Sports Betting in Malaysia: How Bookmakers Work and the Law

A bookmaker (in everyday speech, a bookie) is a company that offers sports betting, which lets people bet on the results of real sporting events. Because bettors can follow and support their favourite teams and players while they bet, sports betting is popular around the world, and a growing number of online casinos abroad also offer it. There is no licensed sports betting in Malaysia, so this page explains bookmakers as general information.

What You Will Learn

• A bookmaker is the operator that takes sports bets and acts as the house.
• Bettors stake money on their predictions for the results of football, badminton and other sporting events.
• The payout percentage (the share of all stakes paid back to bettors) is generally put at about 90–98%, higher than that of lotteries and pari-mutuel horse racing.
• Sports betting is not licensed in Malaysia; the section on the law in Malaysia explains what is legal.

This article takes about 13 minutes to read.

What Is a Bookmaker? The House Behind Sports Betting, with More Than 200 Years of History

In short, a bookmaker takes bets on the results of sporting events worldwide, such as which team will win, and the act of placing these bets is called sports betting.

Bookmaking has a long history that goes back to 18th-century Britain, and betting shops run by bookmakers can still be found across Europe today.

Bookmaking Took Hold in Britain in the 1790s

Bookmaking is generally traced to the 1790s, more than 200 years ago, when Harry Ogden began offering odds on racehorses and taking bets at Newmarket Racecourse in England, home of races such as the 1,000 Guineas and the 2,000 Guineas.

At first there was opposition, with some arguing that the practice did not fit the traditions of horse racing. Bookmaking gradually became very popular, however, and in 1961 betting shops were legalised.

For this reason, Britain is often described as the home of sports betting, and the sports industry and bookmakers remain closely linked there today.

William Hill and Ladbrokes: Britain’s Oldest Bookmakers Move Online

William Hill is one of Britain’s best-known bookmakers and a household name across Europe. Founded in 1934, it opened betting shops in many locations after they were legalised in 1961, allowing customers to place sports bets in person. In recent years it has closed and consolidated many shops, and the focus of its business has shifted online.

Ladbrokes, another of Britain’s best-known bookmakers, is even older. It was founded in 1886 as a commission agent for racehorses trained at Ladbroke Hall in Warwickshire, and it also grew into a large chain of betting shops after they were legalised in 1961. Ladbrokes merged with Coral in 2016 to form Ladbrokes Coral, which was acquired in 2018 by GVC Holdings (renamed Entain in 2020). Like William Hill, it now does much of its business online.

William Hill launched its online betting business in 1998, allowing customers to bet over the internet without visiting a shop. The world’s first online casino opened in 1996, so online casinos and online sports betting started at almost the same time.

What Makes Bookmakers Appealing

One feature of bookmakers is that a bettor’s knowledge of the sport can inform their decisions. For this reason, some bettors feel they can make better use of their own judgement than in casino games.

Set a Budget Before You Bet

Where betting is legal, the most important decision comes before the first bet: how much a bettor can afford to lose. That amount should be treated as the cost of entertainment, not money to be won back.

While a bettor is still learning how odds and markets work, stakes should be kept small. Mistakes made while learning cost less, and it becomes easier to see how the bookmaker’s margin affects results over time.

Chasing losses by raising stakes to win back what has been lost is a common mistake. Because every price includes a margin, bigger stakes do not improve the chances of winning; they only increase how much can be lost.

Higher Payout Percentage Than Lotteries and Pari-Mutuel Horse Racing

The payout percentage is the share of the amount bet that is paid back on average. It is the flip side of the bookmaker’s margin (also called the overround), which is the share the bookmaker keeps.

The bookmaker payout percentage is generally about 90–98%, depending on the market. Put another way, the bookmaker’s margin is 2–10%, and the rest is paid back, on average, to bettors as a whole. Because there is a margin, however, betting at random over the long run still leads to a net loss. Because online betting does not require physical shops, operators have lower overheads, which is said to be one reason the payout percentage can be this high.

Odds Are Locked In When You Place Your Bet

Knowledge can inform a bettor’s decisions because at a bookmaker, the odds are fixed the moment the bet is placed.

In pari-mutuel betting (in Malaysia, the tote at the turf clubs), as used in horse racing, the odds are not set when you buy your ticket. They become final only when betting closes. This system is designed so that the operator is unlikely to lose money, and bettors face a built-in cost equal to the operator’s deduction.

Bookmakers, by contrast, use fixed odds. The bookmaker sets the odds first, bettors place their bets knowing those odds, and the odds are locked in the moment the bet is placed.

This means that a bettor who knows the Premier League well, for example, can look at the odds for its matches and judge whether a price looks like good value. Fixed odds do not in themselves give a bettor an edge, however.

In countries where sports betting is legal, most bookmakers can be used from a smartphone. This does not apply in Malaysia (see the section on the law in Malaysia below).

Bet on Events Beyond Sports, Such as Elections

For people who are interested in betting but do not watch many sports, bookmakers offer specials (also called novelty bets). Many bookmakers take bets not only on sports but on a wide range of future events.

Markets range from questions such as “Who will win Best Director at next year’s Academy Awards?” and “Will it snow in the UK this Christmas?” to topics of wider public interest such as “Who will win the US presidential election?” During the 2020 US presidential election, the odds on whether Joe Biden or Donald Trump would win were widely reported in the news. Bookmakers therefore cover entertainment, politics and other areas as well as sports.

The range of sports is also wide. Besides popular sports such as football, badminton and basketball, bookmakers cover individual sports such as boxing and tennis, indoor games such as bowling and darts, and, more recently, esports titles such as Counter-Strike and Call of Duty.

Watch Matches via Live Streaming

Watching the action is an essential part of sports betting. With money on the line, it is natural to want to see the result as it happens, and many bookmakers offer live streaming, which lets customers watch sporting events as they are played.

Streams are not limited to the matches a customer has bet on, but they are usually available only to registered account holders (some bookmakers require a deposit or a bet first). Which matches are streamed, the conditions for watching and the regions where streams are available vary by bookmaker.

Because these streams are tied to betting accounts, they are not an option for people in Malaysia (see the section on the law in Malaysia).

Matches Available via Live Streaming

Football

The Premier League, Serie A, La Liga, the Bundesliga, the Champions League, the World Cup and more

Baseball

MLB (Major League Baseball)

Tennis

The Australian Open, the US Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and some tour events

Matches in basketball, American football, table tennis, rugby, cricket, ice hockey, futsal and other sports may also be available. Coverage varies by bookmaker and competition.

Sports Betting and the Law in Malaysia

Malaysia’s main gambling laws are the Common Gaming Houses Act 1953 and the Betting Act 1953, both written long before the internet. Lotteries and number forecast games, pool betting and horse racing are covered by other acts, and licences for legal gambling are issued by the Ministry of Finance. Muslims in Malaysia are prohibited from gambling under Islamic law.

No Licensed Sports Betting in Malaysia

There is no licensed sports betting in Malaysia. A sports betting licence was issued in 2010 but withdrawn the same year, and the government has said it does not plan to issue one.

Malaysia also has no licensing system for online gambling. No online bookmaker, sports betting site or betting app is licensed in Malaysia, and foreign licences, for example from Malta or Curaçao, are not recognised. Players who use such sites therefore have no Malaysian legal protection. As of 2026, the government has said it is preparing new legislation to deal with illegal online gambling.

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) blocks illegal gambling websites and has social media platforms remove gambling promotion, including promotion by affiliates and influencers.

Legal Forms of Gambling in Malaysia

The legal forms of gambling in Malaysia are all land-based. None of them is sports betting with a bookmaker.

The casino at Resorts World Genting in Genting Highlands is the only licensed casino in Malaysia. It admits only people aged 21 or over, and Malaysian citizens must be non-Muslim.

Number forecast games such as 4D are sold at the outlets of licensed number forecast operators: Magnum 4D, Sports Toto and Da Ma Cai in Peninsular Malaysia, and separate operators in Sabah and Sarawak. Some states do not allow number forecast outlets to operate.

Tote betting on horse racing is run by the turf clubs. The sections that follow explain how bookmaker bets work, as general information.

Ways to Bet at a Bookmaker

1X2 / Match Result

The basic bet on who will win, with no handicap or other adjustment. In sports with draws, such as football, it is usually offered as a three-way choice of home win, draw or away win (a 1X2 bet). In sports without draws, such as tennis or badminton, it is a two-way bet on the winner, known in the US as the moneyline.

Handicap

A bet on which team will win after a handicap has been applied to one of the teams, similar to the point spread in US sports. The handicap can be applied to either team.

With a standard three-way handicap, if the result is a draw once the handicap is applied, the stake is not returned. With Asian handicap lines that use whole numbers, however, the stake is refunded (with quarter lines such as 0.25 or 0.75, half the stake may be refunded).

Over/Under (Totals)

A bet on whether the combined score of both teams will be higher (over) or lower (under) than a line set in advance. For example, an over 2.5 bet wins if the two teams score a combined 3 or more.

Basic Bookmaker Terms

These are the basic terms worth learning first.

Odds

The multiplier used to calculate the payout when a bet wins. All odds in this article are decimal odds (European odds), which include the stake. For example, with amounts in Malaysian ringgit (RM), if you bet RM10 at odds of 5.00 and win, you receive RM10 × 5 = RM50, including your stake.

Cash Out

A feature, used mainly in live betting, that lets a bettor settle a bet before the event ends, either to lock in a profit when the bet is going their way or to limit the loss when it is not.

Accumulator (Parlay)

An accumulator combines several bets into a single bet. If any one of the selections loses, the whole bet loses.

Fixed Odds

Odds that apply from the moment the bet is placed, so later changes in the odds do not affect the payout. Bookmaker odds are fixed in this way.

Market

A general term for the types of bets a bookmaker offers. For a football match, for example, the markets include the match result, handicap and over/under.

Live Betting

Betting on a match that is already in progress, also called in-play betting. The odds change as the match unfolds.

Are Bookmakers Safe?

Some people worry that gambling online will expose them to fraud. Bookmakers are licensed by national or regional regulators in some countries, but a bookmaker’s foreign licence does not give a player in Malaysia any local protection (see the section on the law in Malaysia).

Bookmakers Need a Licence to Operate

In countries that license sports betting, a company must obtain and maintain a licence from a national or regional regulator to operate as an online bookmaker. A licence is a permit that authorises the company to operate as a bookmaker under the rules set by that regulator.

Before a licence is granted, the applicant is audited against strict standards, such as compliance with the relevant laws and having enough funds to cover payments to customers. A licence is issued only once these standards are met.

A licence is not granted permanently. Licensees are audited on an ongoing basis, and a licence can be revoked if a breach of the rules is found. A licensed bookmaker is therefore an operator that meets the issuing jurisdiction’s standards and is under its supervision. That supervision applies only in the issuing jurisdiction, not in Malaysia.

Many Bookmakers Sponsor Sports Teams and Events

Many bookmakers are large businesses, and some of them sponsor sports teams.

For example, bookmakers have served as shirt sponsors and official betting partners of Premier League clubs. A company that operates publicly under its own name is easier to check, which is one sign that it is a genuine business. Sponsorship abroad does not, however, mean that a bookmaker is licensed in Malaysia.

What to Watch Out For When Using a Bookmaker

Bookmakers that offer sports betting operate under their terms and conditions. If a bettor breaks those terms, the bookmaker may withhold winnings, and in the worst case the account may be suspended or closed, so that the bettor can no longer use that bookmaker.

Read the Terms Before You Bet

Where sports betting is legal, every bookmaker publishes terms and conditions that set out how bets are accepted and settled. The details vary by bookmaker, so the terms are worth reading in full before any bet is placed.

The terms usually cover maximum winnings, which limit how much can be paid out on a single bet or in a single day, even if the odds would produce a larger amount.

They also explain how void bets are settled, for example when a match is postponed or abandoned or a player does not take part, and how the cash out feature works, including when it can be suspended.

Account verification is another common term. Licensed bookmakers check a customer’s identity, and the terms explain what happens to an account or its balance if the details cannot be confirmed.

Beware of Scams Selling Tools and Betting Systems

Interest in bookmakers rises with every major sporting event. Many people think about betting for the first time at these moments, and some scams target these beginners.

Some individuals and groups try to take people’s money with completely baseless methods, such as pitching a “guaranteed profit” betting system or selling a “tool that raises your expected value”.

Legitimate betting communities exist in countries where betting is legal. A group whose members simply share tips or report their own results is not a problem. Some organisations, however, use such communities as a front to take people’s money, so be careful.

This applies especially to communities that recruit on social media. Before joining anything, check whether they ask for a membership fee or for you to buy a product, whether they back up their claimed winning record, and whether the people running them can be identified. People in Malaysia are often approached on social media by betting promoters and agents, and the MCMC has social media platforms remove this kind of promotion.

Arbitrage Betting Is Prohibited at Many Bookmakers

Arbitrage betting (sure bets) is a technique that uses differences in odds between bookmakers to bet on more than one outcome of the same match. In theory, it avoids a loss whatever the result, but in practice many bookmakers prohibit it in their terms.

Suppose, for a simplified example that would not occur in practice, that two football teams, A and B, are playing. Bookmaker X offers odds of “A: 1.50, B: 2.50” and Bookmaker Y offers “A: 2.50, B: 1.50”. A bet on B with Bookmaker X and on A with Bookmaker Y would, in theory, come out ahead whichever team wins.

It is often detected through monitoring of odds and betting histories, and if it is discovered it can lead to account restrictions or refused withdrawals, so it is best avoided.

If gambling is causing you or someone close to you stress, talk to someone. Malaysia has no national gambling helpline, but Befrienders Kuala Lumpur offers free, confidential emotional support 24 hours a day on +603-7627 2929.

Summary: Payout Percentages Are High, but Betting at Random Still Loses to the Margin Over Time

Sports betting, in which bettors predict the results of sporting events held around the world, is a very popular form of gambling in Europe and elsewhere.

Bookmakers generally have a higher payout percentage than lotteries and pari-mutuel horse racing, and they cover a wide range of sports, from football and badminton to indoor sports and esports. Bookmakers still build a margin into their odds, however, so betting without any analysis tends to lose money over the long run.

There is no licensed sports betting in Malaysia, and no online bookmaker or betting app is licensed here, so this page is intended as general information about how bookmakers, odds and margins work.