bookie

noun

Save Word

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 Reid had earlier butted heads with infamous mob bookie Lefty Rosenthal, who was denied a gaming license for the Stardust after bickering with Reid during a 1978 commission hearing. — James Dehaven, USA TODAY, 29 Dec. 2021 What can’t happen to Alabama, which may have too many flaws to repeat as national champs so please be advised to spend your money on Christmas and not with a bookie, is another Tennessee game from two years ago at Bryant-Denny. — Charles Hollis, al, 22 Oct. 2021 Legal betting is creating opportunities for TV programming to serve potential bettors, especially those who found the idea of using the local bookie unsavory. — Ryan Faughnder, Los Angeles Times, 11 Oct. 2021 But Smith wound up owing Benny Silman, a student and a bookie at ASU, more than $10,000 in gambling debts. — Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 4 Oct. 2021 While the local bookie is an American institution, legal sports betting companies are eating up market share. — Will Yakowicz, Forbes, 9 Sep. 2021 Not even a bookie in Las Vegas — Tony Stewart's gold standard for foreseeing results — could have predicted the six-week Superstar Racing Experience summer season would have been such a success. — Jenna Fryer, Star Tribune, 19 July 2021 Mickelson was upset with a Detroit News article published this week that detailed his ties to Don DeSeranno, a Las Vegas bookie from Grosse Pointe. — Carlos Monarrez, Detroit Free Press, 2 July 2021 These percentages eclipse 100% due to the vigorish, which is the cut a bookie takes for facilitating bets. — Alex Kay, Forbes, 31 May 2021 See More

These 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.