add the Over 220.0 points to his parlay bet.
Just his luck, the game ends with a final score of 114-106, or a total of 220 points.
As mentioned earlier, when one game results in a push on a parlay, that game is nullified from the ticket. So this NBA game that the player’s bet on the over 220 points for would have its odds completely removed from the total odds of his parlay wager.
(You can easily control the maximum number of totals allowed, on a per-parlay-size basis from within your player management screen)
A push on a moneyline bet is pretty rare, so if it happens, it’s very unlucky for the player. More often than not bettors will bet on the point spread because the odds are usually better. The only way to get a push in a moneyline bet is for the game to end in a tie. The player also needs to be betting on a sport or league that can have games end with a tie as a result. If you are betting on European football (soccer), games can end in a tie, whereas if you are betting on the NBA or NHL, these games play until they have a winner.
(Since moneylines bets (specially underdogs) use parlay true odds (as opposed to fixed odds) one thing you can do to protect yourself is to first set a maximum number of underdogs allowed in the parlays action you choose to accept and also setting a “max parlay payout”. Setting this limit any parlay that would normally payout more will be reduced to the amount set here)
The most common questions we get asked are ‘does a push cancel a parlay’ or ‘does a push lose a parlay’? The answer is neither! According to parlay push rules, the ticket is not voided or cancelled, but the odds for the pushed results are removed from the odds of the total ticket.
The same can happen if more than one game is a push. The total odds of the ticket will continue to decrease as more wagers result in a push. This is a very unlikely scenario, but the point is that players still have a chance to win their bets. Just expect the total potential payout to be less than when they first made the parlay ticket.
(Often, the tie-lose rule gets confused with that available to Teaser bets. In teasers, there is an option where you can set your offered teasers to lose if there is a tie within the player’s selection)
Once the ticket gets graded, the player’s ticket will update with the new payout of the parlay bet after the push happens. As can be expected, the odds will drop significantly when there is a pushed game result. But in case the player doesn’t want to wait for the result to occur, there is a way to calculate the new odds.
Using a parlay calculator with push stipulations can be an excellent way to see if a potential payout would be worth the bet in the case of a parlay push. Here’s an excellent parlay payout calculator that we recommend that allows you to specify in your parlay calculation, if one of the games is a push. As you can see, the odds and the potential payout fall, but the player can still usually get a decent payout on his wager, even with a push in a parlay.
Here is a Parlay Payouts Chart from the same site that the Parlay Calculator is from:
(Standard Vegas parlay payouts)
This chart shows the payouts for parlays. The odds are based on a fair payout of -110 per bet, which is fairly standard for a point spread or over/under bet.
By using these rules as a guideline, we can assume that a 3 Team Parlay (6/1) with one leg that pushed will only have the potential payout of a 2 Team Parlay (2.6/1) if both remaining legs win. The same for any other combination of parlay legs on the player’s ticket.
(Keep in mind that it’s your book, and you are able to place the conditions to your players on how you decide to accept their action. For example, the standard Vegas parlay payout can be easily adjusted either from your backend panel or by calling us at customer support.)
The general rule of thumb for sportsbooks is that in the event of a push on a parlay ticket, that game is voided from the final odds of the ticket. If it is a single bet that pushes then the bettor is simply refunded their initial wager. It is akin to a push in Blackjack where neither the dealer nor the player wins, and so the round is a wash and the player gets their wager back.
Often, players use an easy solution to avoiding a push on their parlays. It’s called half-point betting and it simply adds a 0.5 to a game total or point spread. This ensures that the bet cannot result in a push.
Let’s use that same NBA game total bet from earlier. The sportsbook has this game posted at a total of 220.0 points. If the player wants to ensure this bet does not result in an Over Under push parlay, then simply add 0.5 points or remove 0.5 points from the total.
This means the new bet would be either 219.5 or 220.5. This means that if the player bets the Over 220.5, he needs the game total to be at least 221 points, or if you bet the Over 219.5, you need at least 220 points.
The only thing to keep in mind is that this strategy can alter the odds of the bet. A total of 219.5 would give slightly lower odds than 220.0 or 220.5. In the end, the difference shouldn’t have a major effect on the potential payout of the parlay.
Parlays can be a fun way of betting multiple different wagers on the same ticket for a higher potential payout. But what happens if the player pushes on a parlay? As you now know, nothing major! Generally he still has a chance to win a profit at the end of the night, albeit at lower odds and therefore a lower potential payout.
As we mentioned, you are in control of your book. There is a plethora options and settings you can apply (or request to be applied) depending on your risk tolerance and bankroll. Having said that, the most common thing to do when there is a parlay push is to just remove the odds of the pushed wager from the player’s parlay, leaving him with a chance to still win the other legs of the ticket!
If you run a sportsbook, you need to be constantly on the lookout for sharp players. Those are professional bettors who could ruin your book in just a few hours. Looking for certain signs can keep you from losing to sharp players. Keep reading to find out how to spot them.
Keeping an eye on what players are winning (and losing) in the most is important. With this information you can make adjustments in your book. Such as changing juice percentages or applying early line limits.
Sharp players, often just called Sharps, are skilled bettors who win more often than lose. They may be professional gamblers but aren’t always. They could be someone who is particularly knowledgeable in one sport or another. They usually bet large amounts of money and rarely lose. Sharps can be devastating for smaller sportsbooks because, by the time they are recognized, they could walk about with years' worth of a sportsbook's profits.
Sharps have decades of experience, and betting is their only source of income. They doot bet on their feelings, they use data and information to make informed wagers. Remember that sharps are fearless bettors, but also disciplined.
Sportsbooks hate dealing with sharp players because they have a high winning/loss ratio. Some ways of combating sharp players is lowering their limits or cutting them off completely.
The opposite of sharp players, square players are often referred to as “the public”. They are the average bettor who bets on their favorite team for the fun of it. They wager a few bucks on the teams that they follow but don’t have any real inside knowledge of gambling.
Square players are the vast majority of gamblers. Well over 90%. They are the reason that Las Vegas casinos can stay open, and the reason why small sportsbooks can make money. They lose money more often than win and don’t often bet large sums of money.
Square players usually bet in the home team
*It’s important to understand that not all of these factors need to be present to identify a sharp player. The more of these red flags that are present, however, the greater the chance is that you’re dealing with a sharp.*
Most of the players on your sportsbook will be losing, that’s how sportsbooks stay in business. When you see a player who constantly has a winning record, you should give them a second look.
If they have a winning record over just a few bets, that may be a coincidence. But if they are constantly winning over months and years, you are likely dealing with a sharp player.
Does the player constantly wins, week after week. Or has spikes on both sides of the y axis?
Whatever your wager limit is, sharp players will consistently be betting the max. They aren’t scared to bet large amounts because they have done the research and know that they win more often than lose.
Watch how much your players are wagering. If they have consistently high amounts, there’s a good chance they are a pro.
Some types of sharp players bet high amount per ticket
Another key sign that you’re dealing with a pro bettor is that they are on your site all day long. Most square players have a 9-5 job to go to and place their bets on the weekend right before their favorite team takes the field.
Since sharp players are professional bettors, they can sit on your site all day long placing wagers. If you find a player spending hours each day on your site, it could be a sign that they are a sharp player.
At what hours does your player place his tickets?
One good way to spot a square player is when they always bet the home team. This “home field advantage” is a sign of an average fan and not an experienced bettor.
If your bettor has an even mix of betting home vs away teams, that could be a sign that they are experienced players.
This sign is a little bit harder to judge than others, especially by itself. But when you combine this with several other signs we’ve mentioned, you can begin to spot sharp players more easily.
Square players usually bet in the home team
If a player is consistently betting in units, that may be a sign that they are an experienced bettor. It certainly shows that they are disciplined because betting units is a more precise way to play.
Units are a way for a sportsbook to keep a level playing field for their players. One unit is usually worth 10% of a player’s bankroll. So if you have $1,000 to play with, one unit would be $10. Each bet can be multiple units, so W/L record doesn’t accurately reflect how they are doing. Example: a square player could be 10-0 and be up 10 units. But a sharp player using units could have a 4-6 record but those 4 wins could have been 5 unit bets, and the 6 losses each only one unit. So the sharp player is actually up 14 units.
A disciplined sharp player almost always bets using the same amounts (“units”) or fractions of it.
Sharp players are rare, but sportsbooks need to keep a “sharp” watch for them and take action if one is found.
Watch for players who consistently win and always play large bets. Those are two good signs that you’re dealing with a sharp. Also, if they play all day and play in units, you can be pretty sure they are a sharp player.
If you find a sharp player, there are multiple adjustments you can apply to the problematic player’s to keep him in check.
What is hedging your bets? No matter what type of investing is done, whether it is financial or sports betting, hedge betting is a vital strategy as a way of protecting oneself from risk and ensuring that in the long run the player is securing profits from their bets. When instituted correctly, bet hedging is an excellent method used by many professional players to protect themselves from unexpected losses.
What does hedging bets mean? Ultimately, hedging bets is a form of diversifying across different outcomes than the original result a player wagered on. While there is no method that can guarantee a player profit on every wager, hedge betting is a way that players can actively limit any potential gambling losses and at the same time, protect their bankroll.
Some people will point out that “hedging your bets” is similar to Arbitrage betting, and in a sense they are alike. The basic premise of both strategies is to secure a profit, albeit a smaller profit, no matter what the outcome of a game or match.
To be clear, Arbitrage betting is placing two or more wagers on multiple outcomes at different bookmakers to take advantage of the variance in the betting lines. Hedging bets on the other hand is a player taking advantage of different circumstances within the same game and can be executed with only a single bookmaker (using a single account).
To maximise the chances of turning a profit, a player must be focussed and aware of all the different changes in circumstances that can surround a bet. “Hedging your bets” always requires at least one more additional bet after the original bet has been placed, so the player should always be in tune to anything that could have an effect on the game they have bet on.
“Hedging my bets” with the winner of a tournament or season is one of the more popular ways the method is used. We will get into hedging futures bets later on in the article, but for now let’s take a simple example of how hedging can be used to increase the chances of predicting the outcome of a tournament. Tennis and Golf are excellent examples of multiple day tournaments where an outright winner will always be crowned.
Let’s use Golf as an example to further understand the “hedging your bets” meaning. Say that a player wants to bet that the winner of the PGA Masters tournament this year will be Sergio Garcia whose odds are 50 to 1 or +5000 (50.00). If miraculously, Garcia makes it to the final pairing, but is up against Tiger Woods in the finals who now is +200 to win the tournament, then it is easy for the player to use the hedging bets definition strategy to hedge their Garcia bet with a Woods bet that will guarantee a profit no matter who wins the tournament.
Say the player originally played $100 on Garcia to win at +5000 and is trying to figure out how to hedge bets with Woods.
If the player is aiming to obtain the same profit, no matter the pick that wins, he needs to divide the expected return of his first ticket by the odds of the opposite pick (i.e.: $5000/2.00 = $2500):
Garcia Bet : $100 x (50.00) = Potential win of $5000.00
Woods Hedge: $2500 x (2.00) = Potential win of $5000.00
| Outcome | Total Wagered | Odds | Return | Profit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garcia Wins | $10 + $2500 | 50.00 | $100 x 50.00 = $5000 | $2490 |
| Woods Wins | $10 + $2500 | 2.00 | $2500 x 2.00 = $5000 | $2490 |
The actual profit from either outcome will be (Potential Return - Total Wagered = Profit). In this case it will be ($5000 - $2510 = $2490) irregardless of if Garcia or Woods wins the finals. The profit is lower than if the player just rolled with their original bet with Garcia, but if the player hedges, the guaranteed profit of $2490 gives them peace of mind that they will turn a profit no matter what the outcome is.
When you try to define hedging bets the mathematics behind the example for bet hedging that we used for the winner of the Masters tournament was sound but let’s be honest, if a player has a feeling about a bet going a certain way, they are going to make adjustments.
Let’s go back to the example of the player using hedging sports bets for his Sergio Garcia bet with the Tiger Woods bet in the finals of the Masters. If the player feels more confident in Tiger winning the finals against Garcia, they may opt to stake more on Tiger, even though it is hedge betting on their original ticket.
| Outcome | Total Wagered | Odds | Return | Profit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garcia Wins | $10 + $3500 | 50.00 | $100 x 50.00 = $5000 | $1490 |
| Woods Wins | $10 + $3500 | 2.00 | $3500 x 2.00 = $7000 | $3490 |
If the player stakes $3500 on Tiger instead of $2500, the profit Tiger winning rises as well, and subsequently the profit for Garcia winning falls. The player still secures a profit no matter what the outcome of the finals, but with more confidence in Tiger winning, the player can stake more against that outcome than the original one.
There are a few examples in sports betting when hedge betting can be seen as being more successful and beneficial for the player. For betting futures, however, hedging bets can be seen as tremendously important, especially when placing bets on futures with very high odds. Let’s take a look at how hedging bets which are futures can profit in the long term.
Futures bets are usually placed before, at the beginning, or in the middle of a season. Traditionally the highest odds are available before the season even starts, when the team has not had anything affect it’s outlook. This makes them a perfect opportunity to hedge bets on them.
Let’s say a player believes that the San Francisco 49ers will win the Super Bowl at the end of the season. First, the player needs to actually educate themselves and believe for a fact that the 49ers even have a chance to get to the Super Bowl. If the 49ers are getting high odds but have no chance to make the playoffs, then this futures bet is pointless. For the sake of the example, let’s say the 49ers do make it all the way to the Super Bowl at the preseason odds of +4000 or (40 to 1). The player can now use hedge bets on the other team that they face in the Super Bowl, let’s say the Kansas City Chiefs, so that no matter what the outcome of the Super Bowl game, the player will make a profit.
| Team | Wager | Odds | Return | Profit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $100 | +4000 (Preseason) | $ 4100 | $ 4000 |
| Kansas City | $2222.22 | +180 (Super Bowl) | $ 6222.22 | $ 4000 |
This is just one example of hedging bets with futures tickes and as shown earlier, the player can stake more on the side that they believe has the edge, even if it means sacrificing some of the profits of the original bet:
| Team | Wager | Odds | Return | Profit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $100 | +4000 (Preseason) | $ 4100 | $ 4000 |
| Kansas City | $3000 | +180 (Super Bowl) | $ 8400 | $ 5400 |
This player believes more in Kansas City so they felt that they could stake a little more for Kansas City to win the Super Bowl, even though their original futures bet was on San Francisco. Either way, the player is making a large profit using the hedge betting technique.
While mathematically, parlay bets are a lot less likely to hit than single bets, the allure of a bigger payout is usually too enticing for most gamblers to overlook. But besides their probability outcome parlay bets, at the right moment, present a great opportunity to hedge bets on them.
A parlay bet is a series of single bets that are linked together on the same ticket. Every bet on the ticket must win in order for the player to be able to cash out the parlay ticket.
Let’s find out how players use hedging bets on parlays tickets:
Parlay bets are common amongst new players and casual players who enjoy the chase of a single large payout. Parlays are also useful for explaining the bet hedging strategy as it is clear when the process needs to happen. Let’s take a look at an example:
| Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bet | Lakers @ Rockets -2 | Bucks @ Raptors +4 | Jazz @ Heat -3 | Kings @ Nuggets -6 |
| Outcome | Win | Win | Win | Pending |
On this 4-game parlay, the player has successfully won the first 3 games on their ticket. The payout comes down to the last game. If the player placed $100 on this 4-game parlay and the payout is +2000, then the player will win $2000 if the last bet is successful. This is where the player can hedge bets on the last leg of the parlay to guarantee themselves a profit. The player has the Nuggets to cover the spread against the Kings to cash the ticket. To lock in a profit no matter what the outcome, the player can place a single bet on the opposite result, or in this case for the Nuggets NOT to cover the point spread. Making this scenario a perfect timing to apply the hedging bets technique:
| Result | Wager | Return | Profit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nuggets Win (parlay) | $100 | $2000 | $1900 |
| Kings Win (hedge) | $200 | $380 | $180 |
This is a very rudimentary way to hedge bets the last leg of the parlay. If the Nuggets cover the spread, then great, the player wins the $2000 from the parlay. If the Kings cover however, and the ticket is a loser, then the player can still make a small profit and at least recoup the original wager of $100. Whether a player wants to break even, like in this example, or wager a higher amount to potentially win more is up to the player and how risk averse they are.
Live betting is becoming more and more popular amongst players, especially with bookmakers being available online now and even through mobile phones. Live betting can present the perfect opportunity to hedge bets a ticket “in-game” after circumstances may have changed. During any game, the spread, totals, and moneyline odds will constantly fluctuate, depending on how the game is going. For keen players that are following a certain game, this creates edges and odds that were not available before the game started, allowing the player to create a window where they can bet on both sides. Let’s look at an example on how to use the hedging bets strategy, this time on live betting tickets:
| Team | Odds | Wager | Return |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green Bay Packers -3.5 | -110 | $100 | $190 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers +3.5 | -110 | $100 | $190 |
This player placed a pre-game bet on the Green Bay Packers to cover -3.5 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. As the game starts and the first quarter progresses, Pittsburgh comes out to a good start and is leading 10-0 over Green Bay. The original bet doesn’t look as strong right now, so the player takes a look at the live odds for an opportunity to hedge bets his original stake:
| Team | Odds | Wager | Return |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green Bay Packers +7.5 | -110 | $100 | $190 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers -7.5 | -110 | $100 | $190 |
The live spread is now Green Bay +7.5, which is a 10 point swing from where the spread started before the game. If the player still believes that the original bet is live and the Packers can come back, this would be a good opportunity to hedge bets his original Packers
live bet at +7.5, creating a 10 point window for the player to win both bets, doubling their profits. The player should have a good feel for this particular game though before engaging in live betting, as there is just as much risk in getting carried away with betting a game as it is taking place, than there is pregame.
Players aren’t the only ones who use hedging bets to protect themselves, bookmakers do it too. Bookmakers are always looking to get two-way action on their games to limit their liabilities and will take some of the funds that come in from players and use hedging bets as insurance against taking big losses if a game does not go their way.
If you are taking action and have a given liability on one side of the game, you can take some of your bankroll and place a bet on the opposite side of the game you players have chosen. For this you may want to have a regular betting account on some post-up bookmaker website.
As with anything in life, there are those who are for and those who are against hedging bets in sports betting. Some players will argue to trust the judgment of the original bet and let it ride. Others are willing to forego a higher profit for a smaller one because the smaller profit is guaranteed. In the end, there is no right or wrong answer, it is completely up to the player’s preference and risk averseness when they decide whether to use hedge bets or not.
Is there a perfect time to hedge bets? Not exactly. Hedging bets is merely an option for players who wish to minimise any potential losses and guarantee themselves a smaller profit. For the long term it is absolutely a viable strategy to protect a player’s bankroll. Hedge bets is one more tool used by professionals and experienced. These players will use hedging bets in the right situation to protect themselves. Bookies also use hedge bets to their benefit and to cover their backs against heavy action in a given game. After all, the most important part of investing is alleviating risk and allowing for the clearest and safest path to profitability.
The US sports betting industry is growing at a rapid rate, following the repeal of PASPA, presenting first-mover opportunities in many different states. With that, operations will become larger and more complicated.
The recent legalization in multiple states makes of sports betting all that more popular.
An online bookie master agents system for sports betting agents allows you to take a step back from day to day player management and customer service, enabling you to focus on topline performance metrics and big-picture tasks for your bookmaking business. By creating a network of sub-agents, you can transfer the sportsbook’s front-line responsibility to them.
PPHSportsbook.net offers numerous Master agent systems and solutions to bookmakers looking to take that next step and expand their business or switch to a new, more reliable and more advanced pay-per-head sportsbook provider. It is a smart way for existing online bookie agents to expand their player network, along with the scale and the scope of their operation.
Using the "agent distribution" report, master agents can easily see how much each of their subagents made this week and what their cut is.
An online bookie master agents network is a player referral network, headed up by a sports betting bookmaker (the master agent) who is responsible for several sub-agents. These sportsbook sub-agents are responsible for new player recruitment and day to day care of the player base.
Be aware: developing an online bookie master agents network does not mean all the work is handed over to the sub-agents; there are some new responsibilities that are required for the master agent system to work efficiently.
A key responsibility is managing and paying any commission earned by sub-agents. Timely, correct payments are an incredibly important factor in keeping a satisfied group of sub-agents that are willing to recruit and nurture your customer base.
One of the biggest risks of creating a network of other online bookie agents for the master agent is the responsibility to bankroll the entire network of sub-agents. But don’t worry, there are a wide range of commission structures that you can use to run your online bookie master agents network. That way, you can make sure all commercial agreements (whether red-figure, revenue share or flat fee) are optimised to protect the overall network’s exposure (keep reading to learn more about these systems at your disposal).
Think of a master agent system as a tree-like structure in which the master agent is at the top and one ore more subagents below him.
There are many advantages to developing a network of sportsbook sub-agents. The primary advantage is that it allows the online bookie master agent to step away from day to day player management and customer service and focus on larger, more strategic tasks. In any growth industry, you need to be able to look upwards and outwards, rather than downwards and inwards.
The signs that you need to start developing your network often become apparent themselves, making it an easy decision to take that next step. Perhaps your player base has grown to the point where you are not able to offer the same level of customer service? That’s very common and often results in players moving to other operators who can offer something more.
Maybe you have recruited too many players to be able to handle the book accurately and effectively? Or conversely, you might just be ready to expand, having taken the business as far as you can without additional resources.
The addition of sports betting sub-agents are the ideal resource to allow you to delegate certain responsibilities and mitigate all of the above issues, enabling you to focus your effort and time into overall profit levels and reducing your exposure, whilst maintaining customer service levels.
Like all networks, a bookmaking agent network relies heavily on trust between the master agent and sub-agent. A common way of finding trusted sub-agents is by looking at your existing customer base. Many players want to subsidise their wagering expenditure by recruiting other players, so reaching out to them is a good place to start. New sub-agents are also more open to starting on lower commission structures, enhancing your bottom-line.
As previously mentioned, the commercial agreements between master-agent and sub-agent can make or break the business. There is a wide range of commonly used commission structures available through PPHSportsbook.net, as seen below:
Agent split means that both you and your subagents are taking risk and that the subagent is in charge of paying and collecting funds. So, if the players win then the subagent will be owed money to pay out the players, if the players lose then the agent will owe money because he will collect from them.
If the master/subagent are working on a 50% agent split commission type, and the players lose $228 on a given week, then 50% of that goes to the subagent and the other 50% to the master.
Red figure means that the subagent is taking no risk if the players lose then he will receive a percentage of the losses and if the players win then he will lose nothing and whoever is backing the sheet (the online bookie master agent) will have to pay the whole amount won. If the players win then there will be a red figure which the players then have to lose in order for the subagent to again start receiving commission.
Again, this is an SUBAGENT red figure meaning that he is in charge of paying and collecting so if the players win, he will receive money to pay them and if they lose then he will owe what is left over after he takes his percentage.
For example, say the subagent sheet did $-228 on a given week (that is, players had a net loss of $228). The previous red figure (the "make up") of $100 is subtracted to the subagent commission ($114), leaving the subagent with a commission of $14 and a New red figure of zero. Meaning he should receive his full commission next week (if the players sheet end up with net losses again).
In weekly profit accounting is similar to Red Figure in that the subagent takes no risk but, in this case, there is no red figure kept. If the players win one week but lose the next the agent will receive his full commission the week they lose. Again, this is an SUBAGENT red figure meaning that he is in charge of paying and collecting so if the players win, he will receive money to pay them and if they lose then he will owe what is left over after he takes his percentage.
Another variation of these methods are that in which the subagent is not in charge of collecting and paying out. He simply refers players to the online bookie master agent and is paid whenever his players end the week in negative. Otherwise the red figure rule is kept and he is paid out only once that figure is covered.
One crucial component of developing an effective network of sports betting subagents is having the correct platform. PPHSportsbook.net offers an industry-leading online bookie master agents system, enabling you to monitor all of your sportsbook sub-agents activity with confidence and ease. The reports available within PPHSportsbook.net offer detailed information for managing your player profiles and limits, recording deposits and payouts, reviewing and setting credit limits and more.
PPHSportbook.net gives you full control on what to allow or disallow your subagents to do or change.
A good starting point is to not give your subagents access to more than they need.
As your network expands, you will have to build trust with more and more sub-agents. As a default, only giving the sub-agent read-only data rights, rather than edit rights, is important to protect all reporting and data from tampering. You can also prevent sub-agents from being able to remove wagers, should you wish to do so. This sort of protection gives you the peace of mind that your figures are accurate and your sportsbook business is performing as it should be.
If you think your business is ready to take the next step and expand into an online bookie master agents system, then speak to PPHSportsbook.net today and schedule a demo with one of the experts.
There are a huge number of advantages to developing a network and a wide variety of ways to do it. At PPHSportsbook.net, we guarantee a full audit of your business to ensure you get the most applicable solution.
What better way to make up your mind than comparing pay per head service providers? We have decided to do the hard work for you and visited the top PPH sportsbook services out there and put together these reviews of the best pay per head sportsbook sites.
Some of the most important factors considered when choosing a new home for you and your players:
These reviews of the best pay per head bookie sportsbook service have been written by visiting the provider’s website and using one of their publicly available Demo accounts.
The reader needs to know that since some features may be disabled by default on those demo accounts, it’s always better to contact the PPH Sportsbook provider directly and verify the information with them. With that said, we believe this article will be useful as it will compare, head to head, the providers within the same factors. You can then verify the information written here by contacting them directly.
*Note for providers: If you feel we missed something and will like us to update some information, simply send us an email, provide us with a demo username and password (that includes the feature you want us to update these reviews of the best pay per head sportsbook sites for), and our writing team will visit your site, verify the information and update this article accordingly.
*Since this is a lengthy post, feel free to use the contents navigation widget to the right side of the page (or fixed to the bottom if you are reading this on your mobile device), to skip to the pay per head provider (or features) you want to compare.
The first provider we will discuss as part of these reviews of the best pay per head sportsbook sites is Aceperhead
This PPH sportsbook features an extensive betting board, with plenty of lines for your players to choose from. If you are looking for the sports bookie software with most lines available to offer to your players, Aceperhead.com is definitely a great option to go for.
There is no lack of betting options within the Aceperhead pay per head sportsbook
It also features a convenient search tool that allows players to easily type the name of the team they are looking for and will filter games that include such names.
Once in soccer, typing “Manchester” will filter all games containing this word.
As mentioned, this payperhead is worthy of commendation for the number of lines they have. In terms of line quantity, it is only rivaled by BookiePPH.com and Idsca.com. One downside is that their sportsbook design and the interface look outdated when compared to other PPH Sportsbooks that have implemented more modern interfaces that make the process of entering a ticket faster, easier, and more enjoyable for your players. In these cases, the whole process is completed within the same screen, without having the player go through multiple screens to enter a simple ticket.
3 out of 4 screens a player needs to go through to enter a single straight bet.
This online bookie software offers to you and your players, one of the most modern sportsbook interfaces. With a one-page experience and modern bet-slip functionality, your players will feel right at home.
Entering tickets is done within seconds. However, by still asking the player to confirm the bet by first entering their password, we ensure no complaints about mistakenly entered tickets from players.
There may be hundreds of games available on the board at any time. Instead of your players having to browse to the sport, then to the league, and then look for the specific game; the filter functionality allows them to simply type part of the team's name, hit enter, and the board will update to show only the games that include the characters typed.
Start typing the name of one of the teams. Hit enter and the board will update to show only games that contain such teams.
Similar to other price per head service providers, PPHSportsbook.net has a daily figures screen (also called "weekly figures"), which allow players to keep a note of their performance per day of the week without having to contact the agents.
By clicking on each day's number, all tickets placed that day to make up for that figure will be displayed below, along with their corresponding timestamp, wager type, description, and results. This helps your players filter the tickets placed by day.
Clicking the $182.82 figure for Monday, December 23rd, all tickets that make up for this amount will be listed below.
Besides the Weekly figures screen, which breaks down the action per day of the week, players using this pay per head sportsbook can also easily track their balance using the "transaction" screen.
The "transaction" screen shows the date, the type of transaction (wager won/loss, balance adjustment, etc.), the corresponding balance on that date, and the updated balance after that amount.
Players can easily keep track of their performance by day. This helps increase your book's credibility and player’s trust.
At any moment, players can look up final scores by simply clicking the corresponding option at the top sportsbook agent sites menu.
Players can look up game scores right from within the price per head sportsbook software.
PPHSportsbook.net provides two types of customization available to your players.
Skins are different sportsbook layouts. These skins change the colors, fonts, icons, graphics, and the overall look and feel of the sportsbook, with one click.
There are two types of skins, the general skins and the team-based skins:
Currently pphsportsbook.net provides 4 different general-purpose skins:
The “Gray” skin brings a lighter background, changing colors and adding a 3d background image.
Another option to personalize the price per head sportsbook software is to choose one of the team-based skins. These are grouped by league (NFL, NBA, MLB or NCAA).
Selecting any of these will cause the header's colors and background image to reflect those of the selected team
Available options include all major teams from the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NCAA. Each selection will not only match the colors of the team selected but also include a corresponding background image.
There are customized skins for almost every team of the major sports leagues.
The Denver Broncos skins change the colors and the background image to match those of the player’s favorite team.
Further customization includes:
As you can see, we, at PPHSportsbook.net, pay special attention to make sure the sportsbook is fully customizable to your players’ likings. And that allows them to make it their own and feel right at home by changing skins, favorite team background, etc.
The next pph service we will discuss in these reviews of the best pay per head sportsbook sites comes with plenty of lines for your players to choose from. It also has a clean look along with a multi-page classic layout and attention to detail.
The layout, though, may look outdated for some players. Nowadays, almost every major post-up sportsbook uses a bet-slip functionality, which allows players to enter multiple tickets and combinations without having to browse through multiple screens and without leaving the main sportsbook board, so there is no reason for pay per head website services to lack behind and, at least, offer the option for a bet-slip experience to your players.
Realbookies.com PPH sportsbook is clean and shows attention to detail. Unfortunately, some players may find it cumbersome having to navigate through 6 different screens to enter a simple straight bet.
Realbookies also has useful search functionality that allows players to search, first by the league (e.g., “English premier league”) and later by the team itself (e.g., “Manchester united”). This should be a welcomed addition by players, especially when making their way through the various betting lines offered by this pay per head software provider.
Searching for “manchester” will return all games which contain such name.
In regards to the reports and options available to the player, Realbookies comes with the standard weekly balances report, which allows players to see their performance per week.
Your players will be able to track their action back to previous weeks.
In regards to customization options from the player side, they will be able to choose the sportsbook language from English to Spanish; select one of many time zones options; decide between American, decimal, or fractional odds styles; and finally, font size.
We believe there is also an option to change the sportsbook color palette. However, that is likely done either from the agents back-end or by requesting it to the PPH sportsbook’s customer service department, since there was no setting for this from the player side.
Some solid yet basic customization options are available to your players when choosing Realbookies.com as your online bookie service.
This bookie website software has a nice layout that is easy on the eye and is also mobile responsive (the layout adapts to whatever device your player is using). All sports are shown throughout the board. Unfortunately, similarly to Aceperhead and Realbookies, the sports are displayed all over the board, without some proper navigation structure and a dropdown menu that could make it easier for players to find the sport they are looking for.
We commend Realpriceperhead.com for investing in a more modern look on their sportsbook. Unfortunately, behind some nice colors and fonts, all sports betting lines are spread out throughout the board, in no particular order, making it harder and more time-consuming for players to get to the game they are interested in.
Additionally, this price per head bookie sportsbook layout has a more modern look and feel. Still, it requires players to go through a tedious multi-page process to enter their tickets.
Select the sport and league, click “continue,” find the game and select the line, click “continue,” enter the wager win or risk amount, click “continue,” type the password, and click “continue.” You are done!
Realpriceperhead.com also has a search tool for quick filtering. Unfortunately, it seems to filter by league instead of by the team. So, for instance, searching for “Manchester” will return all leagues where a team name includes the word “Manchester.” This means, this search also returns all other teams that do not include such a word, but that play within the same league as the name of the team entered.
Realpriceperhead.com’s search tool filers at the league level rather than at the game-level. This causes a lot of non-desired results to be included in the results.
The standard player weekly figures and wagers history reports are also available to the player. Even though there is no cash flow or balance tracker for the players, they will still be able to check past and open tickets from the bookie software program reports.
Players will be able to check their action back to previous weeks.
In regards to sportsbook customization, players can change their password, time zone, and odds display (American, Decimal, and Fractional).
Don’t expect much more than the default and minimum customization options.
Idsca pay per head bookie service offers a modern and nice looking sportsbook interface. Plenty of lines and a smooth experience will keep your players coming back for more.
All the process of entering the tickets is done within a single screen, thanks to a handy bet-slip functionality.
A nice and modern sportsbook with bet-slip is what your players will enjoy when using Idsca.com as your pay per head (PPH) sportsbook provider.
Currently, there is no search tool available for players to quickly find the games they are looking for. This would be a welcomed addition considering Idsca offers action on plenty of markets, and the lack of such functionality makes it difficult for players to quickly find the game they want to place their tickets on.
Pending wagers, Daily or weekly figures, and Transactions - which show a cash flow of the player balance after each transaction (wagers, credits, etc.) - are available to the player.
Player reports (sportsbook) at IDSCA.com price per head bookie software.
Other than changing the betting line format from American to Decimal, and changing the language to English or Spanish, there are no further customizations available for players. Nothing against the default layout and colors used by the Idsca pay per head service, but a little bit more options allowing players to make it their own would’ve been a welcomed addition.
As an agent, one key component of having your own sportsbook is having the option to move and adjust your lines and odds. This is the next feature we will discuss in these reviews of the best pay per head sportsbook sites.
The way this feature works is similar on almost every PPH sportsbook:
*Because of the nature of the business, the odds can change at any moment due to several factors, such as injuries, market perception, etc. Hence, it is recommended to always set your lines to “soft shade,” so it follows future changes.
| Your line | Main line | |
|---|---|---|
| Default line | Cowboys -5.5 | Cowboys -5.5 |
| You adjust your book’s line by half a point. | Cowboys -6 | Cowboys -5.5 |
| The main lines moves by half a point. Your sportsbook line follows by the same amount. | Cowboys -6.5 | Cowboys -6 |
This provider, among the other pay per head sites, uses the standard DGS lines mover tool. It does get the job done, even though with some setbacks. To ACE’s credit, their implementation of the tool loads faster than what we have seen with other PPH Sportsbooks. So props to their engineering team, which have paid attention to make it load as fast as possible.
That aside, there is no way around the fact that the standard DGS’s lines adjustment tool is not easy on the eyes. From the colors, fonts, and overall layout. It leaves a lot to be desired.
The default DGS lines mover is limited to do that, move lines. It’s not pretty on the eyes but gets the job done.
Based on our reviews of the best pay per head bookie sportsbook service, when we look at the functioning of this Lines Mover feature provided by Aceperhead.com, we concluded the tool comes off as very outdated.
For instance, say you want to adjust your sports bookie software lines based on the action you are receiving. With the current setup in most pay per head service providers, you will need to open multiple reports to first understand the action your sportsbook is receiving and then go back to this tool and make the actual line adjustment. This workflow complicates the entire process.
The process would go like this:
Open the “Exposure” report on one browser tab. This report shows you the risk amount on each game, broken down by wager type (straight, parlay, etc.) and bet type (spread, moneyline, total).
Have one browser tab open with the exposure report and another tab with the lines mover.
When compared to other price per head services out there, at the time of writing these reviews of the best pay per head bookie sportsbook services we noticed a couple of issues with this report:
Payperhead.com uses the same, previously mentioned default DGS lines mover tool. Same cons and pros. You can read about this version of the tool here.
Payperhead.com uses, as Aceperhead does, the default DGS lines tool without any enhancements to the default setup.
Realpriceperhead.com uses the same, previously mentioned default DGS lines mover tool. Same cons and pros. You can read about this version of the tool here.
Realpriceperhead pph sportsbook uses the default DGS tool.
This payperhead sportsbook’s lines mover (named “game admin”), just as the name implies, is much more than a simple betting line and odds adjustment tool. It is the perfect tool for bookmakers to monitor their online bookie software sportsbook exposure and as well adjust the odds offered.
From the same screen, they will be able to see:
The Game Admin page is much more than a line mover tool. It allows you to monitor the action your pay per head sportsbook is receiving and adjust your lines accordingly, all from within the same screen.
Clicking on the exposure number will reveal all wagers that make up for the exposure amount:
All wagers that make up the total action on the game.
Agents can click on the player row. A new window will appear showing all open tickets for the given player.
This can give clear insights into the player betting patterns. Clicking on each of the bets will reveal more details about it.
A list of all bets placed by the player clicked from within the game admin’s wager list window.
If the agent notices massive action on a given game, he may choose to apply stricter wager limits on such games. This is called a "circled game." Imposing stricter limits is the quickest way agents can limit their price per head service sportsbook’s exposure without affecting other games. From this window, it's also possible to disallow parlays, which include the selected game.
Using the “circle game” option you can quickly apply specific limits per game.
And of course, agents are also able to adjust the line. They can choose either to “hard shade” the line (move the line and don’t accept the main line’s movements), or “soft shade” (move the line and follow main line changes).
From this screen you can also remove the previous shade setting or remove the line altogether:
Simply enter the favorite’s line, the system will automatically calculate the comeback. Choose if you want to follow the main line’s changes after your adjustment (“soft shade”) or keep your line fixed regardless of future changes (“hard shade”). From this screen you can also hide the game’s line altogether.
You can also switch the game admin screen into the advanced mode. This mode allows you to move multiple lines at the same time, while showing the volume of action received on each game.
The "advanced" mode allows you to move multiple lines at the same time. Click the "save" button to apply the changes.
Once you apply the changes, the cells edited are indicated by the new orange color.
As you can see, PPHSportsbook.net’s Game admin screen is more than a simple “lines mover” tool, making it agents’ go-to screen if they like to monitor the exposure of their sportsbook and slightly adjust the lines as the action comes in.
Idsca’s line mover (“Line Entry” screen) is several steps above the majority of pay per head sportsbook providers. It fulfils its purpose rather well, allowing agents to edit multiple lines at once, soft or hard shading them or removing them completely.
You will have no problems adjusting your game’s lines with IDSca.com pay per head sportsbook's lines mover tool.
Unfortunately, it suffers from some of the same issues as with the previous versions. It doesn’t allow agents to see the volume of bets (nor the risk or to-win) received on the particular games shown. For this, you agents need to open the “agent position” report (which only indicates risk amount, not to-win or amount of bets), and based on this, edit betting lines and odds.
Let’s consider the following example. An agent wants to offer odds on quarter periods (On NBA, for example, 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th quarters are available), but only at 40 cents line (-120). Quarters are usually at a 30 cents line by default (-115). One option would be to call the provider’s customer service and have them set it up for you. But what if you want to set it yourself right from within your pay per head sportsbook management backend, maybe set it up on a per-player basis, and experiment with your possibilities without having to contact the sportsbook agent sites provider everytime?
Another thing agents may want to do (and it’s highly recommended, especially if they are working with a smaller bankroll to cover player’s winnings) is to not offer action on games whose moneylines include heavy favorites. The reason for this is that players, especially those with a big bankroll, are willing to bet high on these favorites since the outcome it’s almost guaranteed (think of those NCAA college basketball games).
In these cases, the “max moneyline” option allows agents to configure their price per head sportsbook software so it automatically hides any moneyline that is higher than the threshold entered.
In this section of our reviews of the best pay per head sportsbook sites, we will discuss these two features and compare different providers in their implementation for this setting.
There doesn’t seem to be an option for the bookie to create these profiles, line types (vigorish / juice setup), and max moneylines by himself. So we are guessing these need to be requested to the Realbookies.com customer service.
Moreover, there was no option to change these profiles in bulk (selecting a group of players and assigning the limits profile to all of them). Again, you will need to request such a change to their customer support.
This online bookie service allows agents to choose from preset profiles with multiple line variations – from a 10 cent (-105) line and higher.
These preset profiles also allow for max moneylines setups. From 500 to 1000, we are sure you can request any juice and max moneyline combination and then assign it to each player or have the PPH Sportsbook’s office assign them to a group of players in bulk.
Unfortunately, it seems there is no option for the bookie to adjust the juice and max moneyline by himself manually. He will have to contact the office to have it done, which is not bad, but takes away the flexibility and control that some agents like to have in their pph bookie sportsbook.
Also, we could not identify a dedicated screen that allows agents to apply different juice and max moneylines to a group of players (instead of the one-by-one basis). Again, you will have to contact the pay per head website customer service.
Bookies can call the payperhead.com office and request any juice/max moneyline combination. Changes will immediately take effect on their online bookie software agent backend.
Similar to payperhead.com, Realbookies allow you to choose from a preset assortment of juice and profiles.
Choose from the preset list of juice and limit profiles. Additional configuration can be requested by calling the PPH Sportsbook directly.
There doesn’t seem to be an option for the bookie to create these profiles, line types (juice setup), and max moneylines by himself. So we are guessing these need to be requested from the Realbookies.com customer service.
Moreover, there was no option to change these profiles in bulk, which means selecting a group of players and assigning to all of them a given line or limits profile. Again, you will need to request such a change to their customer support.
Other than changing each game juice individually using their lines mover adjustment tool, this pay per head software provider doesn’t seem to offer an option to adjust the vigorish (juice) per entire sport or league/period. In other words, agents can only change it in a game-by-game basis.
As regards setting a max moneyline, this bookie website software has a nice little feature that takes care of that - even though there are some limitations with their current implementation.
The “Manage Max Moneylines” screen displays a table showing all sports:
You will be able to set a max moneyline allowed per sport. Unfortunately, there is no way to be more specific as to which leagues or periods this will apply to.
The issue with this implementation is that it doesn’t allow the agent to choose a specific max moneyline to be offered on a per league or per period basis. For example, agents can set the max moneyline across all NFL, but not for NFL first halves, NFL game props, NFL alternate lines, etc. You get the idea. This may come up as a huge letdown since moneylines on game lines are higher than those for halves and quarters.
So, for example, say you want to set the max NFL moneyline on the game to -/+500 and -/+300 on halves and -/+300 on quarters. With the current implementation by Realpriceperhead.com, you would not be able to apply such a setup.
Nevertheless, having at least some variation of the max moneyline option online and available for agents is a plus, and we commend Realpriceperhead.com for it.
Similar to other providers, IDSca allows you to select from a predefined set of betting line types, each of them with their corresponding juice or vigorish.
We are guessing that, as with other providers, you can request any custom line by calling their customer support department.
Even though IDSCA.com pay per head service doesn’t have a dedicated tool to configure juice and max betting moneylines, they provide a preset list of line types options. Additional line types can be requested by calling the provider directly.
PPHSportsbook.net has a dedicated screen to allow agents to not only change the juice per sport+league+bet_type (spread, totals, etc) combination but also to decide what the maximum betting moneyline you want to be available in your book.
The juice on any sport, any period/league, and any bet type (spread, moneyline (comeback), total), can be customized using this pay per head service
Simply select a sport from the top menu. Identify the league/period for which you want to set the max moneyline. You can also use the copy/paste option to quickly apply the same configuration to multiple leagues or periods.
For example, let’s say you don’t want to allow moneylines over -400 on Martial Arts (UFC, Bellator, K1, etc.).
Before the setup, UFC 246’s Modaferri vs. Barber moneyline line is Barber’s -990.
Back on the “Vig Setup” tool, simply select “Martial Arts,” select the league or event (UFC 246 for this example), and set the max moneyline to -400. Click the “save” button.”
Setting a max moneyline of -400 will hide all moneylines higher than that number.
As a result, all moneylines higher than the entered amount will not be shown.
All lines with moneylines higher than -400 are now hidden.
Setting up the juice is very similar. You access the “vig setup” screen, select the sport, and identify the league/period you want to change juice for. (Optionally, you can use the copy/paste option to apply the same juice configuration for multiple leagues or periods).
Offering a 30 cents juice (-115) is typical of quarters. You can make this even bigger (or smaller) with just a few clicks.
For agents, understanding their player performance is a must when trying to improve their business’ profit margins and maintain a profitable price per head bookie sportsbook. Identifying the best and worst players can provide agents the information they need to apply the adjustments necessary to increase the bottom line.
Different PPH Sportsbook providers offer different levels of reporting. Agents, at least, would want to know the top and worst players by hold percentage (Total amount risked by player related to the amount kept by the agent)
But going deeper than that does pay off. Some bookie agents stick to taking action from players who continuously maintain a negative weekly balance. But that may be shooting themselves in the foot because you will soon realize players will stop referring to other players if they continue to get cut after a few weeks of positive figures.
Instead, identifying in which sports, periods, wager types (straights, parlays, teasers, etc.) and bet types (spread, total, moneyline) players are the most and least profitable and applying slight adjustments to your setup (e.g., max moneylines, juice setup, early lines limits, max parlay payout, parlay odds, etc.) can be just what’s necessary to turn a player’s “luck” around.
In the current section of these reviews of the best pay per head bookie sportsbook services out there, we will discuss how the different bookie software programs providers measure up when it comes to their sportsbook and player reporting capabilities available to the bookie agents.
Aceperhead has some useful reports that allow agents to dig deeper into players' activity and patterns. This pay per head bookie service’s "Player Analysis" report enables agents to quickly identify in which sports, periods, or wager types players are the most profitable. With this information, they can decide to take action and apply changes such as increasing the juice or tidying up the limits on certain betting markets.
The “Player Analysis” report available i Aceperhead.com's pay per head service breaks down the win/loss amount per sport, period and or wager type, showing the agent’s final hold percentage.
Furthermore, the “Player Totals” report allows agents to view the performance of any player by a given date range.
The volume (quantity) of bets, total win, lose, Net (win-lose), and current balance will be displayed for all players listed.
The Player Totals report is a great starting point for further analysis.
The only downside with this report is that it doesn’t break down the numbers by bet type (spread, moneyline, total, etc.). It would have been useful to be able to say: “Okay, PlayerX plays a lot of spreads and totals, he is pretty good at spreads and horrible at totals, so let me increase his juice on spreads so when he loses, he loses more, and when he wins, he wins less amount (since the juice is higher he needs to pay higher to bet). Unfortunately, the current report doesn’t Aceperhead “Player Analysis” report setup does not provide the possibility to research at the bet-type level.
Nevertheless, the Player Totals report is still a great resource to get a bird's eye view of your best and worst players and later take this newly gained knowledge and research individual player, using the “Player Analysis” report to identify in which sports, periods and wager types (straights, parlays, teasers, etc.) the player performs the best (and worst).
Payperhead.com various performance reports allow the bookie to see his book’s numbers by time (day/week/month/ year), agent or player and see the total volume (number of wagers). Additionally, some of these reports breakdown the win/lose by business unit (sports, casino, horses, etc.).
Unfortunately the level of depth is not what we would’ve hoped to see. For example, the “Betting Statistics” report shows volume (amount of bets) per wager type (straight, parlay, teaser, etc.), but there is no way to see the win/lose ratio for these same wager type areas. In other words, with this report, you can answer the question of “which player plays more parlays?” But you cannot answer the question: “which is the worst parlay player and for how much?”
Payperhead.com's online bookie service gives agents access to the Betting Statistics report. It shows a breakdown volume of each player performance by business unit and wager type.
Another promising report is the “Summary & Lifetime” report. This shows the win/loss by “business unit” (sports, casino, horses, etc.). This is a helpful report to understand the overall book’s performance in these areas. Unfortunately, it doesn’t answer the question, “which sports/periods/ leagues, etc., are the most and least profitable ones.” Again, the lack of depth is a setback. We couldn’t find such a report within the Demo account accessed.
Even though knowing the win/loss per business unit is useful, that’s only a small step in the right direction. We want to break down sports data into smaller categories, such as per-sport, periods, leagues, wager types (straight, parlay, etc.) and bet types (spread, moneyline, etc.).
As far as our research goes, there is no way to find out which leagues and periods (NFL 1st half, NBA Game props, etc.), wager types, and bet types (spread, moneyline, total, etc.) tend to make the agent the most and least money.
This pay per head service provider also offers a “Player analysis” report. It functions similarly to Aceperhead’s player analysis report (these two providers utilize the same DGS framework, after all. Therefore, they share some of the same strengths and weaknesses when it comes to this report).
A nice breakdown per sport, league, periods and wager types is displayed using Realbookie.com’s player analysis report. Unfortunately there is no way to filter wager type performance per sport or league.
As mentioned earlier, with this report, you can select a player and view the breakdown of his performance by sport, period, and wager type. The limitation of this report is twofold:
There is no breakdown by sport (much less by period) on the “wager types” table, nor is there any way to filter the report by sport or period.
This pay per head sites provider offers the “hold percentage” report. It is an excellent starting point on your research, since it shows, by “sport”+ “wager type” combination, the win/loss amount. Unfortunately, a major setback with this report is that it doesn’t allow the agent to filter by player. You will be able to identify how your overall book is going on, say, NBA straight bets, but not how “PlayerX” is doing on the betting market.
Realpriceperhead's sports bookie software provides the “Hold Percentage” report. This report is a good starting point to understand your sportsbook’s performance.
We were not able to identify any report within this sports bookie software demo account that breaks down player activity by sport + period. So it will not be possible for bookies to find out the performance of their players by period or league (only by sport).
Another useful report available is the “action by player” report. This breaks down the player win/loss amount by wager type (straight, parlay, teaser, reverse, as well as casino and horses). It’s a pretty neat report to quickly identify how each player performs in each of these categories. If a player is too good at parlays, you can, for example, request the parlay payouts to be decreased (e.g., Instead of a 2 team parlay paying the default of 2.6, you can make this, for example 2.1).
The “action by player” report breaks down player win/loss by wager type (straight, parlay, teaser, reverse, etc).
The problem with this report is that it shows the wager types in aggregates. In other words, you are not able to see the sports (much less periods or bet types (spread/moneyline/totals, etc)) these numbers correspond to. Therefore, this report is useful to see how a given player is doing on spreads, parlays, etc., but not to see which sports, leagues, or bet types these numbers correspond to.
Unfortunately, IDSca.com finds itself lacking a little bit when it comes to player analysis/performance reports. The only report we identified which provides player-level data was the previously discussed “action by player” report.
This report is identical to that previously discussed in the realpriceperhead.com section. For each player, it breaks down his action by wager type (straight, parlay, teaser, etc.), and also his total (all wager types aggregated).
The action by player report breaks down your players’ activity by wager type. Unfortunately there is no way to further break down this activity by sport, period or bet type (spread, moneyline, totals, etc).
It’s useful because it allows you to answer the question “in what wager type is X player more (and least) profitable, but there is no way to further breakdown these figures by sport, period or league, and bet type. The main reason why this is a setback is that besides making adjustments by wager type (straight, parlays, teasers, etc.), there is also a wide selection of changes you can make on a per-sport, per-league (or period) and per-bet type (spread, moneyline, etc.). You will leave all these possibilities out if you only focus on a per-wager type dimension.
When it comes to analyzing the pay per head sportsbook and players' performance, the best way to get started is at the “Customer Performance” report level.
The “customer performance” report is the best entry-point in the analysis of your players. You can easily spot top and worst performers.
With this report, you can easily see which players are performing well or poorly. A red “net” means that they are negative, meaning they are losing more than what they are winning. A green number means they have a net positive, meaning winning more than they are losing.
After you identify this information, then you can plug each of these players, (or as a group) into the “Sports Performance” report to really understand in which sports, leagues/periods, wager types, and bet types they are over and underperforming.
The sports performance report shows an in-depth breakdown that includes, either by player or group of players (agents): sport, league or period, wager type (straight, parlay, teaser, etc), and bet type (spread, moneyline, etc).
Generally, there are two ways to use this report:
As you can see, an excellent breakdown by wager type (straight, parlay, teaser, etc.), Sport (Football, Basketball, Baseball, etc.), League (NFL, NBA, Italy Cup, etc.), Period (Game, 1st half, etc.), and bet type (spread, moneyline, total points, etc.), is shown.
It’s advisable to not base your decision for pay per head service provider solely on price. Available tools, customer service, user experience, and performance are all critical in this business. Nevertheless, pricing is also a key factor to consider when making your final decision.
We have left this pricing section to the end of these reviews of the best pay per head sportsbook sites because of this reason. At this point, you should know how the different Pay-per-head (PPH) sportsbook providers differ from one another in terms of features. So now it’s a great time to put the final nail in the coffin: Pricing.
This pricing section focuses on the cost for the base PPH Sportsbook + (Digital) Casino + Horsebook. The dynamic live betting feature is indeed a highly sought-after add-on, but not all players will likely be using it, nor all agents like to offer it, therefore we have left it out.
Most online bookie software providers charge a rate of +$5 for the dynamic live betting service, so in most cases, you only need to add this rate to the prices listed in this section.
*Please consider that this section is based on the pricing each provider has listed on their respective websites. Depending on the number of players you handle, it may be possible to get a few dollars subtracted from this rate. So we recommend you always call the provider and ask them directly.
This PPH Sportsbook provider starts with $10 per active player. Phone wagering is also included at no additional cost.
Payperhead.com starts with $11 per player. This includes online access only. They also offer a $13 rate which covers phone wagering and dynamic live. But we are not sure if paying a higher fee for something not all of your players will be using is a good idea.
Realbookie.com offers a rate of $10 (all customizations and leagues included). This rate only includes online access. Access to phone wagering will cost you an additional +$5 per player.
Realpriceperhead.com starts with a $7 per head rate. Phone and online wagering are included at no extra cost.
This price per head service provider offers their classic interface at $10 per head or their modern (seen in this article) interface for $15. Phone and online access are included.
At PPHSportsbook.net, you can get started for $9 per head. You can enjoy the most feature-rich PPH sportsbook backend management software, the most insightful player and sportsbook reports, a fast and knowledgeable customer service, and a modern state-of-the-art front end sportsbook for your players.
We hope you found the content written on the page useful. In these reviews of the best pay per head bookie sportsbook service, we worked hard to put together a truthful, unbiased comparison of the factors we consider most crucial when running a private sportsbook.
Based on powerful tools (juice setup, max moneylines, lines adjustment, and many more), a modern sportsbook front-end interface that your players find themselves comfortable with and it’s easy to navigate, insightful agent backend performance reports, and a fair and competitive pricing, we consider PPHSportsbook.net a great option.
If you are interested in getting started, simply request a free demo account today.
Have you recently started a local bookie sportsbook or you’re thinking about starting one? You may have wondered
These questions and more will be answered in this article. We will also explore some tools on your PPH website that can help you track your player’s wagers and keep you under your bankroll.
One of the most important aspects of sportsbooks for the local bookie to master is sports betting bankroll management
In addition to learning how bookies make money, it pays to know how local online bookies manage their sportsbook’s betting bankroll management.
From the customer admin screen you can set the your players’ “weekly credit limit” and “wager limit”
Your bankroll management sports betting is liquid funds that are available for you to pay your players when they win. Just as players keep a close eye on their gambling units or gambling bankroll, so should you keep a close eye on your sportsbook bankroll.
This should be separate from your anticipated cash flow for the week in case a player doesn’t pay on time. It’s important on your way on how to become a bookie online to have a bankroll large enough to cover any bets that your player will make in your bookie shop.
It’s also important to keep in mind when running a sports book that your bankroll must be separate from your personal checking or savings accounts. This is not money that you pay your bills with or an emergency fund that you need to access if your car breaks down. Think of your bankroll as gambling money or an investment in your way on how to be a successful bookie business owner. Never gamble or invest money unless you’re willing to lose it all.
Clicking on any player account from your pay per head sportsbook control panel, you can access additional limits. Under the “basics” section, the “settle limit” indicates the maximum amount the player can win or lose before you either collect or pay him out. This is another way you can keep control of your book’s exposure.
A common question when you assess the best approaches on how to run a bookie operation is figuring out how much money you need to get started.
Your bankroll size depends on several factors. How many players you have and how much they wager are the two most important factors. Let’s say you have 20 players and their weekly limit is $1000, you should have a bankroll of at least $10,000 on hand. This is because you know not everyone is going to be winners at the same time or will owe the bookie money; but you are covered in case several players go on winning streaks.
One key reason bookies are successful is by “word of mouth”. Meaning, if you pay on time to your players they will refer your services to other players. Because of this you don’t want to be one of those bookies whose players say “bookie owes me money”.
Understanding your players is also a key to having the right-sized bankroll. If your players are small rollers, meaning that they don’t usually bet more than $100 on games, you can get away with a smaller bankroll. But if you have a high roller who is continually maxing out his daily and weekly max, you need to maintain a higher bankroll in case he has an unusually good week at your bookie shop.
Setting casino limits is yet another way to control your exposure and keep your bankroll in check. The limits available for this are:
On your way to becoming a bookie keep in mind that your sportsbook bankroll it’s scalable. This means that if you’re just starting out and you only have a few players, your bankroll can be just a few hundred or a few thousand dollars. As you gain more and more players and the amount that they are wagering grows, your bankroll needs to grow as well. The bookie software infrastructure allows you to keep track of all limits and tickets.
Weekly limits are also a great way to ensure you don’t go over your bankroll. You can set your weekly limits to whatever number you like to ensure that you can cover your players’ winnings. As your sportsbook grows you will become more comfortable with the weekly cash flow and can increase your limits accordingly. This is normal in the process on how to be a bookmaker.
Layoff accounts are one of those bookie tips that will save you a lot of money, but you should use it with caution.
It’s important for local bookies to understand what a layoff account or layoff bet is, and it’s even more important to understand how and when to use it. A layoff bet is simply a bet that bookies make to hedge against their potential losses. The best way to understand this is by example. Let’s say that the Chiefs are playing the 49ers and the Chiefs are favored -7. Your sportsbook is getting a lot of action on the Chiefs to cover the spread. If you’re concerned about your bankroll being able to cover those winnings, you can place a layoff bet (on an online sportsbook, your “Layoff Account”) for the Chiefs to cover the spread, the same bet as your players. From here, two things can happen:
Layoff bets and layoff accounts are important when figuring out how to be a sports bookie online that is not only successful but one that maximizes his profits. Keep in mind though, the use of layoff bets will severely limit your ability to make a profit on your sportsbook. The reason is that a sportsbook is a gamble, for the player AND for the bookie. Statistics show that, in the long run, players lose more than they win, which is why casinos and sportsbooks almost always make money. But when you use a layoff bet, you are reducing or eliminating the risk that you’re taking, but you also reduce your ability to turn a profit.
A common error novice many make when figuring out how to start a bookie business is to expect to keep a balanced sportsbook.
A bookie that keeps his sportsbook balanced means that you take equal bets on either side of a game or event so that whatever the outcome, you have an equal amount of winners and losers. This almost never happens. Most games have a side that is clearly favored, and the betting line will reflect that. Just as we talked about in the last section, you need to take risks as a bookie in order to make money. Unbalanced sportsbooks are the potential for large gains for you.
Pay Per Head websites have a plethora of tools for bookies to monitor their players and the action thanks to the sportsbook software. There are a few of this that you must use on your way on how to become a sports bookie.One of the best tools for staying on top of wagers as they happen is the Wager Alerts tool. This feature sends you an email every time that player places a wager. This is a great management tool if you are just starting out with a few players, or also if you have a few high roller players you’d like to keep close tabs on.
The wager alert feature sends you an email or telegram message everytime a given player places a ticket. To set this up simply click the “settings” option located on your main menu, then click the “wager alert” button and follow the instructions there.
Another tool that makes bookies’ lives easier is the Bet Ticker Tool. This gives you a continuously updated list of all wagers placed on your sportsbook. Within the price per head bookie software control panel, click the “bet ticker” option. With the click of a button, it sorts the wagers by dollar amount and highlights them different colors based on the amount. It even plays a different sound when each category of wager is placed. These features make it simple to monitor the wagers on your sportsbook in real time.
The bet ticket opens on its own browser window, you can configure different color indicators per wager amount, and filter in to only a given types of wager types. It’s the perfect tool to open in a secondary screen monitor.
Bankroll bookie management may be the most important aspect of your sportsbook for a local bookie using pay per head sportsbook software.
Understanding how large a bankroll you need, and how to ensure your payouts don’t exceed your bankroll is key to a successful sportsbook.
We talked about how much money you will need to start, and about how your sports betting bankroll is scalable to the number of players you have and how this is similar to how players keep a close eye on their units betting systems. We also discussed layoff accounts and layoff bets, and how they can help you balance your book, but also how it’s unreasonable to expect your book to always be balanced. Finally, we discussed several tools available to you on your PPH website that allow you to monitor your players and their wagers to ensure you never go over your bankroll.Remember, you can start off with small weekly limits if you have a small bankroll to begin with. As you get more comfortable with the process, you can always increase the weekly limit. With your new understanding of bankroll management, now is the time to request a demo account. With a demo account, you can explore the pay per head sportsbook and use some of the tools that we talked about here. Head on over to PPHSportsbook.net to request your demo account today and put your new knowledge to the test.
An If Bet appeals to the more conservative, low bankroll player.
This article will explain how do if bets work and provide detail on the different types of If Bets (ifi win bets, if action bets, reverse if action bets) available to players, whilst providing first-hand insight into the rules and strategies commonly used. We will also mention the settings available to local agents which are using PPHSportsbook.net’s pay per head sportsbook to manager their player sheet and how they can use them to control their if bets action.
To the beginner player, if win only bets can appear quite complicated, but they are simple. One key difference between an "if bet" compared to multiple straight bets is how the stake is applied to the different selections and the conditions in which these apply.
Let’s answer the question "what is an if bet?.” An If Bet is one stake bet on multiple selections, with the result of the first bet determining whether or not the subsequent bets are placed.
For example, imagine there are two games that catch your interest. Buccaneers vs Chiefs and Eagles vs Rams. You decide to take the lines of Tampa Bay -5 -110 and Eagles +1.5 -110.
You lay $110 to win $100 on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on the first leg of your if win only bet. If your first pick is a win, then the second pick (Eagles +1.5) is automatically played at the corresponding vig. So that would be Eagles risking $110 to win $100.
If your second leg (the Eagles ticket) wins, then you profit $200 ($100 for each of the legs of the if win only bet). If the Eagles don’t cover the spread you end up losing $10.
The math for this as the following:
| First "if bet" leg: Buccaneers -5 -110 | Second "if bet" leg: Eagles +1.5 -110 |
|---|---|
| Risk: $110 | Risk: $110 |
| To win: $100 | To win: $100 |
| Ticket wins => Profit = $100 | Tickets losses. Profit = -$110 |
| Payout: (+$100) + (-$110) = -$10 | |
Since the second selection will not happen if the first selection loses, in order to understand how do if bets work is important to keep an eye on the order in which you enter your selections. Because of this the player can choose the ordering of all legs in any type of if bet (if win only bets, if action bets, reverse if bets, etc). The start time of the event does not actually matter though.
If a player has a lot of confidence in a certain pick, they should put that selection first. That way, if it wins, they get a return and with that, the second (or subsequent) picks in the "if bet" will carry on.
If the player was to put the selection they felt less confident in first, and it went on to lose, then the entire bet is deemed a loss.
This logic also applies to If Bets with more than two selections. The more likely events (in the eyes of the player) should be placed in the first selections and get less and less likely as they go on. From a bookmaker’s perspective, it is a good idea to limit the number of selections allowed in a if bet, if win bet, if action bets, or reverse if bets.
Agents using PPHSportsbook.net's pay per head platform to run their sportsbook business, can disable if-bets altogether if they so choose. Simply select the player for which you want to disable this type of bet and toggle the setting off.
An If Win Only Bet is the simplest type of If Bet and refers to the examples found earlier in the article. The difference here is that subsequent selections within the if win only bet carry on “only” if the first selection “wins”. If the game is a push (postponed, cancelled, tie, etc) the entire “if win only bet” is cancelled and money gets back to the player’s account.
Let’s look at another example:
The player could place a $110 If Win Only Bet on the LA Lakers and the New York Knicks to win their respective games in the NBA. The player chooses the LA Lakers at -5.5 -110 as the first selection, and they go on to win. The New York Knicks are underdogs on the spread at +4.5 (-110) and they go on to lose. The customer has a negative return of -$10 (explained below):
Usually if-bets allow up to 7 teams. You can decide and set the maximum number of teams your players are able to include on an if-bet.
Another variant of an If Bet is an “If action bet”. Whereas in a If Win Only bet the first selection must win, the if action bet allows the second leg of the ticket to take place if the first pick is a tie (push) or considered “no action” (e.g.: game postponed).
The ‘no-action’ outcome does not result in a win or a loss for that selection, the stake simply rolls onto the next selection. For example, the player could choose to place an If Action Bet on the Chicago Bulls to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers (first leg of the if-action bet) and the Detroit Pistons to beat the Indiana Pacers (second leg). If the Bulls vs Cavaliers game is postponed, then the original stake would roll over onto the Pistons/Pacers game.
Finally, a Reverse If Bet eliminates the complication of choosing the order of selections by offering a combination of all possible outcomes on a series of selections.
For example, a player places a Reverse If Bet on two NBA teams to win. The first leg will have the Boston Celtics as the first selection, whilst the second leg would have the Toronto Raptors as the first selection.
Double stakes are required (in case of a 2-game reverse-"if bet"), so a $50 Reverse If Bet totals a $100 stake. The player is essentially betting on two "if bet"s. The aim of this is to cover more scenarios. Let’s look at an example to drive the point home:
Let’s consider the possible outcomes for the previous example:
If one selection loses, then only the bet that considers that team the second selection would result in action, IF the other selection wins.
This also means the more selections the player chooses, the more outcomes are available, resulting in multiplied stakes:
| Number of Selections | Number of If Bets |
|---|---|
| 3 | 6 |
| 4 | 12 |
| 5 | 20 |
| 6 | 30 |
There are two important settings available to agents using PPHSportsbook.net’s pay per head sportsbook platform.
The first one allows you to control whether you want to allow or disallow action-reverses with more than 2 selections (usually called “birdcages”).
The second setting you should consider is to limit the number of underdogs to allow. Since underdogs pay more they are considered an added exposure you should consider when running your book using the pay per head sportsbook service.
Enabling action-reverses with more than 2 selections ("birdcages") and choosing the number of underdogs to allow is just a click away
Here are some key rules to understand about If Bets:
“If bets" are ideal for players that want to limit their betting amount and play conservatively or have a small bank-roll to begin with.
This type of bet allows you to place two bets when you only have the money for one.This is great for those players who keep a close eye on their bankroll.
Players should consider that placing two separate straight bets provides a higher profit margin. So if they are confident in their selections it’s advisable to place as many bets as possible. Therefore stay away from the "if bet" and place multiple straight bets instead.
Remember that an "if bet" is not a parlay and as such, it’s payout is much lower.
Finally, it is common that sportsbooks limit the amount of selections allowed in the different types of if bets (if win only bet, action if bet, and reverse if bets). You may want to talk with your local sportsbook agent if you want to increase that limit.
Historically, sports betting bookmakers have allowed correlated If Bets to be placed, although this is becoming rarer as they learn more about player behaviour. For example, a NFL team to beat a -10 spread and then Total Points to be over 38.5. The two betting markets are correlated, meaning the second selection is very likely if the team is able to cover the spread. As a sportsbook agent, it’s important to make sure you’re not offering these types of bets on markets that influence each other (correlated selections are, by default, disabled when you start using PPHSportsbook.net as your pay per head sportsbook service).
Understand that "if bets" are used by players to manage their bankroll. That is the biggest advantage they provide. For example, imagine a player has a deposit restriction on his account and wants to place a ticket on both Monday Night Football and today’s (say, Sunday) game. The "if bet" would allow him to place such action on both games using the "if bet" mechanism discussed in the previous paragraphs.
Other than those particular situations, the "if bet" type of bet doesn’t provide much added benefit.
After this explanation on the topic of if bets and how they work you should have a solid understanding of them.
"if bets" are not a commonly used type of bet, but it’s important to understand how and why players use this type of bet and what settings are available for the local sportsbook to limit or completely disable this type of bet.
Parlays are one of the hottest bets in the sportsbook world. They are a great way for players to increase their payout without increasing their wager. For this reason, we’ve put together some great information on parlays for you. We will discuss exactly what parlays are, and how they work. This article will explain the difference between the types of parlays, such as point spreads and moneylines. We will also talk about other facets of parlays, such as what the rules for bets that push in a parlay, and what is a key parlay. We will also give you some tips on how to customize your parlay setup.
Let’s answer a common question we hear from a lot of players and local bookies: “how does parlay betting work?”. When your player places a bet, they are normally betting on just one thing. A race, a game, a score, etc. In a parlay bet, they are combining multiple bets. They must “hit” on all of the bets, meaning pick the winner correctly. If they do, they will see a substantially larger payout than a single bet. In a three-game parlay, the standard vegas parlay payouts is 6 to 1 (American +600) which is a huge payday.
When using pphsportsbook.net as your pay per head sportsbook provider, you have in-depth parlay controls to customize every aspect of your parlay offering.
Another way to look at it is if they’re going to place three different $50 bets anyway, why not make them a parlay. They only need to hit on the parlay once in six times and it will do better than break even.
Parlays are good for minimizing losses as well. Let’s say a player bets $50 on three different games ($55 x 3 = 165), and they win one and lose two. They’ve lost $60. If they had parlayed those bets, they would only be down $50.
So even though the more games they add to a parlay, the harder it gets to win, the payout continues to be better than the risk. This should answer the common question: “How Does Parlay Betting Work?”
A typical points spread parlay looks something like this:
| 2 teams | 13/5 |
| 3 teams | 6/1 |
| 4 teams | 10/1 |
| 5 teams | 20/1 |
| 6 teams | 40/1 |
| 7 teams | 75/1 |
| 8 teams | 150/1 |
That means that if a player bets a four-team parlay and all four bets hit, they win $10 for every $1 they bet. So if they bet $100 on a six-team parlay and hit all six games, they will win $4000. Parlays allow players to win big money with relatively small bets. This is why parlays are so popular in sports betting.
Your players can see the final payout right within the betslip widget.
With a moneyline parlay, the odds of winning vary from team to team, so they don’t use fixed odds like point spread parlay. The point spread evens the odds of each team winning, but a moneyline parlay doesn’t do that. If one team is a heavy favorite, the parlay odds payout will vary accordingly. This is part of the moneyline parlay formula.
The parlay payout will differ depending on the actual moneyline odds. The bet-slip shows you players the final payout instantly.
As the player wins a moneyline parlay, the money rolls over to the next game. Let’s look at an example of how the moneyline parlay formula works. Your player places a $10 moneyline parlay on the St. Louis Cardinals at +160 and the Texas Rangers at -130. The Cardinals bet wins and pays out $26, which rolls over to the Rangers bet. So the Rangers bet is $26 at -130. If the Rangers also win, the player has turned $10 into $46. That’s a $36 profit. If the player had made a point spread parlay on those games, the profit would have been $26. The difference comes from the fact that the Cardinals did not have good odds of winning.
Another important point to cover when answering the common question of: “how does parlay betting work?” is understanding True odds in parlays. As we talked about earlier, fixed odds means that all bets are 50/50 odds, this type of parlays use the standard parlay odds payout table discussed previously. If one team is better than the other, or one side of the bet is more likely, true odds are given. This is the typical scenario when placing a moneyline parlay. It’s important to understand that the term “true odds” does not refer to the actual odds of winning.
The purpose of the point spread is to level the possibility of each side and make it a 50/50 bet for the player. The moneyline shows a clear favorite and underdog. This causes the parlay true odds formula to differ from the fixed point spread parlay calculation.
Let’s look at how the moneyline parlay formula works. In a true odds parlay, each of the bets is converted into a multiplier. In the moneyline parlay formula, the equation to get the multiplier goes like this: “return amount” divided by “risked amount”. Let’s do math. If the true odds are -110, a $110 bet returns $210 because $110 + $100 = $210. $210 return divided by $110 risk is shown as 210/110 = 1.91. That’s the multiplier. On -115 odds, the multiplier would be 215/115 or 1.87.
Now let's look at an example of a moneyline parlay bet. Our example is a four team parlay with true odds. Here are the odds:
| Bet 1 | -110 |
| Bet 2 | -140 |
| Bet 3 | +210 |
| Bet 4 | -110 |
Let’s say our player bet $300. Our first step is to get our multiplier using the math equation return amount divided by risk amount. Here are our multipliers.
| Bet 1 | -110 | 1.91 |
| Bet 2 | -140 | 1.71 |
| Bet 3 | +210 | 3.10 |
| Bet 4 | -110 | 1.91 |
Continuing with the moneyline parlay formula, now we multiply the multipliers, and come up with 19.3385. If we take this number and multiply it by our players bet amount ($300), we get $5801.55. Remember to take away our original bet of $300, and our player is left with a four team parlay profit of $5501.55. Not bad.
As a bookie, when using our pay per head platform (request a free demo here), you can adjust the true odds by the “Reduce Odds By” option. This takes away a percentage from all true odds parlay payouts. (Example: True Odds -10%). This is a great aid for local bookies wanting to offer a reduced payout not only on fixed odds parlays (those with a spread of -110), but also those with different moneylines, hence using the true odds moneyline parlay formula).
Most pay per head sportsbook solutions don’t give you any tools to deal with true odds parlays. This means the player simply needs to enter a non-(-110) line to force the system to use true odds instead of fixed parlay payouts (which are more beneficial to you as the bookie). With our pay per head solution (pphsportsbook.net) you can reduce the parlay payout to any given percentage.
Normally when one of the games in a parlay pushes, that bet is removed from the parlay. This is the most common behavior of a push in a parlay. So if the player wagers a three-team parlay, and game three ends pushes, the wager turns into a two team parlay, and therefore the payout is calculated as a 2-team parlay payout. But that’s not always the case. Here are three examples of how sportsbooks treat a push in a parlay:
As a bookie working with pphsportsbook.net, you get to decide how you handle a push in a parlay. Using our pay per head sportsbook solution, you have the choice of setting your players’ parlays to “Remove Leg” or “Loss”.
Each bookie operates under slightly different rules. Making your rules clear to your players is important to help them avoid unnecessary losses and complaints towards your business.
Another relevant issue to address is: “what is a key parlay? Key parlays is a topic not frequently discussed when answering the question: “how does parlay betting work?”. A key parlay is another way of linking wagers. In a key parlay, the player selects a team as the key, and parlays that team with other teams. This is the basics of “what is a key parlay”.
Let’s look at an example to better answer the question: “what is a key parlay?”. Let’s consider team A, B, and C. Team A is the key. He parlays Teams A/B, and Teams A/C, but not Teams B/C because that doesn’t include the key.
In this example, 3 teams have been used for 2 parlays with Pelicans +8 as the key, and the two combination: Thunder -6.5 and Pistons +575
Now let’s use three baseball teams as an example. Our player plans to bet on the Reds, Astros, and Cardinals. He uses the Reds as his key. So he parlays the Reds and Astros to win, and also parlays the Reds and Cardinals to win. But NOT the Astros/Cardinals, because that doesn’t include the key. With this concept, you can also have multiple keys and multiple teams in the parlay. These are the basics to understand “what is a key parlay”.
Las vegas parlay payouts in most sportsbooks are slightly less than the actual odds of winning. Take a look at the standard parlay odds payout chart below.
| Teams | Actual Odds | Las Vegas Payout |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 3/1 | 2.6/1 |
| 3 | 7/1 | 6/1 |
| 4 | 15/1 | 10/1 |
| 5 | 31/1 | 20/1 |
| 6 | 63/1 | 40/1 |
| 7 | 127/1 | 75/1 |
| 8 | 255/1 | 150/1 |
As a local bookie, you have the ability to change the standard parlay odds payout from the traditional “vegas parlay payouts” using our pay per head service. These only apply if your player is betting at -110 odds (to see how you can reduce the true odds payout see the “Reduce Odds” section).
For example, you could set a two team parlay to pay at 2.1 instead of the traditional vegas parlay payout of 2.6. You also have the ability as a local bookie to set the maximum parlay payout. For example, a four team parlay with a wager of $100 would normally pay out $1228. But you can set your max parlay payout to $1000, instead of the full amount.
In this article we’ve talked about what parlays are and several different types of parlays. Parlays are a great way to keep players interested and keep the bets going, as well as a way for players to increase their potential earning while risking the same amount. We have also given you several ways to customize your parlays on your sportsbook.
If you’d like more information on how to begin using the parlay information you learned here, as well as all of the other tools available on our pay per head sportsbook, simply request a free demo account today!
