Bookmaker Hold Percentage

The best indicator of calculating how profitable a Bookmaker's sports betting operation is is to look at the bookmaker's hold percentage. The hold percentage is the bottom line number that shows the overall win/loss total for all players in the agents package over a given time period. Agents can view their hold percentage by game, by day, by week or even over a period of months or years. Calculating hold percentage is an excellent business management tool that gives bookies a clear picture of how well they're doing.

A bookmaker's percentage should always be above 5% of their overall volume as an average. A hold percentage hovering around 10% is a good goal to shoot for while anything over 10% indicates an extremely profitable player package. The bookmaker's percentages should be looked at over a period of time like a complete day of football betting or over the course of a week to give a good idea of profitability. Simply looking at how much you won or lost on 1 game isn't going to tell you much; you need to look at the big picture.

If you experience a sustained drop in your hold percentage, under 5%, over a lengthy period of time then it's time to start looking at individual player action. It only takes a couple of big winners to cause a significant drop in revenues. The trick is to not over react to players that are beating you but to definitely keep an eye on them. Once you have identified a winning player who is bringing down your hold percentage you need to take a look at how they won and how often they beat you.

Professional pay per head companies will offer their agents risk management services as part of being an account holder. Risk management will alert the agent when they see a player who is dragging down the bookmaker's hold percentage due to sharp play. If a player hits a 7 team parlay or wins a big bet on a heavy favorite that's not cause for much concern as they will certainly lose that money back. What you need to watch out for are the pick-off artists who only bet selectively when they have maximum advantage.

Using hold percentage as a guide to profiling a player will help you decide whether it's worth keeping them or not. If you are only making 1-2% off a player historically, even if they bet big, they may not be worth it. If a player beats you regularly you should drop them from your roster.