Often, when reading the description of a particular bookmaker, you can come across the item “margin”. The size of this very margin in various bookmakers can vary from 5 to 20 percent. It all depends on how popular this bookmaker is and what kind of business strategy it pursues.
What is bookmaker margin?
It should be immediately noted that small players who play for fun should not pay special attention to this item. The fact is that with small bets, the size of the bookmaker's margin is insignificant. But for those who play for high stakes, and who have chosen sports betting as a source of stable income, the size of the margin can play a big role. Let's see what is the bookmaker's margin and how it is important for the players.
Almost any bookmaker is a legal entity whose activity is to accept bets on various events from their customers. If the player correctly predicts the outcome, then he is entitled to a win. If the outcome is not guessed, then the amount of his bet goes to the bookmaker. The business plan of a bookmaker's office involves regular monitoring of public opinion regarding various events, and for this very reason, no matter what the outcome of a particular match will be, the bookmaker's office should always have a guaranteed profit. And the size of this profit is called margin.
After completing the registration procedure at the bookmaker's office, the player gets access to an extensive list of sporting events, the so-called "line". The aim of the player is very simple. It consists in choosing the event you like and the correct prediction of its outcome. And if the outcome is predicted correctly, then the player's account is replenished with the winning amount. But, as you know, the probability of outcomes of the event is not the same.
Margin Calculation Example
For example, in the match of the English Premier League Chelsea - Liverpool, the victory of the first club is much more likely than the second. And, of course, most players will bet on the victory of the hosts. And some dedicated Liverpool fans will bet on their team to win. The other part of the players will decide that this meeting will end in a draw, and will also make a corresponding bet.
To ensure guaranteed profit, the bookmaker studies the event, and each outcome is assigned a certain coefficient, according to which the winnings are calculated.
For example, about half of all players will bet on Chelsea. 20% will think that Liverpool will win. And 30 percent believe that there is no favorite in the match and will bet on a draw. What does a bookmaker do? Converts these numbers into odds.
Therefore, 50 percent understandably turns into a ratio of 2.00 (100 percent/50 percent = 2.00), 30 percent turns into 3.3 (100 percent/30 percent = 3.3), and 20 percent turns into 5.00 (100 percent/20 percent). The bookmakers calculate the amount of winnings as follows: the size of the bet is multiplied by the size of the coefficient. So, if you make a bet of 10 rubles on the victory of the hosts, then if you manage to guess, the amount of your winnings will be 10X2.00 = 20 rubles. And accordingly, if you bet on a draw, and the match ended like that, then 10X3.3 = 33 rubles, and if the bet on Liverpool's victory turned out to be correct, then - 10X5.00 = 50 rubles. However, in this case, the bookmaker will distribute all the proceeds to the players.
To ensure their profits, bookmakers go to reduce odds by 5-20 percent. Consequently, now the odds become less attractive for players and look like this: Chelsea win - 1.8, draw - 3.00, Liverpool win - 4.5. It turns out that in this case all coefficients are reduced by 10 percent. And these 10 percent will go to the bookmaker's account, regardless of the outcome of the match.
An easy way to determine lower margins at a bookmaker is to look at even odds events which typically range from 1.8/1.8 - 1.96/1.96
Margin in bookmakers
Every bookmaker has its own margin. The larger the office, the more extensive it has a list of clients, and, consequently, the smaller the margin, which will provide the office with a good profit. Serious firms that have already earned their reputation on the international market with a large cash turnover are content with 5 percent. In smaller offices, the percentage of margin varies from 10 to 20 percent, and this affects the attractiveness of the coefficients.
To date, the lowest margin is in . From this we can conclude that here the coefficients are the highest.
Percentage, share, commission, margin, penalty - these are the options for the name of deductions that the bookmaker receives depending on the odds set. Each office has a margin, since it is its main income.
The size of the commission (margin) in individual offices may differ - it all depends on the bookmaker model, the amount of money wagered and some other factors. Sometimes you can find an offer for improved quotes - for individual events or for bets through express.
So what is bookmaker margin anyway? How to calculate it? How will the commission size affect your profit? We will try to find answers to all these questions in this article.
What is bookmaker margin?
Some people think that bookmakers themselves take risks when setting odds. You can always find phrases like:
Oh, lol, Real lost, but the beeches are upset, they probably went bankrupt.
But it is not so.
It is clear that bookmakers set the baseline (odds) after analyzing all the main factors (the strength of teams/athletes, form, motivation, and so on). But over time, depending on the news related to the event and the amount of money that the players bet, the quotes are adjusted.
The task of the bookmaker is to ensure that players bet on the opposite results (W1, X, W2) in proportion to the odds.
Simply put, if there are odds of 1.90-1.90 in a tennis match, then the ideal situation for the bookmaker is if the same amount is bet on both outcomes. If the odds are 1.2-4.0, then it would be ideal for the bookmaker if players bet $1,000 on 1.2 and $300 on 4.0. Why? 1.2*1000=1200. 4*3=1200.
How does the bookmaker make money from all this?
Due to margin. You have noticed that with equal chances of tennis players, we cited as an example a combination of coefficients 1.90-1.90, and not 2.0-2.0. Margin refers to the percentage of a pot placed on a particular market.
The size of the commission can decrease or increase even within 1 day - it all depends on the bookmaker's profit in the market. It is very difficult for the office to achieve an ideal distribution of funds in all markets. Therefore, sometimes the margin is artificially increased.
What is a fair market?
A fair or fair market is a market where there is no betting margin. For example, it is best to give a match or an event in which the chances of teams / athletes winning are equal. That is, it is estimated as 50-50%.
We will not delve into sports, but as an example, we will use the usual coin toss. The statistical chance of getting each side (heads or tails) is 50%. If a bookmaker’s office accepted a bet on this event without margin, then the odds would look like this:
- Eagle -2.0;
- Tails - 2.0.
That is, if you correctly predicted which side the coin would fall on, you would double your bet.
But you will not see odds of 2.0-2.0 in any bookmaker for an equally probable outcome. The maximum is 1.99-1.99 (this is almost nowhere to be found).
Sometimes you can stumble upon 1.97-1.97 or 1.98-1.98. Equally probable odds are rarely offered, even in the range of 1.94-1.96. A good indicator is already considered 1.90-1.90. But much more often than not, I offer 1.85-1.85 at all.
That is, instead of increasing your winnings by 2 times, you only increase it by 185% . And the mathematical expectation of your bets is negative. This is where the bookmaker makes their money.
Bookmaker margin calculation
Now that we know what a fair market is and what a margin is, we can move on to direct calculations. This is a fairly simple process. Experienced players can determine the margin "by eye" by simply looking at the odds, and without doing any calculations.
To calculate the margin, it is convenient to convert the coefficients into percentage probability. To do this, you need to divide the unit by your quote. For example, if the coefficient is 1.65, then the percentage probability will be 1/1.65=0.606 or 60.6%.
Let's take an example. Let's take a football match with the following odds:
- P1 - 2.00;
- X - 3.5;
- P2 - 3.9.
Now let's translate them into probabilities:
- P1: 1/2.00 = 0.5 or 50%;
- X: 1/3.5 = 0.286 or 28.6%;
- P2:1/3.9=0.256 or 25.6%.
Market margin: 50+28.6+25.6=104.2%. And now let's calculate the average margin for each bet in this market:
Margin = (1-(1/market margin))*100=(1-(1/1.042))*100=(1-0.96)*100=4%.
The average margin on the market is 4%. This means that for every $100 wagered, you will “give” $4 to the bookmaker. For equally likely opposite outcomes at 4%, the odds will be 1.92-1.92.
How the bookmaker's margin affects the player's profit
A difference of even a few percent of the bookmaker's margin can significantly affect a player's profit. We have compiled a visual table in which we compared the potential output from rates at different margins. For this, a situation was simulated in which we made 1000 bets on equally probable markets (where the probability is 50% to 50%). Here's what we got:
We see how much the margin affects the profit of the player. For example, if the average margin is 2.5% and the bettor's throughput is 55%, then the ROI will be 7.25%. And if the margin is 5%, then the ROI will drop to 4.5%. 4.5/7.25=0.62 or 62%.
This means that you will lose about 38% of your profit just because of the bookmaker's margin. Instead of $1,000 at a distance, your profit will be $620. Together 500 dollars - only 310.
This is how some 2.5% margin can affect a player's profit. That is why it is so important to bet on high odds. Otherwise, you risk significantly reducing your efficiency and profitability at a distance.
How to bet on low margin odds?
On the most popular exchange in the world (Betfair), players pay around 6.5% commission on winnings. On exchanges like Smarkets and Matcbook, the commission does not exceed 3%.
But when betting on the stock exchange, there are some nuances. There are illiquid markets where there is almost no activity. Quotes can be underestimated by speculators or bots. The bet can be accepted partially and so on.
There is another solution - to use programs and services that monitor odds. With their help, you will always know which office has the most attractive offer on the market. A subscription to such services is paid, but it costs a little (a few dollars a month). True, you also need to have deposits in several offices in order to bet in this way.
Bookmaker margin: summing up
Margin is a universal tool of a bookmaker's office for making money. This is what makes the betting business so profitable. In this article, we have clearly shown how just a few percent of the commission can affect the profitability of players. Keep this in mind - otherwise you can lose your hard-earned money.
All fans who bet their hard-earned money at bookmakers face margins. We tell you what it is, how it can be calculated and why it is needed at all.
What is margin in a bookmaker?
Both the most sophisticated betting shop regular and the green newbie are faced with, sometimes without even realizing it. This word comes from French and in translation means difference or advantage. In fact, this is the commission of the bookmaker. It is included in the coefficients.This term is used not only in bookmaking - in any business.
Based on the foregoing, we can give the definition of margin as follows: it is the share of the accepted amount that the bookmaker earns on average, regardless of the outcome of the event.
To better understand the essence of margin, consider the situation. The office offers to bet on a tennis match. It has equal rivals. A draw is impossible. So the chances are 50% to 50%. We translate the probability of winning any of them into a coefficient like this: 100% / 50% = 2.
Perhaps, in an ideal world, the coefficient on both participants would be equal to 2.00. But if people bet the same amount of money on each of them, then the bookmaker will not receive anything. This situation is not good for him.
What does a bookmaker do? That's right, he lays his margin in the coefficients. And we get 1.95 on both sides, and more often 1.91 or even lower.
What is the margin for bookmakers?
Bookmakers are divided into two types:
- fundamental;
- low-margin.
The essence of the second lies in the name. Bookmakers of this type have the lowest margin. For example, the most famous among them claims a margin of 1.5-2.5%, depending on the sport. Fundamental bookmakers mortgage 5% or more. They are also classic and recreational, that is, designed to relax while playing. These, for example, include Russian bookmakers and.
Other main differences between low-margin bookmakers- high maximums and a small selection of bets in the pre-match, and also - almost no "live". Such offices are suitable for professional players.
A narrow list forces players to bet on the main markets and helps the bookmaker to balance the accepted money. At the same time, he gets the opportunity to accept much more than the fundamental office. For a low-margin company, it is very important to set and adjust ratios with surgical precision.
Fundamental bookmakers make more money on losing players. Therefore, unexpected outcomes that go against expectations, or a classic 0-0 draw are like manna from heaven for them.
How to calculate the bookmaker's margin?
Using some simple fifth grade level math, we will now determine the bookmaker's margin using an example.
Here is the formula for the market with two outcomes, according to which you need to calculate:
Margin (in %) = (1 / Factor 1 + 1 / Factor 2 - 1) x 100
Let's consider the simplest option. Suppose that in a tennis match of equal opponents on each side, we are offered to bet with a coefficient of 1.80. Let's calculate what margin is included in this line:
(1/1.80 + 1/1.80 - 1) x 100 = 0.111 x 100 = 11.1. Margin - 11.1%
Let's move on to a little more complex layouts. For example, let's calculate the margin for the Milan derby, which will take place in mid-October. One well-known site offers us the following odds:
- Inter win - 2.10;
- Milan win - 3.25;
- they offer to bet on a draw for 3.38.
The formula for the three-way is no different from the previous one. Only instead of the probabilities of two outcomes, we now sum up the probabilities of three:
(1/2.1 + 1/3.25 + 1/3.38 - 1) x 100 = 0.0797 x 100 = 8 (we rounded up a bit)
That is, the bookmaker's margin is 8%.
Why be able to calculate the bookmaker's margin?
Choosing a bookmaker is like going to the market, where you are looking for meat at the lowest price with the quality that satisfies you. The price here is the bookmaker's margin. The lower it is, the higher the odds - and the more you win if you make the right bet. Quality - the choice of events and the painting of bets. You can’t call low-quality and narrow painting, but still, most players are looking for fatter meat on the market.
Don't chase low margins. You will just get bored. It is important to choose the best ratio of odds, selection of events and outcomes for sports betting. Only then will you enjoy the game.
22.11.2017
It's no secret that bookmakers always win no matter what the circumstances. The thing is that the office puts a certain percentage of its profit (margin) into any coefficient. The company's margin is directly reflected in the amount of return from bets.
Of course, the margin is constantly different. This is explained by the fact that the share of currency compensation depends on the importance of the event in sports and, of course, the policy of the betting company itself. For events that are not very popular, bookmakers often underestimate the percentage of margin, thus attracting novice players to make more and more bets, since bets are their percentage, their profit, their income.
Legal bookmakers with the lowest margins
Margin Rules
Many beginners are accustomed to thinking that bookmakers make odds based solely on their personal perceptions. Of course, there is some truth in this, of course. However, you need to look even deeper.
Employees of betting companies can accurately predict the winner of an event, which is due to their vast experience. However, a low coefficient does not mean at all that the event is “sure”. If all the favorites were victorious, then betting companies simply did not exist. When placing odds on a certain event, betting companies first of all think about how to motivate players to bet on one team or another.
For this reason, they need to manipulate the numbers by offering the most attractive odds in order to attract new players. However, you should always remember that the bookmaker's margin is included in each coefficient. By adding some percentage to the probability, the betting company guarantees its income.
Note that the more people and, accordingly, the rates, the greater the commission. Of course, it is quite difficult to strike a balance between bets on all wins and losses, so betting companies offer a huge list that allows you to earn extra money.
Market of equal chances
This concept assumes that the bookmaker chooses opponents whose chances of winning are fairly equal. For understanding, we will use the well-known example with a coin. The chances of getting heads or tails are absolutely equal: 50 to 50. If the bookmaker accepted bets on coin toss and did not include their commission in them, then we would have odds of 2.00 for heads and 2.00 for tails.
In the real world, such miracles do not happen, since bookmakers put their commission into each coefficient. Therefore, odds for equal chances will vary from 1.80 to 1.95. Therefore, when choosing a company, special attention should be paid to what percentage of the margin this or that bookmaker puts into the odds. The importance of this fact lies in the fact that at a distance a difference of even 0.1 is of great importance.
Margin Rules
A market that has a 100% even chance is a worthless market. If the market of chances is estimated at less than 100%, then it can be indicated that the value of the bet is increasing. Another thing is if the market is more than 100%, which happens much more often. The value of the stakes, in this case, is lower. Determining the value of the market, as well as the bookmaker's margin, is quite easy. To do this, you first need to determine the probability of each outcome as a percentage, and then use a simple formula.
Margin formula:
(1 - (1 / market share)) * 100
Let's take an example. R. Nadal - P. Cuevas. Coefficient Tennis. ATP Tournament. Paris. France. indoor hard. The coefficient for the victory of the Spaniard is 1.02. Converting to probability, we get 98%. The victory of the Uruguayan is estimated at 13.50. Accordingly, the probability of Cuevas' triumph is 7.4%. It turns out that the percentage of the market for this event is 105.4%.
Calculate margin:
(1 - (1 / 1.054)) * 100 = 6%
Finding Markets with Minimum Margins
Many novice inexperienced bettors, as a rule, do not attach any importance to the margin, considering it to be a less significant indicator. Real pros first look for Value, and only then they only place bets.
It should be noted that arbers, who have an income by finding outcomes with the smallest margin, are especially successful in this. As a rule, bookmakers do not like such players and quickly block their accounts. However, there are a number of offices that are quite loyal to such players. It should be said that the success of such cappers lies in the fact that they are perfectly able to find events with the smallest margin.
As noted above, even the smallest difference in odds plays a huge role. Therefore, it is very important to always determine the margin, because at a distance it plays one of the decisive roles.
Of course, calculating the margin of each event is a laborious task. However, there are options in which this is not necessary. First of all, we are talking about betting exchanges. Yes, we can say that there you have to pay a commission on winnings, but there are a number of significant advantages. In addition, it is worth mentioning special paid services that allow you to find the most profitable odds.
Bookmaker Margin: Bookmaker Greed Indicator
What is bookmaker margin and how to calculate it
Bookmaker's margin
It is obvious that all players who have risked their money at least once, could not help but hear about such a concept as “bookmaker's margin”. However, at the same time, few understand what the essence of this indicator is and what impact it has on the ability to leave the bookmaker out of work.
In this article, we will talk about what this very margin is, on what basis it is calculated, and also what it can affect. Margin bookmaker is called a fixed percentage, subtracted from the amount won by the bettor, in the "pocket" of the bookmaker.
For example, a player has found a reliable promising event in the game line with a coefficient of 1.91. At first glance, everything here is simply calculated. We bet the amount of $100 and if the bet passes, we win $191 (100 x 1.91). That is, the net profit amounted to $91 minus the rate itself. At first glance, not a penny was "lost" anywhere. But here's the thing: the margin in the offices is included in each coefficient in advance! How to see the margin, how to calculate it as a percentage? More on this later.
In order to better understand the essence, we will use the theory of probability. To do this, we calculate the bet on two outcomes on even and odd bookmaker bets, in which there is a margin.
In fact, it is not possible to give a correct prediction on the outcome of such a bet. Perhaps, such a bet can be compared with tossing a coin up and guessing the “eagle” or “tails”. Both selected events should initially be called equally probable: these are a typical 50/50 case. A fair, visible coefficient for such an event is easy to understand and calculate, and this is a “two”, because a loss means a loss of money, a win means a doubled bet. But here's the thing: if you bet $100 on such an event at a bookmaker's office, you'll get only $95 in winnings (maybe a little more or less, it doesn't matter yet).
This means that the player risks losing a hundred dollars, and only hopes to win 95 dollars. We will omit moral moments, such as justice, but these “underdone” 5 dollars are the very margin of the bookmaker.
If there are more than two outcomes, then we add the coefficients of the third and subsequent outcome, respectively, to the formula, for example, M = (100/K1 + 100/K2 + 100/K3) - 100.
Well, in the end, we will fix it with examples.
Example.
Italy. Serie A. Milan - Inter.
P1 - 1.80, P2 - 2.05. We calculate the margin of the bookmaker.
M \u003d (100 / 1.8 + 100 / 2.05) -100 \u003d 4.3%.
We see that for every hundred dollars won on this particular bet, the bookmakers will take on average $4.30. And this is regardless of what the outcome of the match will be.
Example.
Spain. Division example. Real Madrid - Osasuna.
P1 - 1.19, X - 7.73, P2 - 19.81. We calculate the bookmaker's margin.
M \u003d (100 / 1.19 + 100 / 7.73 + 100 / 19.81) - 100 \u003d 2.02%.
In the last example, by the way, there is a very small margin, which means that the bookmaker probably has quite acceptable odds for players.
Why is it better to choose bookmakers with low margins?
We recommend choosing an office with a low margin. With a high degree of probability, it is such an office that will be more loyal to the players, making a profit due to the huge turnover. By playing at bookmakers with high margins, you reduce your chances of making a profit in the long run. After all, in the long run, say 500 bets, even 1 percent will make a significant difference in the end.
Which bookmakers have the lowest margin?
Very attractive margin at the bookmaker Pinnacle- about 2%. On top of that, you will not encounter problems with .
Relatively low margin in bookmakers Marathon, 1xbet, Betcity- 3-5%, but there you may encounter limit cuts. Approximately the same margin and similar problems await you in Fonbete, PariMatche, etc.
Particularly high margins are seen in Leone, Winline, Liga Stavok, Balbeta and similar Russian offices- from 6.5%.
Note that the margin tends to change, so follow the news of bookmakers and periodically check the value of the margin yourself.
