Kaspars Grinvalds // Shutterstock
Man using online sports betting services on phone and laptop
When it comes to taking risks and judging their odds, people have relied on their calculating abilities for survival for millennia. It’s no surprise that when the stakes of losing are considerably lower—say, for games of chance—humans have been drawn to try their luck.
Today, gambling provides key revenue for many states’ budgets, and is a highly regulated industry. One fast-growing sector is sports betting, which really took off in the U.S. with horse racing in the 19th century. U.S. gamblers legally bet more than $4.3 billion on sports in 2021, according to Statista. Nevada—more specifically, Las Vegas—is home to some of the most famous sportsbooks, like Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal’s Stardust casino, which opened in 1976.
Book writers or bookmakers, often called ticket writers, and gambling assistants conduct or manage gambling at sports events and other occasions or venues. Gambling assistants help with games such as keno and bingo. The term “book writer” goes back to when gamblers calculated and recorded odds on paper. In the digital world, the most commonly encountered bookmakers are professionals in gambling and other industries, which are now often online.
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