Online sports bookmakers provide punters with competitive odds and a variety of sports to wager on including American Football, AFL, Baseball, Basketball, Boxing, Cricket, Cycling, Darts, Football, Golf, Greyhound Racing, Handball, Hockey, Horse Racing, Ice Hockey, Martial Arts/Judo, Rugby League, Rugby Union, Snooker, Tennis, Volleyball and more. However it is valuable for punters to check out a few sports bookmakers prior to placing a bet to weigh up whether or not they are a safe and reliable bookmaker. Australian sports bookmakers are heavily regulated by the government, which can give punters confidence in national companies however there are a still bookmakers which do not follow regulations and are not caught. Checking bookmaker forums on chat services is a great way to find out which sports bookmakers are sketchy but to ensure that your money is in safe hands, stick with one of the bigger names in sports betting.
A sports bookmaker's job is to keep track of all the bets placed on a particular event and in most cases will need to maintain equal amounts of bets on all possible outcomes of the event to ensure they receive their earnings. The quality of markets and prices will vary from bookmaker to bookmaker however the over rounding of most sports bookmakers is the same. Over rounding is the system used by bookmakers to ensure that they theoretically receive a commission from bets. They do this by offering odds that are different to the real probabilities in the event. Generally they offer higher prices for bettors to back compared to the real odds. To minimise the sports bookmaker's earnings from your bet there are several sports such as tennis, Twenty20 cricket and snooker which do not include draws and therefore limit the bookmaker's chances of receiving a commission.
In Australia, odds are displayed in the decimal format, which indicates the payout plus the original amount wagered. So if the bettor was to wager $10 on the odds of 2.46, he would receive $24.60 including his original $10. So essentially the bettor won $14.60. Sports bookmakers will offer either straight up bets or a point spread wager. Straight up bets have one set of odds with two possible payouts depending on if the bettor wagers on the favourite or the underdog winning. If the favourite wins, they will receive the set amount offered. However if they select the underdog and they win, the payout will twice that of the favourite.
A point spread is used to balance out the bookmaker's books by getting bettors to bet equally on the favourite and the underdog. For example, Team A's odds are -10 and the underdog, Team B is written as +10. If the punter chooses to bet for Team A (the favourite), they will need to win by 11 points or more for the punter to receive a payout. If the punter chooses Team B, they will win if they bet for Team B to win the game or lose by 9 points or less.
But no matter which sports bookmaker and bet type you choose, it's important to remember to find a reliable and trustworthy bookmaker. For more information on which bookmakers to trust, visit our online bookmaker page.