We continue our in depth look into the world of odds making, books and specifically Bookmaker. Take a look at part two of the three part series and what the books have to say.
BookMaker is a rarity among offshore sportsbooks in several fundamental ways. First off, they openly accept all action, including that of professionals, syndicates, and long-term winning bettors. Secondly, they come up with all of their own opening lines.
While most books simply follow the market (and for good reason), BookMaker is a market leader, and in many cases, solely determines the market's opening line. Thirdly, BookMaker has very high guaranteed limits, and will usually accept bets even bigger than their standard house limits if requested.
"Where The Line Originates" is BookMaker's slogan, and that means what it says: for many sports, including NFL, BookMaker is the first offshore book to open with lines. They have an assortment of in-house oddsmakers and external consultants who come together to set the odds that so many sports fans and sports bettors find so impressively accurate.
When it comes to moving those lines throughout the day and week, the situation is also different for BookMaker than it is for most other books, which will usually move their lines as the market moves.
BookMaker moves their lines primarily based on the action they get from an assortment of international professionals and "whales" - or high-volume non-professionals - as well as the general public. Taking such high volume from all comers requires BookMaker to constantly manage their exposure, right up until gametime, on each and every game and bet that they offer.
Mickey Richardson addressed these behind-the-scenes issues of oddsmaking, bookmaking, and risk management in Part 2 of his phone interview with SBR.tv and if you missed part 1, you can find it here.