The History of Bookmaking: From Ancient Rome to Modern Sportsbooks
The Romans had odds-makers. They placed bets on gladiator fights. Some of them got rich. Most got killed by the people who lost money.
Words by Marco Ricci3 min read
The Romans had odds-makers. They placed bets on gladiator fights in the Colosseum. Some of them got rich. Most got killed by the people who lost money.
What I learned getting sober was that this pattern didn't change for two thousand years. The odds-maker survives if he's accurate. He dies if he's not.
Ancient Rome
Gladiator betting was organized. There were odds. There were records. The Romans kept detailed accounts of who bet what and who won. Some operators, called lanistas, took commission on every bet. They didn't bet themselves. They just took a cut.
The smart lanistas lived to old age. The ones who shaved the odds too tight (gave bad payouts) got murdered. The ones who paid fairly had wealthy clients who protected them.
The first professional bookmakers appeared at English racing in the 1700s.
Medieval Europe
When Rome fell, organized betting disappeared. Casual betting continued (on horse races, on fights, on anything), but there were no professional odds-makers. Just handshake agreements.
This changed in the 1600s. Horse racing became organized in England. Tracks were built. Races were scheduled. Betting followed.
The first professional bookmakers appeared at English racing in the 1700s. They were called "layer" because they "laid odds" (offered bets at specific odds). A layer would stand near the track, hold a notebook, and accept wagers.
Layers were sometimes killed. Not usually, but it happened when they took large bets they couldn't pay.
The United States
American bookmaking began in the 1800s. Betting parlors opened in cities. Professional bookmakers employed runners (people who took bets on the street) and maintained offices where bets could be placed.
Bookmakers didn't bet. They calculated odds, offered them, and took commission. If they got the odds right, they made money regardless of who won.
What they didn't do well: manage risk. Many bookmakers went broke when an unexpected outcome hit them wrong. If everyone bet on the favorite and the favorite lost, the bookmaker made money. If everyone bet on the favorite and the favorite won, the bookmaker lost.
To manage this, good bookmakers did something elegant: they adjusted their odds to balance action. If too many people were betting on the Steelers, the bookmaker would lower the payout for Steelers bets and raise the payout for their opponent. This would encourage people to bet the other side, balancing the book.
This is still how modern sportsbooks work.
To manage this, good bookmakers did something elegant: they adjusted their odds to balance action.
The Modern Era
Nevada legalized sports betting in 1949. Las Vegas sportsbooks appeared. They operated the way horse-racing bookmakers always had: take bets, balance the action, make commission.
Then something changed. In the 1970s, computers made it possible to calculate accurate odds instantly. The casinos could now move odds faster than bettors could react.
The advantage shifted toward the house. Bettors who used to be able to "shop the line" (find the best odds by comparing multiple books) found that all the odds converged instantly. If DraftKings moved to -110 (a specific payout ratio), everyone else moved with them within minutes.
What This Taught Me
I lost $40,000 on sports betting because I didn't understand this history. I thought I was playing against the casino. What I didn't understand was that the casino wasn't my opponent. The market was.
The sportsbook doesn't care if you win or lose. They care that the action is balanced. If they've done their job, they make money whether the Steelers win or lose.
When I finally understood this, I realized something: I wasn't betting against bad odds. I was betting in a market where the odds were scientifically balanced against my information advantage.
The bookmakers had won the arms race with technology. The odds were efficient. No amount of personal research could overcome that efficiency.
The people making money on sportsbooks were either professionals with statistical models (closing-line value strategies) or people who got lucky.
I was neither.
The Point
The Romans figured out something two thousand years ago: an odds-maker who charges fair odds and balances action doesn't need to pick winners. He just needs to be accurate at pricing.
Modern sportsbooks have perfected this. They're not trying to beat you. They're trying to balance you against everyone else and take a cut.
You're not betting against the sportsbook. You're betting in a market. The market is efficient. That's the lesson I had to learn the hard way.