What Is Pay Per Head?​

Content curated from and authored by Clear Data Sports

As is often the case, innovations in technology lead to changing trends. And that is what has created the booming Pay Per Head bookmaking market.

PPH is defined simply as the exchange of bookmaking software for a weekly per player payment. The bookmaker signs up with the pay per head service, which in turn runs the bookmaker’s business.

How It Works

Players don’t want to have to travel to a brick-and-mortar sportsbook or place a call to their bookie to make a bet. They want to use the internet, which gives them 24-hour access to all the bets and all the sports from the comfort of their couch.

The pay per head service provides that internet connection to bookmakers, who in turn provide it to their clients.

This allows the bookmaker to set limits, move lines and odds (if they so choose), manage client accounts, and see detailed balance reports. And the bookmaker, because it’s all online, can do this at any time and from anywhere.

Advantages To The Bettor

Having to get ahold of your bookie is an issue of the past. If there are any problems with your bet, or any other technical problems, most pay per head sites offer full customer service. And the available payment options extend far beyond what an individual bookmaker is likely to offer.

Most new pay per head sites offer bitcoin as a payment option. Credit cards can be used to make payments, and with the peace of mind that is offered by a large company with top-of-the-line security and encryption software.

You can also find bank transfers and bill pay options at most pay per head services, which are all things unlikely to be available to a bookmaker working on his own.

Clients also have access to dynamic lines that move with the latest news and betting trends. They get a full complement of sports that could never be offered by a solo bookmaker. And they can place those bets at any time of night, and from their computer or mobile phone.

Advantages To The Bookie

Signing up for a pay per head site instantly upgrades a bookmaker’s operations. The capital required to build your own website and employ the software required to handle financial transactions and hundreds of betting lines would be in the tens of thousands of dollars, or even more.

But for just a small weekly fee per client - usually in the $10 to $15 range - you can skip the raising of capital and website building and have the PPH site handle it all.

Bookmakers have to work a lot less because now they’re working smarter. While the PPH site handles all of the administrative duties of running your own bookmaking service, the bookie is free to sign up more clients and focus on personal relations with existing clients.

And instead of having to pass out your phone number so clients can place bets, you can now control the hours in which you work, and leave all betting and troubleshooting communications to the pay per head site’s customer service team.