During the World Cup, the atmosphere on the social network was extremely harmonious. The originally opposed fans walked to the rooftops together, arm in arm, humbly giving each other the best position. If everyone loses money, where is the winner?
In fact, there is only one real winner in the gaming industry, and that is the gaming company. The secret of the bookmaker's steady profit is to use the odds. Briefly explain what is "odds". If the odds for the Chinese team to win is 1 to 2, which means that if you spend a dollar to bet on the Chinese team to win, then once you bet right, you can get 1*2, which is 2 dollars, it's that simple. In a utopia without middlemen, the odds should be just right to balance the gains and losses of both sides. If everyone thinks that the Brazilian team is better than the Chinese team, they have 80 yuan bet on Brazil to win, and only 20 yuan on China. If they win, in order to maintain a balance, the betting company will set the frequency of winning the Chinese team to 5 to 1, and the frequency of the Brazilian team to win to 1.25 to 1. In this case, the total revenue of the bookmaker is 100 yuan. If If the Chinese team wins, they will give 20*5=100 yuan to the fans who bet on the Chinese team. If the Brazil team wins, they will send 80*1.25=100 yuan to the fans who bet on the Brazil team. The gaming company operates in one meal, and the revenue and expenditure are evened out, and they do not make a penny. However, this odds are ideal under "no middleman making the difference".
In reality, of course, bookmakers want to make money. The way they make money is by lowering the odds and taking a cut of the total bet. Let's continue to look at the example just now. The capital bet on Brazil is 80 yuan, and the capital bet on China is 20 yuan. If the bookmaker wants to make 5 yuan from it, they can lower the odds of winning for the Chinese team from 5 to 1 to 4.75 to 1, and the Brazilian team from 1.25 to 1 to 1.19 to 1. As a result, the total revenue of the gaming company is 100 yuan. But whether Brazil or China wins, you only need to give 95 yuan and earn 5%. This is how the bookmaker makes money. This 5% is equivalent to the handling fee paid by the bettor to the bookmaker. Understand this Routines, we can also calculate how much money the bookmaker can make from the odds before the game. For example, in the 2018 World Cup, before Spain's game against Iran, a bookmaker made such odds.
Through simple mathematical calculation, it can be found that for every 116 yuan, the gaming company will withdraw 16 yuan, which is equivalent to 13.8% of the betting funds being withdrawn by the gaming company. Seeing this, you will understand that as long as the odds are adjusted, the bookmaker can make a steady profit without losing money, and unlike the fans, the bookmaker does not care much about the strength of the team, they only need to focus on the betting parties. Funding can be distributed. Is it possible for the bookmaker to lose money? In theory, it is also possible. For example, in the example just now, the bookmaker set the odds of 4.75 to 1 for the Chinese team, but if the Chinese team suddenly falls to Messi, the total bet will be lost. If 30 yuan out of 100 yuan overwhelms China to win, then the gaming company may lose money. Because if the Chinese team really wins, the gaming company will pay 142 yuan, and the total income is only 100 yuan, which is a big loss.
Of course, in reality, this situation is almost impossible, because the bookmakers have a lot of game data in their hands, and even they will find someone to collect the pre-match situation, so the odds they offer basically reflect the fans of both sides. There will be no big deviation between the psychological expectations and the betting situation. More importantly, the odds can change in real time. As the betting funds change, the bookmaker will also adjust the odds in real time through technical means. If If there are too many people betting on China, the system will lower the odds of the Chinese team, increase the odds of Brazil winning the game, and guide more funds to buy Brazil to win, forming a balance again. If you open some mainstream international betting websites, you will find that the odds change quite frequently, all of which are to ensure that the betting company can make money smoothly.
Therefore, gambling is not so much a confrontation between different bettors, but rather a confrontation between the bettor and the bookmaker. Since the bookmaker can make a steady profit without losing, who else can lose?
