Bookmakers in the United Kingdom focus betting on professional sports, especially horse racing and association football; however, a wider range of bets, including on political elections, awards ceremonies such as The Oscars, and novelty bets can also be placed.
By adjusting the odds in their favour or by having a point spread, bookmakers will aim to guarantee a profit by achieving a 'balanced book', either by getting an equal number of bets for each outcome or (when they are offering odds) by getting the amounts wagered on each outcome to reflect the odds. When a large bet comes in, a bookmaker may also try to lay off the risk by buying bets from other bookmakers. Bookmakers do not generally attempt to make money from the bets themselves but rather by acting as market makers and profiting from the event regardless of the outcome. Their working methods are similar to that of an actuary, who does a similar balancing of financial outcomes of events for the assurance and insurance industries.
These online exchange markets operate a market index of prices near but usually not at 100% competitiveness, as exchanges take commissions on winnings. True wholesale odds are odds that operate at 100% of probabilistic outcomes.
Betting exchanges compete with the traditional bookmaker. They are generally able to offer punters better odds because of their much lower overheads but also give opportunities for arbitrage, the practice of taking advantage of a price differential between two or more markets. However, traditionally, arbitrage has always been possible by backing all outcomes with bookmakers (dutching), as opposed to laying an outcome on an exchange. Exchanges, however, allow bookmakers to see the state of the market and set their odds accordingly.
With the increasing number of online betting exchanges, betting exchanges are now providing free bet offers in an attempt to lure customers away from the competition. These free bets are generally based on the size of the deposit made into the gambling account. For example, if a customer made a deposit of $20, the betting exchange would deposit an additional $20 for the customer to use. Free bet rules vary depending on the betting exchange.
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