Bookmaker margins are a key concept to understand when it comes to sports betting. Margin is the commission taken by bookmakers to cover their costs and profit. It is usually expressed as a percentage and is added to the betting odds to reduce the odds of the player winning. The higher the margin, the lower the odds for the players.
Table of Contents
- Understanding bookmakers' margins
- How to use margin information to your advantage
- Player Return Rate (PRR) in sports betting
Understanding bookmakers' margins
The margin is a crucial element for operators as it allows them to generate profits, despite the winning bets of its punters. It is usually around 15% for French operators at least, which means that for every £100 bet, they will keep £15 in commission. However, it is important to note that this varies from operator to operator, sport to sport and type of bet.
It is vital for players to understand the bookmakers' margin as it has a direct impact on their chances of winning in the long run. Bets with lower commissions offer higher odds of winning, while bets with higher commissions have lower odds of winning.
A novice bettor will not be able to distinguish the bets on which the bookmaker takes his most and least significant margin since it does not appear on his site. The odds displayed by the gaming operators are directly impacted by the margin chosen, therefore invisible at first sight by the bettor.
How to use margin information to your advantage
To minimise the effect of the margin, players can take various measures such as
- Choose operators with lower margins
- Find out about the margins of different operators before placing a bet
- Avoid bets with very low odds as they usually have higher margins
- Betting on sports or events with lower margins
The so-called "showcase bets" are the bets that propose to the punters to bet on the result of a match of a player or a team. By experience, these bets are the least marked up, followed by bets on cuts (number of goals, games, points, etc.) and finally other more exotic or custom bets.
There are many sites that will allow you to calculate the margin taken by an operator on a type of bet. For example, thanks to Pinnacle you can use their online margin calculator.
Player Return Rate (PRR) in sports betting
The Player Return Rate is a concept that is underused by punters and yet very useful for placing informed bets. This indicator characterizes in another way the impact of the operators' margin on the bets and depends on the number of possible outcomes on a bet. It is calculated as a percentage (%) and ranges from 0 to 100%, the higher the FTR the lower the margin of the bookmaker.
For example, if you decide to bet on the winner of the match between PSG and OM, knowing that the odds are 1.80 for Paris SG, 3.40 for a draw and 4.00 for a Marseille win, then the PRR is calculated as follows
![\[TRJ = [ \frac{1}{\frac{1}{1.80} + \frac{1}{3.40} + \frac{1}{4.00}} ] \]](https://apprenti-parieur.fr/wp-content/ql-cache/quicklatex.com-d692bfc5a069c21be46626cebcaa16f8_l3.png "Rendered by QuickLaTeX.com")
![\[TRJ = 90.93 % \]](https://apprenti-parieur.fr/wp-content/ql-cache/quicklatex.com-374ba348824628c14c0faaf32ccd3d40_l3.png "Rendered by QuickLaTeX.com")
It is not uncommon to find predictions with 95% PRR which ensures a very low margin for the operators and therefore a higher expectation of winning for the punters.
It is worth remembering that despite the bookmakers' margins, sports betting is still a game of chance, so there is no guarantee of winning. It is important to bet responsibly and not to invest more than you can afford to lose.
[…] De plus n’oublier pas que ces nouveaux paris sont de nature très volatile concernant la value. Certains opérateurs ne seront pas affutés pour coter avec précision de nouveaux paris tandis que d’autres proposeront des paris extrêmement margés pour éviter toute déconvenue. Pour rappel nous vous recommandons la lecture de : Comment éviter les marges de 15% des bookmakers ? […]