"is today Russia, and who were known to Classical writers in the 1st century CE. According to historian Bernard Bachrach, the Alans settled in parts of what is today France, including Brittany, in the Early Middle Ages. Bachrach stated that the use of forms of the name in given names, surnames, and place names, are evidence of the continued influence of the Alans on the Gaulish, Breton and Frankish peoples. The Breton name ""Alan"" can not be a direct loan from the ethnic name of the Alans (rendered as ""Alānī"" or ""Halānī"" in Latin, from Scytho-Sarmatian ""*Al[l]ān-"", derived from Old"
"Bookmaker A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays off bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds. The first bookmaker, Ogden, stood at Newmarket in 1795. Bookmakers in many countries 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. By ""adjusting the odds"" in their favour (paying out amounts using odds that are less than what they"
"Croupier A croupier or dealer is someone appointed at a gambling table to assist in the conduct of the game, especially in the distribution of bets and payouts. Croupiers are typically employed by casinos. Originally a ""croupier"" meant one who stood behind a gambler, with extra reserves of cash to back him up during a gambling session. The word derived from ""croup"" (the rump of a horse) and was by way of analogy to one who rode behind on horseback. It later came to refer to one who was employed to collect the money from a gaming-table. Originally a 'dealer'"
"Odds compiler An odds compiler (or trader) is a person employed by a bookmaker or betting exchange who sets the odds for events (such as sporting outcomes) for customers to place bets on. Apart from pricing markets, they also engage in any activity regarding the trading aspects of gambling, such as monitoring customer accounts and the profitability of their operations. The odds are derived from a variety of factors through analysis of information. Certain markets are highly statistical, whereas other markets require more intuition and insight. An odds compiler may be required to monitor the financial position the bookmaker is"
"usually alter their odds closer to other bookmakers' prices. The odds are influenced by betting volume so that a selection receiving a high volume of liquidity may have the odds for it cut. In 2006, there were news reports that the only female odds compiler in the United Kingdom was a woman called Helen Jacob of Sky Bet. Odds compiler An odds compiler (or trader) is a person employed by a bookmaker or betting exchange who sets the odds for events (such as sporting outcomes) for customers to place bets on. Apart from pricing markets, they also engage in any"
"around their half of the table; and a stickman who stands directly across the table from the boxman, takes and pays (or directs the base dealers to do so) the bets in the center of the table, announces the results of each roll (usually with a distinctive patter), and moves the dice across the layout with an elongated wooden stick. Each employee also watches for mistakes by the others because of the sometimes large number of bets and frantic pace of the game. In smaller casinos or at quiet times of day, one or more of these employees may be"
"the bookmaker will pay out on a winning bet, together with the required stake. In formulating the odds to display the bookmaker will have included a profit margin which effectively means that the payout to a successful bettor is less than that represented by the true chance of the event occurring. This profit is known as the 'over-round' on the 'book' (the 'book' refers to the old-fashioned ledger in which wagers were recorded, and is the derivation of the term 'bookmaker') and relates to the sum of the 'odds' in the following way: In a 3-horse race, for example, the"
"taken from the totals for advances, declines, and unchanged. Bets of up to $2 would be placed with hundreds of numbers writers around the city, who would keep 25% of the money bet as their fee. In the mid-afternoon a runner (locally known as the pickup man or woman) would rendezvous with the writers to collect the policy slips and cash, which would be taken to a central location and totaled on adding machines prior to determining the winners. The runners kept 10% of the money bet as their fee. 65 cents on every dollar bet would be delivered to"
"domestic market. This resulted in 2007 in a ruling against the US government by the World Trade Organization. Bookmaker A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays off bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds. The first bookmaker, Ogden, stood at Newmarket in 1795. Bookmakers in many countries 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."
"Betting exchange A betting exchange is a marketplace for customers to bet on the outcome of discrete events. Betting exchanges offer the same opportunities to bet as a bookmaker with a few differences. Gamblers can buy (also known as ""back"") and sell (also known as ""lay"") the outcome, and they can trade in real-time throughout the event, either to cut their losses or lock in profit. Bookmaker operators generate revenue by offering less efficient odds. Betting exchanges normally generate revenue by charging a small commission on winning bets. The first betting exchanges were flutter.com and Betfair. Flutter and Betfair merged"
"or eliminated. Skillful sports bettors, known as ""sharps"", may have their betting limits reduced and may not be allowed to take advantage of bonuses at online sports books. Instead, skillful sports bettors may rely on ""runners"" to place and collect their bets. Craps players are often stopped from playing if the dice fail to bounce off the back wall of the table. Advantage players abide by the established rules of the game and thus, in most jurisdictions, are not regarded as committing fraud against the casino. So, while they may face the above casino-imposed sanctions, they are able to operate"
"street and about 80 in a local zone. At a betting shop, typically there will be noticeboards listing the racing form for the day's horse racing from trade issues of the Racing Post or a similar equestrian publication. Until 2005, it was illegal to advertise on the outside of the shop any offer of odds, and most had blank windows; the Gambling Act 2005 relaxed the rules a little, but most betting shops still have covered windows much like sex shops, it is illegal to allow people from outside to see inside. Most betting shops now offer free tea and"
"Betting pool A betting pool, sports lottery, sweep, or office pool if done at work, is a form of gambling, specifically a variant of parimutuel betting influenced by lotteries, where gamblers pay a fixed price into a ""pool"" (from which taxes and a house ""take"" or ""vig"" are removed), and then make a selection on an outcome, usually related to sport. In an informal game, the vig is usually quite small or non-existent. The pool is evenly divided between those that have made the correct selection. There are no odds involved; each winner's payoff depends simply on the number of"
"Betting shop In the United Kingdom, a betting shop is a shop away from a racecourse (""off-course"") where one can legally place bets in person with a licensed bookmaker such as William Hill, Ladbrokes, or Coral. There are around 9,000 betting shops located in the UK. Off-course betting was illegal until the Betting and Gaming Act 1960 was introduced, although bets could be placed at a racecourse (""on-course"") on any event, not just the races being held at that course. Credit betting by post or telephone was legal because of a loophole in the law of ""resorting to a house"
"Vigorish Vigorish, or simply the vig, also known as juice, under-juice, the cut of the take, is the amount charged by a bookmaker, or ""bookie"", for taking a bet from a gambler. In the United States, it also means the interest on a shark's loan. The term originates from the Russian word for ""winnings"", выигрыш (""vyigrysh""). Bookmakers use this practice to make money on their wagers regardless of the outcome. To minimize their risk, some bookmakers do not want to have an interest in any side winning in a given sporting event. Instead, they are interested in getting equal betting"
"York. Gamblers place bets with a bookmaker (""bookie"") at a tavern, bar, barber shop, social club, or any other semi-private place that acts as an illegal betting parlor. Runners carry the money and betting slips between the betting parlors and the headquarters, called a numbers bank or policy bank. The name ""policy"" is based on the similarity to cheap insurance, which is also a gamble on the future. ""Policy shops"", where bettors choose numbers, operated in the United States prior to 1860. In 1875, a report of a select committee of the New York State Assembly stated that ""the lowest,"
"where their responsibility is to keep track of the count and signal to the big player when the count indicates a player advantage. The big player then joins the game at that table, placing maximum bets at a player advantage. When the spotter indicates that the count has dropped, he again signals the BP to leave the table. By jumping from table to table as called in by spotters, the BP avoids all play at a disadvantage. In addition, since the BP's play appears random and irrational, he avoids detection by the casinos. The spotters, who are doing the actual"
"In recent years some British ticket touts have moved into Internet ticket fraud. In the sports betting world, a tout is someone who sells picks of winners against the spread and the over/under. Most touts are scam artists and most don't have a long term winning record. A Shop Tout is someone who is engaged by a shop to loiter outside their office, sometimes outside the building, or outside their competitors' shop. The Tout then promotes the services to a passer-by and then escorts the person back to the shop, where they are paid a commission for each person that"
"the woods or in a barn. Opening events precede the initiation and breakfast, and alcoholic beverages can be consumed on the morning of competitions. Teams often employ astrologers to select competing members. In their prognostications, astrologers use puppets (""tsip"") to symbolize archers, puppets of fate who have no control of their destiny. These astrologers are often hired at substantial fees in archers' attempts to have favorable ""tsip"" performances, cast curses against other archers, and gain an upper hand. Astrologers also calculate the time and place for competition. Modern archery competitions feature compound bows, corporate sponsorships, copious cash and material winnings,"
"lock in profit. Bookmaker operators generate revenue by offering less efficient odds. Betting exchanges normally generate revenue by charging a transaction fee. Traditionally betting has occurred between a customer and a bookmaker where the customer 'backs' (bets that an outcome will occur) and the bookmaker 'lays' (bets that the outcome will not occur). Betting exchanges offer the opportunity for anyone to both back and lay. For example, if someone thinks Team A will win a competition, he may wish to back that selection. A bookmaker offering the punter that bet would be laying that selection. The two parties will agree"
"clerks to make the necessary calculations. The system works on the principle of totalling the bets made on a particular race and then dividing this sum, less a percentage for the operator, amongst those selecting the winning horse in proportion to the amount of their wager. Bets are registered and dividends displayed on a special board. In 1887 a partially automated system was in use in Australia and may have been in use at Cluden, there having been a totalisator on the course before the 1896 rebuild. A Totalisator Tax Act was introduced in 1892 in which the government deducted"
"with small pyramid shapes to randomize the dice which strike them. The top edges of the table walls have one or two horizontal grooves in which players may store their reserve checks. The table is run by up to four casino employees: a boxman seated (usually the only seated employee) behind the casino's bank, who manages the chips, supervises the dealers, and handles ""coloring up"" players (exchanging small chip denominations for larger denominations in order to preserve the chips at a table); two base dealers who stand to either side of the boxman and collect and pay bets to players"
"bets"" or ""rien ne va plus"". When a winning number and color is determined by the roulette wheel, the dealer will place a marker, also known as a dolly, on that winning number on the roulette table layout. When the dolly is on the table, no players may place bets, collect bets, or remove any bets from the table. The dealer will then sweep away all other losing bets either by hand or rake, and determine all of the payouts to the remaining inside and outside winning bets. When the dealer is finished making payouts, the marker is removed from"
"bettors to help achieve this goal. The odds or amounts the bookmaker will pay are determined by the total amount that has been bet on all of the possible events. They reflect the balance of wagers on either side of the event, and include the deduction of a bookmaker's brokerage fee (""vig"" or vigorish). Also, depending on how the betting is affected by jurisdiction, taxes may be involved for the bookmaker and/or the winning player. This may be taken into account when offering the odds and/or may reduce the amount won by a player. Odds Odds are a numerical expression,"
"famous British betting shop chains such as William Hill, Ladbrokes and Corals were legally established on the high street. Previously betting was either on course, via certain credit betting offices, or illegally conducted often in or around public houses, with 'bookies runners' ferrying the bets from bookmaker to client. Betting is taxed under the authority of various acts of Parliament. A gross profit tax is levied on all UK based bookmakers which is payable to the exchequer, and a separate sum is agreed and collected by the Horserace Betting Levy Board, a non-departmental public body of the Department for Culture,"
"Numbers game The numbers game, also known as the numbers racket, the policy racket, the policy game, the Italian lottery, or the daily number, is a form of illegal gambling or illegal lottery played mostly in poor and working class neighborhoods in the United States, wherein a bettor attempts to pick three digits to match those that will be randomly drawn the following day. For many years the ""number"" has been the last three digits of ""the handle"", the amount race track bettors placed on race day at a major racetrack, published in racing journals and major newspapers in New"
"umpire collects the forfeit. If both players disagree, the items are not traded, and the umpire collects the forfeit. If one player agrees and the other does not, the items are not traded, and the player who agreed to the valuation collects the forfeit. This game was played in ""Piers Plowman"", a book from the 14th century. The concept of a neutral person evening up the odds was extended to handicap racing in the mid-18th century. In handicap racing, horses carry different weights based on the umpire's estimation of what would make them run equally. The use of the term"
"build upon). Operations are carried on at ""pontos"" (points-of-sale) where dealers collect money and keep record of the bets. The bets (and the money) are sent to the central operator (""banca""), where the draw is done. All it takes is a scribbled note or a phone call to any of the thousands of bicheiros who haunt the street corners, shops and offices of every city, easily identified by their sunglasses, cigars and/or typical floral or printed shirts. Neither the ""pontos"" nor the ""bancas"" need a fixed operational centre. Most pontos are simple stools or wooden boxes on which the dealers"
"the betting action. Losing track of the amount needed to call, called the bet to the player, happens occasionally, but multiple occurrences of this slow the game down and so it is discouraged. The dealer may be given the responsibility of tracking the current bet amount, from which each player has only to subtract their contribution, if any, thus far. To aid players in tracking bets, and to ensure all players have bet the correct amount, players stack the amount they have bet in the current round in front of them. When the betting round is over (a common phrase"
"scam, a fortune teller uses her cold reading skill to detect that a client is genuinely troubled rather than merely seeking entertainment; or is a gambler complaining of bad luck. The fortune teller informs the mark that they are the victim of a curse, but that for a fee a spell can be cast to remove the curse. In Romany, this trick is called ""bujo"", originally meaning simply ""bag"", but now meaning ""a swindle involving a large amount of money from a gullible fortune-telling customer."" This name comes from a traditional form: the mark is told that the curse is"
"only William Hill doesn't own a betting exchange. Betting exchange A betting exchange is a marketplace for customers to bet on the outcome of discrete events. Betting exchanges offer the same opportunities to bet as a bookmaker with a few differences. Gamblers can buy (also known as ""back"") and sell (also known as ""lay"") the outcome, and they can trade in real-time throughout the event, either to cut their losses or lock in profit. Bookmaker operators generate revenue by offering less efficient odds. Betting exchanges normally generate revenue by charging a small commission on winning bets. The first betting exchanges"
"a Lotto game. These scams are generally based on the buyer's (and perhaps the seller's) misunderstanding of probability and random numbers. Sale of these systems or software is legal, however, since they mention that the product cannot guarantee a win, let alone a jackpot. There have also been several cases of cashiers at lottery retailers who have attempted to scam customers out of their winnings. Some locations require the patron to hand the lottery ticket to the cashier to determine how much they have won, or if they have won at all, the cashier then scans the ticket to determine"
"Mathematics of bookmaking In gambling parlance, making a book is the practice of laying bets on the various possible outcomes of a single event. The term originates from the practice of recording such wagers in a hard-bound ledger (the 'book') and gives the English language the term bookmaker for the person laying the bets and thus 'making the book'.<ref name=""newsid13/33"">Sidney 2003, p.13,36</ref> A bookmaker strives to accept bets on the outcome of an event in the right proportions so that he makes a profit regardless of which outcome prevails. See Dutch book and coherence (philosophical gambling strategy). This is achieved"