What happens if a sportsbook doesn't receive the same amount of bets on both sides of the game?

After the game is over, the sportsbook either makes or loses a lot of money. They try to adjust the "line" or the odds so that this doesn't happen, of course, but sometimes it does. They try to keep enough cash in reserve so that if they do end up on the losing side of this kind of situation they can pay everybody and survive until they start making a profit again.

There's a very good and entertaining book about the world of sports betting called "The National Football Lottery." Sports writer Larry Merchant spent a year betting on football games, meeting the bookies and other gamblers, and then wrote about it. This was back in the 70s or 80s so of course things have changed (like the internet came along) but the general business model is probably the same.

Sportsbooks assume risk. They have a bankroll to withstand a losing week here and there, but overall they win because of the vig. Even if the action is lopsided, if the public is only right 50% of the time the book profits from the vig in the long run. When the action is balanced, the profit is also guaranteed in the short term, but that's not essential to a book's success. Casinos assume short-term risk too, but you don't see busy casinos going broke.

Either they could lose... or they already have deals in place with other people to match bets up. They might have too much on one side, another place has too much on the other side... so they just combine.

Sportsbooks have lost on games before.

they run a business.....ina perfect world they would take , as an example, a hundred thousand dollars in bets on both teams...that locks in a profit of 10% the break even point is 10%...they know they can exceed by 10 percent and take 110K action on one team and not lose....if its a casino, they know that on a weekend 1200 slot machines will run at 90% capacity from 4pm friday until 4 pm sunday......anyway, they make big money...24/7 possibly suspend betting....laying bets off...they know what they are doing.....

It's impossible because they adjust the line or the odds so this never doesn't happen, also you can ask professional gamblers: bet blog. com or maybe bookmakers forum. com, they will explain more about that.

The book maker changes the odds, a competent bookmaker is covered no matter who wins.

Sometimes they can balance it out by 'laying off' bets with other bookies. (I'm talking bookie-to-bookie here).