I’m taking 5 to 2 the thread gets closed during the next 72 hours.
I worked with a couple of equity derivative traders that kinda went back and forth between their derivative trading and bookie jobs. Seriously. Wednesdays and Saturdays was horse racing in Hong Kong. It was pretty common to overhear “mate, it’s a race day, you know that. Either trade or get off the phone.”
The entire operation got shut down after the 1997 Asian crisis. I ran into one of the traders a couple years after that, and he was back to being a full time bookie. A good bookie nd a good trader had an awful lot in common
Wanna be a bookie? Start by getting a library card and go from there. 
Equity derivative trader? That is definitely going on the resumé now. I have a new question though, say I’m in a local “sports themed watering hole” and I’m looking to “take bets” on some “action” how would I advertise my trade?
“Psst, hey buddy, need some derivatives traded?” just doesn’t sound right.
Start trading in pork bellies and frozen concentrated orange juice. Just don’t hire anybody named Beeks and you’ll be all set.
Equity, equinity, close enough.
/random
I worked for a bookie, once upon a time. I had no IDEA the owner of the restaurant I worked at, which stayed open to certain folk LONG after it was closed, was a bookie, but I was young and naive. All I knew was that he constantly got calls for him during the day, and they never ever wanted to leave a message. Finally one of my co-workers tipped me off; it made so much more sense after that. 
This is from memory, but an article I read at least 20 years ago about a major Las Vegas oddsmaker said he had a system for “test-marketing” the odds before they were released to the general public. He had a small select group of regulars that were allowed to place bets based on an initial spread. If this sophisticated group broke too heavily to one side he would adjust the odds before the general release.
Covered in Bees,
I’m assuming you are asking a serious question, so in that context I’ll give a (semi) serious answer.
Firstly, I’m talking from Australia where registered bookmakers are legal.
Secondly, bookmaking has changed dramatically in the last 100 years. Well make that even the last 30 years.
Basically, originally it was all about percentages. If a bookie bets to 100%, no matter what horse wins he breaks square. Of course he wants to win so he often bets far more than 100%… And a real bookmaker, as opposed to a book keeper, may take a set against a horse so that if it loses he wins a hell of a lot. He bets better odds than the others. Of course if the horse wins…
All that aside, bookmaking is not a stand alone operation. You need staff on a race day, you’ll need to subscribe to form analysts and there are also a lot of costs aside from that. If you have a good (winning) day your staff expect a sling. If you lose the still expect a smaller sling.
And there is a lot of competition from off course bookmakers and the giddy goat.
The whole point of being a bookie is that you don’t win and lose. If you’re worried about whether you’re going to win or lose, then you’re not a bookie, you’re a bookie’s customer.
I’m going to have to pull the plug on this project. I’ve been unable to get off the ground in my new career.
I thought I’d be able to handle it, but alas this was not the case. I mean, first off by the time I learn all the fancy math that it requires, I might as well just go to college and become a math geek.
Next hurdle is the lack of action. Supposedly horse racing is good for taking bets, but let’s be honest here, who cares about horses running in a circle? So with horses out of the picture, I got a tip that maybe people would be interested in betting on something called “the playoffs” in the National Basketball Association. Personally I’d never heard of such a thing, but my go-getter attitude prevented me from ignoring it. So I looked into this whole basketball thing and once I found someone who had actually heard of it, it didn’t sound like something that had a lot of long-term potential.
One additional nail in the coffin of this career was the combinatin of two facts, that apparently I will also be needing a high sense of fashion and have some musical ability, at least with violins.
At this point it just started becoming too much damn work. One of the benefits that I first thought the job would come with is that I wouldn’t need to be wearing a suit. Now I need to learning the violin too? Is it acceptable if I learned something cool like electric guitar at least?
Oh and let’s not forget all the apparent legal trouble I have to avoid, despite the fact I’ve already explained how I’d be totally legit. It seems not everyone agrees and even my humble SDMB thread couldn’t be left alone before The Man started hasslin’ me.
Speaking of The Man, I’ve already gotten approval for a thread regarding my next career attempt, male escort.