What Sportsbooks Are ACTUALLY The Biggest??

[edpicker]

Everywhere you look each sportsbook says they are the largest sportsbook on the planet.

What are the say Top 5 largest sportsbooks that take US customers?

Is Sportsbook and Bookmakers one of them?

Any help is appreciated.

[CrimsonQueen]

Here is my speculation (and it is just that, speculation):

The Greek is the biggest...and that's as far as I can guess.

[John Dough]

CRIS/Bookmaker and Greek are a good start to the list.

[Max009]

Everywhere you look each sportsbook says they are the largest sportsbook on the planet.

What are the say Top 5 largest sportsbooks that take US customers?

Is Sportsbook and Bookmakers one of them?

Any help is appreciated.

Sportsbook
Bodog
Bookmaker
Greek
Bet Jamaica

That would be my guess in order of size.

[betpartners]

The OP said on the PLANET not in some backwater

European sportsbooks swamp the ones mentioned so far by light years

In fact Ladbrokes alone is bigger than the whole lot mentioned here combined and when the Bwin-partypoker merger goes through you can add up all the offshore bookes together and if they still would not get close.

You do know that when the word Planet is mentioned it dont mean just the US, though i suppose when you call the North American Baseball champions the world series then that says it all.

[Hareeba!]

The OP said on the PLANET not in some backwater

European sportsbooks swamp the ones mentioned so far by light years

In fact Ladbrokes alone is bigger than the whole lot mentioned here combined and when the Bwin-partypoker merger goes through you can add up all the offshore bookes together and if they still would not get close.

You do know that when the word Planet is mentioned it dont mean just the US, though i suppose when you call the North American Baseball champions the world series then that says it all.

And Betfair would be bigger than them all
Pinnacle probably also

and btw "World Series" doesn't imply "champion of the world"
It was named after the sponsor who created it "The World" newspaper

[betpartners]

Betfair is certainly up there but biggest, nope, their valuation is approx £1.5 billion, The new Bwin merger would be close on £2 Billion

Pinnacle? give it up, nowhere near them,

Whatever the history of why its called the world series does not stop the winners calling themselves the world champions does it?

[djefferis]

Ladbrokes doesn't take us customers to my knowledge

biggest: Cris-bookmaker
Olympic (betjm/Greek)
sbg
sportsbook.com
bodog

all are small compared to ladbrokes, which has us facing horse operations. Many casino operators are public companies too.

[djefferis]

Add matchbook to my list, although technically not a book.

Size doesn't matter, integrity does..some big shops still fall short there.

[betpartners]

Ladbrokes doesn't take us customers to my knowledge

biggest: Cris-bookmaker
Olympic (betjm/Greek)
sbg
sportsbook.com
bodog

all are small compared to ladbrokes, which has us facing horse operations. Many casino operators are public companies too.

Ladbrokes does not take USA customers but the question was who is the biggest sportsbook on the planet, not who takes bets from every country in the world.

If your talking who is the biggest sportsbook that accepts US customers then thats altogether different because that eliminates Bwin, Ladbrokes, William Hill, Corals/Eurobet and Betafir straight of the bat.

Otherwise thats your top 5 right there, though in what order is up for debate as Betfair is a privately held company and figures are hard to come by, the £1.5 Billion valuation is based on their prospective stock market valuation

[Hareeba!]

By "biggest" I was assuming taking most $ in bets
I'd be surprised if anyone is bigger than Betfair

[Chopsticks]

Bwin has over 20 million customers (counting all platforms, they have the Ongame poker network I think), now that the Party Group will merge with BWIN then they are definitely the biggest.

During the World Cup they averaged €1.1M every day from 900.000 active customers at the time.

http://b.informed.bwin.com/InvestorRelations/News/PressReleases/2010/100713_World%20Cup%20final.aspx?p=1

[John Dough]

The OP said on the PLANET not in some backwater

European sportsbooks swamp the ones mentioned so far by light years

In fact Ladbrokes alone is bigger than the whole lot mentioned here combined and when the Bwin-partypoker merger goes through you can add up all the offshore bookes together and if they still would not get close.

You do know that when the word Planet is mentioned it dont mean just the US, though i suppose when you call the North American Baseball champions the world series then that says it all.

The OP specified books that take US customers. Perhaps you should re-read the post instead of going on some Euro-rant.

[Chopsticks]

The asian bookies should not be ignored in this debate. They have the majority of the world population.

[betpartners]

Hard to define with Betfair because its turnover with them, hard to pin down exact amounts in bets taken etc

In 2009 Ladbrokes took £15 Billion in stakes and employed 15000 people

In 2008 William Hill took £16 Billion in stakes and employed 16000 people

Ladbrokes are bigger due to profit and more shops etc

That is some serious money and puts in to perspective the size of the likes of Pinnacle, doubt the whole offshore market takes anywhere near £31 Billion ($48 Billion) in stakes in a single year as the two above combined did and i know for a fact they dont employ those sort of numbers.

[betpartners]

The OP specified books that take US customers. Perhaps you should re-read the post instead of going on some Euro-rant.

Yes your right, no harm in expanding it to the actual planet though is there,

[Hareeba!]

so are we now including casinos and poker in the definition of sportsbooks?

[betpartners]

The asian bookies should not be ignored in this debate. They have the majority of the world population.

Gambling is mainly illegal in Asia, however the Hong Kong Jockey club take serious money but facts and figured are hard to come by, the actual Asian sportsbooks that are legal are not that big in comparison.

Bwin/partypoker if the merger goes through will be very close to being the biggest in terms of numbers, not sure it is a definate though and £1 Million a day in bets is tiny compared to what William Hill or Ladbrokes take, that equates to £365 Million, nowhere near £15 Billion.

You need to take in to consideration that Ladbrokes and W Hill take massive amounts on the horses, i beleive horses account for something like 75% of European betting, sports far less

[trumpdown]

Interesting debate. So how big is Pinnacle in reference to the others. How much in bets do they bring in each year?

[betpartners]

so are we now including casinos and poker in the definition of sportsbooks?

Partypoker own various sportsbooks like Partybets, gamebookers etc, if we do include casinos and poker then W Hill and Ladbrokes would be even larger.

But yeah i am talking sportsbooks alone

[Chopsticks]

Does those WillHill and Ladbrokes figures include the offline bets? I.e. what they take in the shops and over the phone? I have no doubt that if we include that, then they are probably at the very top in the world.

[Hareeba!]

Hard to define with Betfair because its turnover with them, hard to pin down exact amounts in bets taken etc

In 2009 Ladbrokes took £15 Billion in stakes and employed 15000 people

In 2008 William Hill took £16 Billion in stakes and employed 16000 people

Ladbrokes are bigger due to profit and more shops etc

That is some serious money and puts in to perspective the size of the likes of Pinnacle, doubt the whole offshore market takes anywhere near £31 Billion ($48 Billion) in stakes in a single year as the two above combined did and i know for a fact they dont employ those sort of numbers.

Betfair claims in excess of 2,000,000 customers and a DAILY turnover of $80M

[betpartners]

Does those WillHill and Ladbrokes figures include the offline bets? I.e. what they take in the shops and over the phone? I have no doubt that if we include that, then they are probably at the very top in the world.

Yes it does and with thousands of shops and Corals as well that makes a huge difference, it can be argued and in fact is argued by some online sportsbooks in Europe that they take far more bets online than Ladbrokes and W Hills and i would not be surprised at that considering their odds.

If we are talking purely online then Betfair would take some beating i would guess as would Bwin

[betpartners]

Betfair claims in excess of 2,000,000 customers and a DAILY turnover of $80M

Probably right but thats turnover and is well twisted and hard to fathom out, based on profit and their proposed stock market valuation they are valued at £1.5 Billion, The Bwin merger apparently would value the new company at £2 Billion.

W Hill, Ladbrokes and Corals are in fact hundreds of million in debt and this of course downgrades their value in comparison.

But in terms of stakes i think we can agree that £15 Billion or £16 Billion in stakes makes them mammoth companies.

I suppose the real question is what defines the biggest sportsbooks, is it profit, is it turnover, is it stakes or actual valuation

[minet123]

Anything in the UK or Western Europe is 10x the size of any book located in that third world rat hole of Costa Rica

[betpartners]

Anything in the UK or Western Europe is 10x the size of any book located in that third world rat hole of Costa Rica

Now yes

Pre UIGEA it was different, Bodog made Calvin Ayre a Billionaire and he was the public face, makes you wonder what the worth of the other big offshore books owners is.

That said a lot of European sportsbooks had to write off hundreds of millions with the loss of the American market, so again its hard to calculate.

I have no doubt that once betting becomes legal in the US the playing field will be very different in a few years time, especially if the Europeans are Asians cannot get licenses and if the Vegas Casinos are given preferential treatment as is expected.

But as it stands now the Europeans and in particular the UK are the biggest by whatever metric is used,

[Dark Horse]

Anything in the UK or Western Europe is 10x the size of any book located in that third world rat hole of Costa Rica

If you mean the largest number of 10 euro bettors.

Simple rule of thumb. The biggest books take the biggest bets.

[Hareeba!]

If you mean the largest number of 10 euro bettors.

Simple rule of thumb. The biggest books take the biggest bets.

If that's the measure, you can cross out all the Euro books (not Betfair)
And Pinnacle and SBO go to the top

[RickySteve]

Awful thread. Only thing I learned is that betpartners is a moron.

[RickySteve]

...

[betpartners]

Awful thread. Only thing I learned is that betpartners is a moron.

ooooh another keyboard warrior with such incisive analytical input, bet with that sharp thinking you make your teacher proud.

[DeluxeLiner]

ooooh another keyboard warrior with such incisive analytical input, bet with that sharp thinking you make your teacher proud.

lol betpartners is so passionate and worked up about European books it is as if it were his own family's honor at stake in this thread

[Hareeba!]

Those Euro books may be big by some measures but to the online punter who's played at them for some time they become utterly useless.

Every single one of them will limit your stakes to a level they become a waste of time playing at if you demonstrate any hint of knowing what you are on about.

They are a disgrace to the noble art of bookmaking and don't deserve to be regarded as such.

[Pokerjoe]

Betfair is certainly up there but biggest, nope, their valuation is approx £1.5 billion, The new Bwin merger would be close on £2 Billion

Pinnacle? give it up, nowhere near them,

Whatever the history of why its called the world series does not stop the winners calling themselves the world champions does it?

The winner of the MLB World Series is indisputably the best team in the world.
MLB attracts the best players in the world.
MLB in fact is made up of players from a great many countries.

Like the NBA, which is the pinnacle of basketball success for players from all over the world. And the NBA's players do in fact come from all over the world, too. It's championship is the world's most esteemed. The best club team in the rest of the world is worse than the last place NBA squad.

Now please, stop posting. You're embarrassing where ever it is in the world you come from.

[Pokerjoe]

Yes your right, no harm in expanding it to the actual planet though is there,

No harm in thinking before spewing, either.