[TodaysAction]

TA, I will increase the ML limits to -240/+260 in next week's thread. Don't want to edit this week's rules in case anyone thinks something fishy is going on.

As for the payout limit, that's set at 10 because I hope to get a lot of players putting action in the book, but I don't want to risk 1,000 points when I'm only holding 900 in the bank. That's what happened to Ijustwannabepaid2 and I don't want to repeat that history. I hope to get it up to 15 or 20 very soon.

I think the book will really hit its stride when I open up next week on Monday, taking action for football bets with early lines. Over the course of several days, I expect to get a lot of action, which is another reason to try to keep the payout limit low in the early stages of running his type of book.

MS has done pretty well, but he's gotten hit with some heavy one-day losses himself over the course of 3 weeks. Running a book is not a get-rich-quick type of business, especially with the number of savvy players here, but it can be profitable over the long haul. Right now, there is a scarcity of books available for players hungry for action, so I'm trying to fill a void here without going broke. MS is the king of books today, and I will gladly refer players to him when they want more action, as I'm sure he will do for me in the future. There's plenty of room on this forum for point bookies who will stick around for more than a week (Fatty should be careful, he could be out of business in a day with the limits he's taking).

Good post Nickelicious - lots of information for everyone to absorb and re-read as needed. Wasn't trying to say change it this week etc, just adding opinion to it - not to mention you have enough points to take a few hits while building your base.

That's why when I had the time I would limit the number of wagers taken (per option) - keep the books close to center. Unfortunately, I had a couple bad/days point wagers in a row so I have to stop for now. Funny, with hockey a week a way how that worked out.

Good luck with your book.

[Nickelicious]

it actually is a get rich quick scheme. I know calling people stupid is not going to get them to bet at your book, but every single points bookie has made out like a bandit.

Check the history.

DacBietViet, Fishhead, ijustwant2stiff, MexicanStallion, payingthejuice, etc.

all profited immensely from booking bets. They all went from 2 or 3 hundred points at the most to well over a thousand.

No doubt about it, yisman, you are right that bookies usually do well. But a few weeks ago, I got my ass kicked in my first day and had to close my book right away. I knew I could only come back when I had about a thousand points to fund the operation. There's only a hand full of members here with that kind of capital.

Ijustwannabepaid2 had over 1,000 points and still got hammered one night and his dead carcass was strewn across the road. It is risky business unless you limit your risk.

[Nickelicious]

IMO, all one-to-one betting should be set up with SBR Challenges. That way, both players are assured they will get their 10 points (or 563 points from Dac) if they win.

If SBR set up a Challenge-type format that would be open to more than one-to-one players, that would be the supreme format for a point bookie, because it would simplify the process for both the bookie and the players. The players would really love it, because they could pick out games just like they do in SBR Contests.

The bookie would also prosper, because if you look at any SBR contest, the overall winning % of the group is 49-51%, give or take, with negative profit. So the bookie would continue to make points and stay in business, while savvy bettors could continue to grow their point total in a safe and reliable format.

I should add that I believe SBR is planning to set up their own point bookie operation in the near future. Not sure if you saw that post by Willie Bee or not, MS, but SBR is going to set up a book that allows members to bet against the house for points. It will probably be something VERY SIMILAR to what I have described above.

And while it may not put everyday-Joe point bookies out of business, it will quickly become the number one way for members to wager their points in a sportsbook-type environment.

So enjoy this while it lasts, MS. Our days may be numbered.

[yisman]

No doubt about it, yisman, you are right that bookies usually do well. But a few weeks ago, I got my ass kicked in my first day and had to close my book right away. I knew I could only come back when I had about a thousand points to fund the operation. There's only a hand full of members here with that kind of capital.

Ijustwannabepaid2 had over 1,000 points and still got hammered one night and his dead carcass was strewn across the road. It is risky business unless you limit your risk.

There's no question that a bookie can lose badly some nights because this is not a true bookmaking operation with relatively equal action on the different sides. There aren't enough bets for that.

ijustwant2stiff was setting it up to stiff all along. He waited until he had a few hundred points owed to people, and then got out. The thing is, even the last night where he lost a few hundred points, he was still way up overall. He ended up cashing out 1,562, IIRC. He owed something like 300. So after the final night, his balance would've been 1,200 and change.

He began with around 200 points. He wound up with six times his previous balance in the span of a few weeks. Take out around 100 he earned by posting, but that's inconsequential.

Dac started out with about 100 points, and he was in debt, I think. He started booking (he actually couldn't cover all the bets at the beginning), and he went to well over a thousand in the span of two days.

So while a bookie can have bad nights, it is a very profitable proposition long term and that's why people are willing to do it. If bookies weren't winding up ahead a bunch of points, no one would want to go through the hassle.

[Nickelicious]

True, yisman. But after nearly two months of SBR awarding points, there's really only one reliable point bookie left in operation, and that's MS. If bookies are only going into business to earn a thousand points or so and then just cash out or run away, then members should become wary of betting their points with any bookie. Yet, they haven't. They are desperate to wager their points, whether with a bookie or with another member. Gambling is in their blood. Even if they risk getting stiffed.

So what I'm saying is this forum is, at the present time, desperate for reliable point bookies with the capital to survive the rollercoaster of winning and losing hundreds of points. MS is there. Fatty is not (yet). I might be there. Unless I have one bad weekend, which could put me out of business for a month.

Like you said, there's not enough volume to provide equal action on different sides to make a point bookie operation safe. I am risking 600 of my 889 points trying to provide one more option for members to play. Yes, I might make 200 points by Sunday. Or I might lose 400. But this business is by no means a guaranteed road to profit. Look at Cabo. He tried to run a high-limit operation, but when he started losing his ass, he shut it down, protecting his 6,000+ points.

What I am aiming for, and MS is aiming for too, is to have 6,000+ points and offer members an opportunity to bet 50 points a game if they want to. At that level of risk, there is still a chance that a bookie could lose 1 or 2 thousand points in one night, or 3 thousand points over a nightmare weekend.

And if the bookie wants to continue their operation, when the hell are they supposed to cash out? I want to buy a 42" plasma TV for 10,609 points. So, would I buy that TV as soon as I got to that level and retire my bookie operation? Or would I have to wait until I got to 15,000 points before making that purchase?

Bottom line, point bookie operations are providing a community service to members by risking their bank of points to enable fellow members to wager points with a reliable business. Smart bettors are going to rape the books for points, allowing them to achieve their own goals for purchases. The books are counting on losers to fund the operation and keep the service running.

Anyone with the capital to begin their own book is welcome to join this industry. There's plenty of room to get in on the ground floor, but only the sharpest books will be around for the long haul and continue to provide a much-needed service to this marketplace.