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Main » Betting Guide » How Bookmakers Make Money in Australia

How Bookmakers Make Money in Australia

Publish Date: 26/05/2020
Fact checked by: Megan Jonson

| How bookies make money explained

Welcome to our guide to how bookmakers make money. We won’t just give you the answer to the question of ‘How do bookies make money?’, but we’ll even answer ‘How much do bookies make per year?’ so that you can see how much they’re getting from your sports bets.

Anybody who’s ever used the best betting sites in Australia will know that they all promise to give you evermore competitive odds and generous bonuses. As a result, asking the question of ‘How do bookies make money?’ makes perfect sense. After all, if these bookmakers were really so generous, then they’ll stand little chance of avoiding bankruptcy.

But anybody who’s ever asked ‘How much do bookies make per year?’ will know that these are frequently multi-million dollar businesses, so they’re clearly doing something right. We are going to take a close look at how bookmakers make money, so that you can see how sports betting sites operate.

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How bookmakers make money – Betting margins

It doesn’t matter whether you’re using the best betting sites with Neteller in Australia, or the best betting sites with credit card in Australia, as all decent bookmakers will impose a betting margin that ensures that they stay in business.

A betting margin explains how bookmakers make money as it shows that they keep their sports betting odds ever so slightly in their favour. This means that punters will be able to get the occasional win, but the bookmakers would stand to get the upper hand over the long term.

If you’ve ever asked ‘Is online gambling legal in Australia?’ then you’ll know that sports betting is perfectly legal at licensed bookmaker sites. But the only way that bookmakers are going to be able to get a license is if they can show that they serve up fair and transparent odds.

A betting margin allows them to do this while giving them the slight edge in how betting odds are calculated to give them a better chance of a winning result.

How bookmakers make money – Anticipating punters’ behaviour

If you’re still asking ‘How do bookies make money?’ then you should know that they are all experts at anticipating how punters will bet on sport. This is because bookmakers will assemble teams of odds compilers whose job it is to make much better predictions than the average punter.

For example, when it comes to Australian Open tennis, many casual sports fans will blindly back a local favourite like Nick Kyrgios without really looking at his past form. But all bookmakers will use a massive amount of statistics to help give them the edge with their odds.

From the best betting sites with Skrill in Australia to the best betting sites with bank transfer in Australia, you’ll see how bookmakers make money through anticipating how the public will let their hearts rule their heads when it comes to sports betting.

So, if you’re asking which bookmaker is best for beginners in Australia, bear in mind that they’ll be looking to make money from your inexperienced sports bets.

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How bookmakers make money – Avoiding risk

As all bookmakers are legitimate businesses, then it’s their job to try and minimise risk on their sports betting product. They can try and achieve this by creating a balanced book on each betting market that they put out. This means that they should make the same amount of profits regardless of the outcome of the sporting event.

It’s kind of a similar concept to the best strategy for no risk matched betting Australia has to offer, but here the bookmakers will balance the odds with the expected amount of money that they hope punters will put on these bets.

There’s a huge amount of work that goes into balancing the odds for these sporting events. But if you’ve asked ‘What is Asian handicap betting?’ or ‘What is 1×2 betting?’, then you should know that both of these bet types will be taken into account when bookmakers are ensuring that they’re covered regardless of what goes down in a sporting event.

How much do bookies make per year?

It might seem odd to ask ‘How much do bookies make per year?’ but it can help you work out who the big players in the industry are. We’ve found that companies ranging from the best betting sites with PayPal in Australia to the best betting sites with Bitcoins in Australia can turn over millions in profits each year.

For example, some UK-based betting sites had revenues of over $5.7 billion in 2019, while it’s common for even mid-level European bookmakers to get nearly $1 billion in yearly revenues. We’ve even seen examples of a betting exchange in Australia making over $750 million in revenues each year.

By answering the question of ‘How much do bookies make per year?’ you should see that these businesses have plenty of skill in making money from their sports betting odds. Now it’s your job to use our online betting guide for Australia to win some money back from these bookmakers.

How do bookies make money in other ways

Obviously it’s not just through their sports betting odds that bookmakers make their cash. Now that you’ve seen the answer to the question of ‘How much do bookies make per year?’ you’ll see that they earn huge amounts of money through a variety of channels.

Betting exchange commission rates

When it comes to betting exchanges, you’ll be betting against other punters rather than the bookmaker. As a result, the betting exchange will be careful to skim of a percentage of whatever profits you make. This may only be as much as 2.5% but it can still add up to a healthy profit for the bookmaker.

Misunderstanding of bonuses

Most sports betting fans will know that bonuses are often a little more complicated than they initially appear to be. In fact bonuses could be one of the main reasons why punters will want to check the most helpful guide to making bookmaker complaints Australia has to offer.

This isn’t due to the fact that the bookmaker is trying to rip you off. It’s just a fact that things like wagering conditions often mean that you’ll end up having to bet significant amounts of cash on some pretty unfavourable odds just to clear your bonus.

Using a bookmaker’s discretion

All bookmakers will have pages dedicated to terms and conditions on their site. It’s here that you’ll see how the bookmaker imposes sets of rules that help them to avoid foul play and maintain the health of their business.

For example, you might find information here about their betting limits that can put a ceiling on how much you can win with your sports bets.

If you’ve ever asked ‘How does cash out betting work?’, then you might know that bookmakers can suddenly withdraw the cash out feature in order to stop punters from cashing out their bets early for a quick profit.

Some bookmakers even add fees for whenever you make deposits and withdrawals on their sites. These can often be small amounts, but it can all help the bookmaker stay afloat. All the more reason to check out our shortlist of the best betting sites with EcoPayz in Australia, so that you can understand how processing fees can put a dent in whatever profits you make.

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