A Bookmaker’s Dream

The first vivid memory that Aaron B. could recall growing up in his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio.  was the sound of his dad and two uncles screaming at the television on Sunday afternoons while watching their beloved Cincinnati Bengals . Most times the yelling did not revolve around whether or not the Bengals won, but around whether or not they covered the spread or the game went over or under the closing total line.  You see, the three brothers were the local bookmakers in the neighborhood and often times they had quite a bit of money riding on the outcome of the game.

Early Steps

Bookmaking was a much simpler business back then. It was one that revolved around hand-written bets in a notebook and trips to the local corner bars to pay off bets or collect the winnings. Most of the transactions were handled with cash, although the family’s better customers were afforded an informal line of credit if they were a bit short on cash.

As Aaron grew older, he not only took an active interest in sports as both a participant and a spectator, he became enamored with the bookmaking business as well. While his favorite sport was still football and his favorite team was still the Bengals, he began to study the ins and outs of all the major sports in an effort to correctly predict the outcome of the games using the betting lines his father gave him.

After attending St. Joe’s University in Philadelphia where Aaron earned his degree in economics with a heavy concentration in statistics, he decided to join his father’s bookmaking business with the idea of turning this part-time endeavor into a full-time job. He realized that while the original trio of bookmakers still had quite a few long-time loyal customers, to make this dream a reality, he would have to move the operation into the 21^st Century through updated technology and state-of-the art gaming software.

PPH Scenario

Aaron’s first step was to partner with a ‘pay-per-head’ company that was well equipped to handle the bulk of the administrative tasks that go hand-in-hand with booking bets. At first his dad and uncles were extremely skeptical in using an outside service to manage their customer’s accounts; however, they also knew that they were getting up there in years and were more than happy to sit back and take a small cut of the profits, while letting Aaron handle the day-to-day operation of the business.

The level of sophistication in running a bookmaking service had changed dramatically over the past few years through the use of the Internet so the marriage between his operation and a pay per head service was a perfect fit. He could use his business background to better understand the betting lines as well as how to best use the services and benefits that a pay per head company can provide.

Customer Oriented

The most important aspect of any business is its customer base. This includes its existing base as well as implementing a business development plan that is designed to expand upon this base through the addition of new customers. With a reputable pay per head service in place to handle all the day-to-day financial transactions, placed wagers and record keeping, Aaron’s time was better spent on handling his end of the equation; growing the business.

Aaron quickly realized that now that his small bookmaking business had the backing of some of the most sophisticated and up-to-date gaming software in the industry, he could compete with the huge offshore sportsbooks in the industry by offering the same exact services with the added value of a truly personal touch. He could easily communicate with his customer base to tailor his sports betting packages to quickly meet their needs. He started to add features such as live in-game betting, an expanded offering of tracks for his horse racing fans and even an online casino that became a separate revenue stream to help fill the gaps when sports betting slowed down.

While his dad is no longer an active part of the business, during the football season the two of them can be found cheering on their beloved Bengals to victory on a Sunday afternoon, while keeping a close eye on what was going on around the rest of the league.