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Bookie: Difference between revisions
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The irreplaceable linchpin around which gambling -- either legal or illegal -- rotates, the [[Bookie]] (short for "Bookmaker") is the guy who sets the odds, takes [[The Bet|the bets]], and pays the winners, all while keeping a cut for himself. He's the best friend of the [[Professional Gambler]] and the enabler for [[The Gambling Addict]]. In many countries, Bookies focus on accepting bets on professional sports, especially horse racing and association football (soccer). However, a wider range of bets, including on political elections, awards ceremonies such as the Oscars, and novelty bets are accepted by bookmakers in more and more countries.
A good, honest bookie makes sure his odds and bets are balanced, and that there's always enough in the pot to pay both the winners and the house; a crooked bookie jiggers the numbers to maximize his cut, and may even try to rig the events on which his "customers" are betting. Where gambling is illegal, or only legal for a few things, the Bookie is often affiliated with -- or actually part of -- [[The Mafia]] or a similar criminal organization. Such a bookie will often also function as a [[Loan Shark]] (or at least in association with one), extending credit to bettors on a losing streak until they are [[Trapped by Gambling Debts]], then dispatching [[Faceless Goons|legbreakers]] to collect. (Or worse, [[Blackmail]]ing
In places like [[Horse Racing|racetracks]] and [[The Casino]], the Bookie is often a group, or even a computer, following a [[w:Parimutuel betting|strict, formalized set of rules]]. In most fiction, though, the Bookie is more likely to be a seedy, fast-talking guy in a checkered jacket with scraps of paper coming out of his pockets, giving odds on anything right off the top of his head -- and sometimes trying to dodge bettors to whom he owes a payout. He can usually be found in his "office" at one end of a bar or on a particular street corner. When he has an actual office, his desk is usually covered with phones, at least in the pre-cell phone era; otherwise his mobile is always pressed to his ear. He frequently doubles as a [[Knowledge Broker]], and occasionally as [[The Fixer]]. When he doesn't, he [[Knows a Guy Who Knows a Guy]] who does.
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