A pay per head (PPH) service runs the betting side of a bookie’s business: the website, the lines, the grading and the player accounts. The bookie pays it a fixed fee for each active player, usually by the week or the month. Bitcoin is one way to pay that fee, and one way players can settle with the bookie. It has real advantages and real costs, and both come from the same feature: a confirmed Bitcoin payment cannot be reversed.
For the providers themselves, compared on price and features, see our pay per head reviews.
What Bitcoin does well
- No chargebacks. A card payment can be disputed weeks later. A confirmed Bitcoin transfer cannot be pulled back by the sender, so money received stays received.
- Speed across borders. Many PPH providers are based outside the United States. A Bitcoin transfer reaches them without a bank wire or a money-transfer office, and the network adds a new block about every 10 minutes on average.
- One method for both directions. A bookie who collects from players in Bitcoin can pay the weekly PPH invoice from the same wallet, without converting to dollars in between.
What it costs
- The fee depends on the network. Every transfer pays a network fee, and it rises when the network is busy. On a small invoice it can be a noticeable share of the payment.
- The price moves. When a balance is set in dollars and held in Bitcoin, the price matters. If the price of Bitcoin falls 5% between the day a player pays you and the day you pay your provider, a $1,000 balance is worth $950.
- Mistakes are permanent. The same rule that stops chargebacks stops refunds. A payment sent to a wrong address, or for the wrong amount, is gone unless the receiver sends it back.
- Confirmation takes time. A payment counts once the network confirms it, and providers set how many confirmations they wait for. Paying an invoice minutes before a deadline is a risk.
Paying your PPH invoice in Bitcoin
Ask the provider for the exact amount and the address on each invoice, and whether the rate is fixed for a set time. Send from a wallet you control, not from an exchange account that may delay withdrawals. Keep the transaction ID: it is the receipt, and it is the first thing the provider will ask for if a payment does not show.
Check one more thing before you sign up: which payment methods the provider takes, and whether it charges differently by method. Both are in its terms, and they differ between providers.
For players
Players at a bookie who takes Bitcoin face the same trade: a deposit with no card dispute behind it, quick to arrive, and exposed to the price between deposit and withdrawal. Any bonus attached to a Bitcoin deposit is set by the bookie, with its own terms; read them before you send money. Our guide to how sportsbook bonuses work explains what those terms mean.