bookie
noun
book·ie
| \ ˈbu̇-kē
\
\
plural bookies
Definition of bookie
informal
: a person who determines gambling odds and receives and pays off bets : bookmaker
The "line"—the Vikings over the Giants by four points, for example—establishes the point spread that the bookie believes will attract gamblers in equal numbers to each side of the bet.— Jack El-Hai Funnily enough, I was never anxious to win one of these bets. I didn't want to collect from the bookie on any of them.— Art Buchwald
Examples of bookie in a Sentence
Their bookie is giving good odds.
Recent Examples on the Web
Still, many villagers continue to place bets with local bookies on the numbers that will win Hong Kong’s lottery. — The Economist, "The Chinese state manages the world’s second-biggest lottery industry," 29 Aug. 2019 Right now, bookies have the best odds on young British actress Florence Pugh, 23, as favorite for the role, while Bohemian Rhaposody star Lucy Boynton and Les Miserables' Ellie Bamber are also both close behind in the betting race. — Lucy Wood, Marie Claire, "Who Will Play Princess Diana in 'The Crown'? Everything We Know So Far," 12 Mar. 2019 The first, on Third Street, drew men from all over San Francisco and the Bay Area who played poker and gin rummy and placed bets with bookies in saloons with special gambling rooms. — Gary Kamiya, SFChronicle.com, "SF ‘hobohemia’ transformed into Skid Row as jobs and city changed," 10 Aug. 2019 Bettors will no longer be forced into the black market to use offshore wagering operations or illicit bookies. — New York Times, "Supreme Court Ruling Favors Sports Betting," 14 May 2018 We’re six weeks from the season openers, but the bookies are locked in. — Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, "Las Vegas speaks, and it likes the Pac-12 in season openers: Nine favorites expected by kickoff," 17 July 2019 However, with both ruling themselves out of contention, Newcastle need to look elsewhere and Bruce, who has only been at Sheffield Wednesday since January, has emerged as the bookies favourite to take over. — SI.com, "Steve Bruce Laughs Off Speculation Linking Him With Vacant Newcastle Job," 10 July 2019 That suits the bookie with whom the Tribune spoke just fine. — John Keilman, chicagotribune.com, "Will local bookies survive when legal sports betting comes to Illinois? The odds look good.," 18 June 2019 Well, pro sports bookies have no sentiment, and one of them, MyTopSportsbooks.com, lists the Warriors No. 4 on the list of most likely champs, at 13-to-1. — Scott Ostler, SFChronicle.com, "Maybe Warriors’ party is just getting started," 10 July 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'bookie.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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