Bookmaking is not a new phenomenon in the online casino gambling world. The practice has been around for years. In the late 1700s Richard Tattersall developed the practice known as bookmaking. Bookmaking is a way of taking bets and the person who engages in this activity is known as a bookie. He is sometimes referred to as a Turf Accountant. The bookie takes bets from different people about a certain event. This can be a race, a sports bingo game, an election or whatever. He keeps records of the different wagers and he tries to takes the bets in such a way that they balance out. This would mean that there would have to be an equal number of bets for each team or outcome. Since this is usually impossible to do, the bookie accomplishes a balance by adjusting the point spread or by adjusting the amounts of the wagers. After the free casino game, or whatever the event is, the bookie collects from the losers and pays the winners. The bookie does make is money from the bets themselves; he makes his money from the event and the fact that there is betting on the events.

Different countries have different attitudes and laws towards bookmaking. In some countries, like the United Kingdom, it is legal and there are many bookmaking firms that operate legally. In other countries, like the United States and much of Europe, the practice is basically illegal unless it is in Nevada or Atlantic City. Those are the only places in the country where sports betting is legal.