It is that time of year, August is here and football is on the horizon
Let me start by saying that this guide is for guys who are booking to normal square players, not guys who are booking sharp bettors who have a subscription to Don Best professional odds. If you have sharps, then you have to contend with other issues and this is not for you.
Website:
If you have a decent sized package (20+), then buy your own domain. This is your BRAND so purchase a good domain you like and point it to your PPH provider. Pay the extra and get them to make your custom skin. Avoid letting the shop “handle the domain purchase for you”, you want to control your own business, make sure you buy it. Having said that, you have to find a proxy because you do NOT want that in your real name in case you become a target. So it’s a catch22 – if you don’t have a proxy or way to buy it in someone else’s name or a fake name, then you will have to get the PPH shop to do it for you but they will control it, making it difficult to leave down the road.
Mobile Wagering:
Your players will be on their mobile device 90% of the time, so when you demo a PPH site, you must spend time on their mobile site/app. Make sure it is easy to use and flows without 12 clicks to make a simple app. That is one thing I do not like about the Las Vegas apps, it takes too many clicks to get around at times. For the most part, they are way more appealing to the eye than anything offshore, but too many clicks to find events, make parlays with diff sports, etc.
Lines:
Do not be too concerned with lines if you are choosing your PPH shop from a sponsor here or are finding a shop when searching google on the 1[SUP]st[/SUP] page or two. At this point in the industry, every established shop is using the same lines from Don Best and watching the same shops (CRIS, Pinnacle, 5D, and other PPH shops) to keep an eye out for steam, as well as their own internal bet tickers. Most shops use some form of automation with a handful of veterans making moves when they see plays coming in. This is WAY overrated when you speak to marketing guys, let it go in one ear and out the other. If you need to be concerned with lines from the major shops, then you are not in the category that I said this post was for up top. The only square guys that can compete on steam plays that I have seen are the guys that follow RAS. If your shop is sleeping on those then you have to change shops.
Offerings:
Make sure that your shop offers a wide variety of sports, game props, player props and futures. Some budget shops try to skimp. Even though your players will never make a bet on 70% of the other stuff, this is your brand so you want to give your players the options in case they want to see the lines or actually make a bet. More importantly, this reflects on the shop and how organized/funded they are from what I have seen in my experience. A 5 man shop that does it all cannot offer as much stuff as a serious outfit that has a dedicated lines team of 10+ guys
Horses:
To my knowledge, almost everyone uses the same feed/interface for horses, so this is not an item to worry about, you basically get what every shop has. Perhaps one shop can make the interface that the player uses more appealing.
Electronic casino:
Most shops use one of 2 providers: the standard DGS casino or the other one out of Panama. The one out of Panama I have never seen players win long term. The one from DGS I HAVE seen players beat the living crap out of agents. 100% there are guys that have found a glitch in that casino. Only 4 or 5 separate occasions out of several hundred thousand players have I seen this in the past 10 years, but I have seen it even though it is extremely rare. The main problem with the electronic casino is that the agents hate it when they wake up on a random morning and lost 10k on a royal flush in VP, and on the flip side the players think the casino is “rigged” when they lose. The question we always ask the player is, when you were up $ was it rigged? Why didn’t you stop and take your money? If you keep playing and playing for hours, of course it will most likely grind you out. Bottom line, the electronic casino is a headache for PPH shops, only a lose/lose but must be provided. From what I have seen, most shops are pretty standard on one of these 2, except 5D that has lots of casino options.
Live Casino:
This is an area I am not very familiar with, I knew of a big provider that many PPH shops used, but have heard they are no longer offering theirs. Great in concept, players can see the cards etc but most agents are too cheap and do not want to give up 20-30% of net losses.
Live Wagering Apps:
I will spend a little more time on this subject because I think this gets overlooked. First of all, if you have players, spend the extra $3 per head and enable live wagering apps for your guys. The old school “analog” live betting, where a shop manually punches in a line in between commercials is terrible. Live wagering is the X Factor and the hottest thing going. Listen to the guys on VSIN and the LV book managers and they will explain how the mobile and live have increased their handles dramatically.
Players want to see the flow of the game lines and will jump in when they see something they think is a lock. If you get the right shop, they can bet on the outcome of the next drive, will team X get a hit in the next inning, tennis point by point wagering etc. – this is what makes it the “crack cocaine” of sports betting. If your PPH shop does not offer a live wagering app, then change shops immediately. With the landscape changing on sports wagering in the USA, even the big guys live wagering options are poor. If you can offer a very good live wagering app to your players, in my opinion, they will stay with you. From what I have seen, of the guys that do bet on the live wagering apps, their handle goes through the roof and they end up betting the live 10X more than standard lines. This is your bread and butter as the house, so do not skimp and blow it off.
The main providers are Core Wagering Service, IDS and a couple of new ones from ezlivebet.com and the heritage guys. When you are looking at a live app, don’t go with the standard boring offerings. You don’t offer only NFL lines to your players on regular betting – don’t offer just side/total/moneyline on the game only with some margin of victory for your live. Some providers offer more sports and some offer 20X more offerings per event. Do your homework. The more betting options you can give your players on live, the more you can engage your players and keep them glued to the live, the more money you will extract long-term through dramatically increased handle. It’s amazing how poor some of the PPH shops live wagering apps are, one MAJOR shop, in particular, has the worst live wagering app – complete garbage.
Customer Service:
This is a big factor and is very difficult to gauge until after you are already signed up and in. 99% of the time you will never need to call but when you have a problem, you need to be able to speak with a person that is competent and can get it done and get you on your way. I don’t have a magic solution to know how to spot good customer service, but the best way, with the limited access as an inquiring client, is to draw your conclusions from the sales rep. If their English is spot on and they listen to your questions and take the time to explain their product then that is a good start. If they are pushing you off of the phone because you only have 10 players or are condescending to you etc then that can be taken as a hint. If the sales rep is difficult to understand or cannot answer standard sports betting/agent related questions without putting you on hold then that is a HUGE red flag.
Funding Options:
Western Union and ********* are the standard but are getting very difficult. Bitcoin is easy but can be a pain as well for the average guy to fund anonymously. Some shops let you send money orders and some let you buy gift cards. Those last 2 options are much easier and less time-consuming. Standing in line at WU/MG, dealing with a clerk that is not sharp, then finding out after you are done that they messed up one of the 7 last names, or that you have to call security for some questions to be answered is annoying and time-consuming.
In conclusion, I think your search for a PPH shop should focus on these areas in this order:
Customer Service – critical to you and your players if there is a problem. Good English and good product knowledge
Mobile Wagering site/app – your players will interact on this platform 90% of the time
Live Wagering app – the X factor to get more handle out of your players, to keep them engaged and to differentiate your brand from any competition.
Wager Offerings – if a shop does not offer much soccer, “other” sports, game props, player props, futures then they are probably not a strong organization and that would make me worry about IT issues and uptime –
cutting corners on some things means they cut corners on everything in my opinion
Let me start by saying that this guide is for guys who are booking to normal square players, not guys who are booking sharp bettors who have a subscription to Don Best professional odds. If you have sharps, then you have to contend with other issues and this is not for you.
Website:
If you have a decent sized package (20+), then buy your own domain. This is your BRAND so purchase a good domain you like and point it to your PPH provider. Pay the extra and get them to make your custom skin. Avoid letting the shop “handle the domain purchase for you”, you want to control your own business, make sure you buy it. Having said that, you have to find a proxy because you do NOT want that in your real name in case you become a target. So it’s a catch22 – if you don’t have a proxy or way to buy it in someone else’s name or a fake name, then you will have to get the PPH shop to do it for you but they will control it, making it difficult to leave down the road.
Mobile Wagering:
Your players will be on their mobile device 90% of the time, so when you demo a PPH site, you must spend time on their mobile site/app. Make sure it is easy to use and flows without 12 clicks to make a simple app. That is one thing I do not like about the Las Vegas apps, it takes too many clicks to get around at times. For the most part, they are way more appealing to the eye than anything offshore, but too many clicks to find events, make parlays with diff sports, etc.
Lines:
Do not be too concerned with lines if you are choosing your PPH shop from a sponsor here or are finding a shop when searching google on the 1[SUP]st[/SUP] page or two. At this point in the industry, every established shop is using the same lines from Don Best and watching the same shops (CRIS, Pinnacle, 5D, and other PPH shops) to keep an eye out for steam, as well as their own internal bet tickers. Most shops use some form of automation with a handful of veterans making moves when they see plays coming in. This is WAY overrated when you speak to marketing guys, let it go in one ear and out the other. If you need to be concerned with lines from the major shops, then you are not in the category that I said this post was for up top. The only square guys that can compete on steam plays that I have seen are the guys that follow RAS. If your shop is sleeping on those then you have to change shops.
Offerings:
Make sure that your shop offers a wide variety of sports, game props, player props and futures. Some budget shops try to skimp. Even though your players will never make a bet on 70% of the other stuff, this is your brand so you want to give your players the options in case they want to see the lines or actually make a bet. More importantly, this reflects on the shop and how organized/funded they are from what I have seen in my experience. A 5 man shop that does it all cannot offer as much stuff as a serious outfit that has a dedicated lines team of 10+ guys
Horses:
To my knowledge, almost everyone uses the same feed/interface for horses, so this is not an item to worry about, you basically get what every shop has. Perhaps one shop can make the interface that the player uses more appealing.
Electronic casino:
Most shops use one of 2 providers: the standard DGS casino or the other one out of Panama. The one out of Panama I have never seen players win long term. The one from DGS I HAVE seen players beat the living crap out of agents. 100% there are guys that have found a glitch in that casino. Only 4 or 5 separate occasions out of several hundred thousand players have I seen this in the past 10 years, but I have seen it even though it is extremely rare. The main problem with the electronic casino is that the agents hate it when they wake up on a random morning and lost 10k on a royal flush in VP, and on the flip side the players think the casino is “rigged” when they lose. The question we always ask the player is, when you were up $ was it rigged? Why didn’t you stop and take your money? If you keep playing and playing for hours, of course it will most likely grind you out. Bottom line, the electronic casino is a headache for PPH shops, only a lose/lose but must be provided. From what I have seen, most shops are pretty standard on one of these 2, except 5D that has lots of casino options.
Live Casino:
This is an area I am not very familiar with, I knew of a big provider that many PPH shops used, but have heard they are no longer offering theirs. Great in concept, players can see the cards etc but most agents are too cheap and do not want to give up 20-30% of net losses.
Live Wagering Apps:
I will spend a little more time on this subject because I think this gets overlooked. First of all, if you have players, spend the extra $3 per head and enable live wagering apps for your guys. The old school “analog” live betting, where a shop manually punches in a line in between commercials is terrible. Live wagering is the X Factor and the hottest thing going. Listen to the guys on VSIN and the LV book managers and they will explain how the mobile and live have increased their handles dramatically.
Players want to see the flow of the game lines and will jump in when they see something they think is a lock. If you get the right shop, they can bet on the outcome of the next drive, will team X get a hit in the next inning, tennis point by point wagering etc. – this is what makes it the “crack cocaine” of sports betting. If your PPH shop does not offer a live wagering app, then change shops immediately. With the landscape changing on sports wagering in the USA, even the big guys live wagering options are poor. If you can offer a very good live wagering app to your players, in my opinion, they will stay with you. From what I have seen, of the guys that do bet on the live wagering apps, their handle goes through the roof and they end up betting the live 10X more than standard lines. This is your bread and butter as the house, so do not skimp and blow it off.
The main providers are Core Wagering Service, IDS and a couple of new ones from ezlivebet.com and the heritage guys. When you are looking at a live app, don’t go with the standard boring offerings. You don’t offer only NFL lines to your players on regular betting – don’t offer just side/total/moneyline on the game only with some margin of victory for your live. Some providers offer more sports and some offer 20X more offerings per event. Do your homework. The more betting options you can give your players on live, the more you can engage your players and keep them glued to the live, the more money you will extract long-term through dramatically increased handle. It’s amazing how poor some of the PPH shops live wagering apps are, one MAJOR shop, in particular, has the worst live wagering app – complete garbage.
Customer Service:
This is a big factor and is very difficult to gauge until after you are already signed up and in. 99% of the time you will never need to call but when you have a problem, you need to be able to speak with a person that is competent and can get it done and get you on your way. I don’t have a magic solution to know how to spot good customer service, but the best way, with the limited access as an inquiring client, is to draw your conclusions from the sales rep. If their English is spot on and they listen to your questions and take the time to explain their product then that is a good start. If they are pushing you off of the phone because you only have 10 players or are condescending to you etc then that can be taken as a hint. If the sales rep is difficult to understand or cannot answer standard sports betting/agent related questions without putting you on hold then that is a HUGE red flag.
Funding Options:
Western Union and ********* are the standard but are getting very difficult. Bitcoin is easy but can be a pain as well for the average guy to fund anonymously. Some shops let you send money orders and some let you buy gift cards. Those last 2 options are much easier and less time-consuming. Standing in line at WU/MG, dealing with a clerk that is not sharp, then finding out after you are done that they messed up one of the 7 last names, or that you have to call security for some questions to be answered is annoying and time-consuming.
In conclusion, I think your search for a PPH shop should focus on these areas in this order:
Customer Service – critical to you and your players if there is a problem. Good English and good product knowledge
Mobile Wagering site/app – your players will interact on this platform 90% of the time
Live Wagering app – the X factor to get more handle out of your players, to keep them engaged and to differentiate your brand from any competition.
Wager Offerings – if a shop does not offer much soccer, “other” sports, game props, player props, futures then they are probably not a strong organization and that would make me worry about IT issues and uptime –
cutting corners on some things means they cut corners on everything in my opinion
