Bookie Lessons: Should You Set Betting Limits for Your Players?

Today’s bookie lesson asks a very important question. Should you be setting limits on your bettors? If the answer to “are you in the business of making money?” is yes; then yes you should be setting betting limits for your players.

Remember, bookies get into the business because they love the action and they love sports. However, they love money most of all and got into running a sportsbook in order to make profits.

If you don’t set limits on players, you could potentially have one player that bets $500 or $1,000 per game. If he gets hot and goes on a big run, that one player could end up shutting you down.

Why Set Limits

The big reason why bookies should set betting limits is the risk of failing if they don’t. Let’s say a bookie has just 10 players. Nine of them never wager more than $100 on a single bet, but there’s that one that likes to push the envelope.

As mentioned previously, one player who repeatedly places large bets and wins can destroy a sportsbook. Likewise, a bookie that allows extremely large bets will watch his players go bankrupt and never come back.

Bookies need to set limits to ensure their bookie business stays afloat and to make sure that the customers continue coming back to place bets.

How to Set Limits

It pays to know your players. If you are using PayPerHead.com as your PPH service provider, your reports and daily notifications will allow you to know your player sheet very well. That will help you establish limits for each player.

If you have a player makes $500 per week, don’t give him a credit limit of $500 per week. Set it much lower at say $100 per week. Then, his betting limit should be $20 per event.

Similarly, you can establish limits on a variety of bets to protect your business. With a $100 weekly credit limit, a bettor could place bets of $20 on full game wagers, $10 on halves (1H/2H wagers), $5 on quarters (1Q/2Q/3Q/4Q wagers), $5 on props and specials, and $20 on any season-long futures bets.

Limits Protect the Bookie

If you want a thriving sportsbook, first you need a quality PPH service like PayPerHead that makes life easy with its Agent Payment Solution, is always safe and secure, and puts more money in your pocket.

With a fully automated operation, it is then up to you, the bookie, to establish rules, guidelines, and betting limits to ensure your success.

There are players out there that will attempt to pull a fast one on you. Arbitragers are those that place wagers at competing sportsbooks when they notice a large discrepancy in odds. One of the easiest ways to spot an arbitrage bettor, is to look for a player (or players) that bets non-round numbers.

Most bets are $1, $5, $20, etc. When a bettor lays down a bet for $7.63, it should immediately alert that bookie that something is up.

Ultimately, limits work to protect your business as well as the betting experience of your customers. When your customers continue to have safe, fun betting experiences; they will keep coming back. Sign-up to PayPerHead.com to launch your sportsbook today.