Have you ever found yourself marveling at the software engineering that goes into building an online sports betting site? Perhaps it has gone unnoticed, but you certainly won’t be able to stop thinking about it once you’ve read this article.
Consider for a second the live betting function of the professional bookie. They need to use algorithms that constantly adapt and bring new odds as and when anything new happens in a match – or just as time passes. That’s complicated stuff.
How about the matter of banking? Putting money into and withdrawing money from an online bookie is a lot more complicated than you might have thought. Betting sites that accept PayPal are one thing but how about all the other payment methods available, such as Skrill and Klarna?
And what about the live graphics? Most good bookies these days will let you see in real time exactly what is happening in a match, which is really useful if you’re unable to watch the actual match live. How does this work? It feels pretty magical!
These are the kinds of questions we’re going to be answering today. The bottom line is that it’s all down to some very clever software that the bookies use. Let’s find out the kind of software applications that are most prevalent:
Graphic design
A great-looking bookie website can go a long way for the people who use it. Not only can it be pleasing to the eyes and therefore more enjoyable to use, but if it’s laid out well, it can make it easier to navigate, saving people time.
The best bookies also have mobile apps. You may already know how much fun it can be to place your bets on the go, and that experience is always made better with mobile apps. They’re just much nicer than mobile websites!
Furthermore, there are live graphics. When a bookie can show you exactly what’s happening in real time, it really helps put you in the picture, and the very clever design makes this possible.
Web hosting
After the site or mobile app is designed, it needs to be put through more software for web hosting. This puts the design work from the graphic design people online.
Web hosting for bookies can be a bit complicated, as they are very powerful websites. But usually, this is one of the simpler parts of the process.
Odds calculation algorithms
It’s tempting to think that the odds are set by real human beings. And for pre-match odds, they often are. But think about this – there are hundreds of events going on each day at the major bookies, and each of those events offers live, in-play betting.
It would be impossible to have enough staff on a bookie team to be able to constantly update the odds for each match as time goes by, when a goal goes in, when a player gets sent off, when a car overtakes another… the list goes on.
That’s why there are a series of algorithms in place instead. Very complicated ones, at that! They’re set up by a bunch of very smart people. And they have to be – if they’re not configured perfectly all the time, they could end up costing the bookie a lot of money or offer unfair and unattractive odds to the bettors.
Financial tools
Processing financial transfers (deposits and withdrawals from the players) is something a bookie needs to get absolutely right. If there are any flaws, money is at risk and this can be catastrophic for the bookie and the customers alike.
There’s the matter of the actual payments themselves. With so many payment methods available these days (Mastercard, VISA, crypto, PayPal, Skrill and more), a lot of hosting needs to be done in order to take in the cash and pay it back out again.
Then there’s the extra level of security involved, which needs to be taken very seriously. When players enter their credit card details, logins for e-wallets and other personal information, that data needs to be protected at all costs. Otherwise, the bookie might end up with a problematic legal situation on their hands.
Last thoughts on the software professional bookies use
These are just some of several layers of software that a bookie has to use in order to get their site online. So, next time you bet at an online bookie, take a moment to appreciate how complicated the process is and give thanks to the software developers!
