How to Request a Bet

Bookmakers typically offer a range of betting options on sports events. Bettors can choose one or combine several options into accumulator and system bets.

Punters often use a bet builder to construct bets from the vast selection of markets, while the software calculates the odds in real-time. Still, your choices here are bound by betting events that a bookmaker offers. If you’re looking for more freedom and personalised options, you can request a bet. Keep reading to find out more about this betting method and what you can get out of it.

Bet How You Want

When you request a wager, you create your bet before asking for a price from the sportsbook. This wager may include any market, such as the number of goals or corners. It can incorporate any outright markets where you’re betting on the outcome of an entire tournament or league, and it offers more flexibility than a bet builder.

There are many ways to request a bet, but ultimately the entire process comes down to the bookies creating a new market at the bettor’s request. Bookmakers consider many factors, looking to provide a bet with balanced outcomes to ensure a profit.

The amount of time bookmakers take to set the betting odds depends on the complexity of your bet. In the past, bookies needed around 24 hours to respond to punters who requested odds for a bet. But thanks to modern technology and social media, the process now takes mere minutes.

Custom Odds and Prices

Bookies always look to offer wagers that are backed in a proportionally equal way. This enables them to make money regardless of what the outcome is. And for events that gather a large betting crowd, such as football matches, bookmakers are quick to deliver odds on requested bets.

When it comes to pricing requested bets, bookies consider three primary components:

• Market uncertainty
• Betting permutations
• Industry competitiveness

The more obscure a specific market is to the trading teams, the longer it takes to create wagering odds. When you request a bet for a football game, the market is familiar to trading teams with well-established betting systems that need minimal change to conform to your stake.

However, heavily obfuscated markets often need more outcome permutations, such as full-time results, to balance out the books. Wholesale companies balance exposed lines where bookmakers risk losing on a specific event or a bet. And when it comes to wagers that don’t guarantee a profit for bookies, betting venues will react by increasing commission rates to offset eventual losses on such markets.

Industry competitiveness is the most significant component in setting prices and odds when you request a bet. It’s insurance that bookies will make a profit. A sportsbook will usually offer lower prices and odds on established markets, such as football, to beat the opposition and attract bettors. Keep in mind that if you’re asking for a highly unusual bet, a bookie can set high prices on it since no other betting site has it in their gambling offer.

Requesting a Wager

There are several ways you can send a betting request to the bookmaker. All are straightforward.

If you’re trying to figure out how to request a bet, the most common method is to send a wager to the bookie’s Twitter account to get a price. Just make sure you set up an account on the gambling site first. If you decide to send the message via Twitter, use the appropriate hashtag. You’ll receive their response with a price via a direct link where you can place a bet. Some bookies may send you a direct message or list their odds and markets on their websites.

Another way is to send the bookie a message via email with your wagering request. If the bookmaker has one, you can also use a mobile app to request a bet. This tool should enable you to secure an answer within minutes. Bear in mind that these custom-made bets have a time limit when you can bet, such as half an hour before the game starts.

Tips and Tricks for Requesting Bets

When you’re requesting a unique bet, you should try and secure the lowest possible price. Even though most bookies respond to price requests by offering poor value to bettors, that’s still better than no odds at all. Here are a couple of tricks that will help you net the best possible price.

Contact Several Bookmakers

There are several right ways to request a bet. The tips to keep in mind include asking many bookmakers for a price. Punters keep forgetting that they’re not obliged to follow up on their betting request and actually place a bet. Instead, you can get much better odds by requesting the same line from multiple bookies.

Contact ten or so wagering sites with your betting request, then compare the offers. They won’t all be the same, but don’t expect remarkable differences in pricing as bookies often communicate to get a better sense of how their counterparts are pricing certain markets.

Look at Actual Markets

If you want to wager on football and request a bet for a specific match, there is a pretty good chance that some bookmakers already offer that option. If you’re new to football betting, make sure you don’t send a request for a wager that already exists on the betting site. Do your homework on what the bookies are offering, especially if you want to request a wager in popular sports.

Pay Attention to Limits

Check with the bookies what the maximum limits are on obscure markets. Since requested wagers are riskier for a bookie, they provide lower limits on how much you can withdraw per bet when compared to traditional sports markets and events.

Watch Out for Related Contingencies

Despite sounding like a term from quantum physics, related contingency is a common betting term. It means that a punter cannot put a bet on specific events that are deemed likely to have an impact on another market.

One example is wincast, where you’re betting on a winning team and goalscorer. Another is the scorecast market, where you’re predicting the score and goalscorer. These bets are allowed in commonly related markets but in a limited fashion and with a specific sportsbook.

Inside Information Is Not Allowed

Bookmakers are very good at sniffing out users who employ insider information to win a bet. It is one thing to make a guess based on extensive and public knowledge of sports clubs and players. However, it is an entirely different thing to bet when you know something is about to occur. For example, you might work as a tester in F1 and request a bet. A bookie will void the requested bet if they find out that this is the case.

They can void your bet if they think you possess an unfair advantage over other bettors. Punters with such inside information may even succeed in cheating the system a few times, but the betting venues eventually uncover foul play.

Betting Exchanges as a Substitute

If you’re getting low prices for requested wagers, consider taking your bets to betting exchanges. These websites get a commission from all stakes, which might land you better prices. Here, you act like a sportsbook and make a bet. Just be sure to offer wagers with balanced outcomes and attract other players.

Conclusion

When we’re talking about requesting wagers, there are very few limitations. Simply research existing markets, get in touch with several bookmakers, and check the maximum payout limits. You’re free to request odds for just about any outcome you can think of.

FAQ

How can I make my own bet?

You’ll need to send it to a bookmaker via Twitter or email. You’ll either get a price for your bet via direct message, or it will be made available as a wagering option on the bookie’s site.

How do I request a bet on sky?

Check their Twitter account and leave a bet offer with the hashtag #RequestABet to get a price.

How can I make my bet stronger?

Make sure the wager you’re requesting isn’t already available on any of the betting sites and contact at least ten bookmakers to get the best price.